Although concrete commonly requires very little maintenance, to ensure your concrete surfaces a long life, you need to provide adequate maintenance when it needs it, that is mostly when extreme weather sets in.
This time, we will talk about how to maintain your concrete surfaces for winter.
The most common complaint of homeowners with their new concrete driveway or concrete patio during winter is that they notice some signs of scaling after a harsh winter has passed. However, this kind of flaking or peeling can be avoided with good maintenance.
To keep your concrete surfaces from scaling, flaking or peeling you should simply follow these tips:
Tip #1: Choose the right products
Although San Diego winters are not as cold as in other parts of California, there are times when the weather can reach freezing temperatures, these are the kind of temperatures than can damage your concrete patio.
To avoid this, you can prepare the concrete floor with de-icer products, but be careful to stay away from deicers that contain calcium, salt, ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate because they can really damage the concrete, and if you opted for a colored concrete driveway, salt buildup can discolor and damage it.
Tip #2: Apply deicing products on the right time
Unfortunately, de-icing products can be really harsh to your concrete. If you just recently installed your concrete patio, we would suggest not to use these type of chemicals. It is recommendable that to apply a concrete de-icer you should wait until your concrete floor is at least two years old.
If you want an alternative to that, use sand instead.
Tip # 3: Clean it often
During a really cold winter with freezing temperatures, you should consider removing any accumulated ice, at least during its first winter. This will improve its lifespan and will make it look impeccable over the years.
Tip #4: Use a concrete sealer
Applying a concrete sealer to your concrete patio, concrete driveway or concrete floor is always a good idea, regardless of the weather temperature. For this, we suggest you to wait until your concrete surface is two years old, in order to enjoy for the full benefits.
Another good thing about applying a concrete sealer is that they can protect your concrete from the use of de-icers.
With these 5 tips you should be able to reach Spring with a beautiful, well maintained and flawless concrete surface. However, keep in mind that there is very little that these tips can do your concrete driveway if it is already damaged and cracked. In those cases, we recommend a full concrete driveway replacement.
Fortunately, at Agundez Concrete, we have over 30 years of experience in concrete applications and have been successfully helping residential and commercial clients with their concrete needs.
Give us a call to learn more about our concrete services or schedule an appointment to get an estimate on your project today!