Concrete Care | LYCON INC.

How to Care for your Concrete Driveway

Concrete residential driveways enhance the appearance of your home and are a durable, low maintenance option for your property. In order to maintain a durable driveway that will be relatively free of surface blemishes throughout its service life, the homeowner should carry out the following recommendations:

• Don’t drive on the new concrete for at least 7 days.
• Don’t allow drain water to undermine the slab and cause settlement cracks.
• Don’t allow snow and ice to accumulate on the slab during the first winter. Keep it cleaned off.
• Refrain from the use of de-icing chemicals (salt or calcium chloride) for snow and ice removal the first winter. Sand can be used for traction.
• Apply a concrete sealer – scaling is one of the most insidious attacks on concrete and can happen even with quality concrete.

Sealing Concrete Is An Important Part of Regular Maintenance

A concrete sealer applied after 30 days will help prevent water from entering the concrete during the autumn rains and will prevent the intrusion of de-icing salts tracked onto driveways during winter months.

Concrete sealing should be done after approximately 30 days of air drying, when the surface is dry and preferably when the air temperature is about 70°F.