Concrete Driveway Sealer

It can also stand up to human-added ingredients like de-icer.

But tough as it is, concrete can be made even stronger very easily and at a low expense. The way to do this is with concrete driveway sealer.

The benefits of sealing your driveway include an extended lifespan for your driveway and improved appearance of decorative concrete.

The sealing process is not difficult or expensive and usually takes less than a day to complete.

Selecting Concrete Driveway Sealer

To apply concrete driveway sealer, you'll need the following:

• Broom
• Detergent and scrub brush
• Silane or siloxane concrete driveway sealer
• Hand-pump sprayer

When shopping for concrete driveway sealer, please be sure to read the product labels and technical data sheets. Sealing is a vital process and not one to just wing it on. In some cases you can find this information on the sealer manufacturer's website.

On the sealer label, you should ensure that you see these properties: resistance to acids, grease, and oil.

Also look at breath-ability, waterproofing, and dust-proofing.

Non-yellowing acrylic sealers tend to have the best performance characteristics and are the most common type of driveway sealer.

These sealers are often mixed with polyurethane, epoxy, or silicones to improve their capability.

Styrene acrylic is one acrylic resin; however, it might yellow when exposed to direct sunlight.

Pure acrylic resin is typically best. It will last longer than styrene acrylic and won't turn yellow.

Polyurethantes, penetrating resins, and epoxies are other types of concrete driveway sealers.

These generally cost a lot more than acrylics and leave a more slippery surface.

They also don't breathe and that is bad for concrete. Concrete driveway sealers should allow air and moisture to go in and out of the concrete.

Sealers that don't breathe can cause fog or haze to occur between the sealer and the concrete.

Rollers and sprayers are the two top ways of applying sealers to driveways.

The sealer's container will recommend the best tool to use with their product.

In general, water-based sealers should be applied by a roller, while solvent-based sealers are best applied with a sprayer.

Driveway Sealant Coverage

You will have better results if you apply two thin coats but ensure there are no puddles or obvious thick areas.

After your driveway is sealed, a good soap and water cleansing is usually sufficient for maintaining the sealed surface.

You may, however, need to do another light coat of the sealer occasionally.

Depending on the sealant used and the conditions to which your concrete driveway is subject, sealer will last from one to three years.

With driveway sealers, it's a typical "you get what you pay for" situation.

Commercial or professional-grade sealers from a concrete materials supplier will likely far outlast the low cost sealers from your local home improvement center.

Possible Finishes

They come in many different levels of glossiness, from matte to high gloss.

A standardized gloss index from 1 to 100 is used by some manufacturers to measure gloss- 100 being the highest gloss level.

Even with the index, it is still a good idea to test out the sealer you want on an inconspicuous area of your concrete driveway.

Furthermore, solvent-based sealers will tend to darken or enhance the concrete's color, giving it a wet look that some people prefer.

The more solids present in a sealer, the higher the level of gloss will be.

If you use penetrating sealers, however, they do not do anything to change color of the concrete.

Driveway Sealer Safety

The surface needs to be slip resistantwhen the sealer dries.

While most concrete driveway sealers meet federal safety standards for slip resistance on the dry surface, that doesn't tell you much about how slippery the surface will be when it rains.

Generally, how slippery the surface is will be determined by the texture of the concrete and the thickness of the sealer.

In general, the more shiny a surface of a standard concrete slab, the more slippery it will become when wet.

However, concrete driveways that have been stamped or broom-finished will not become as slippery when wet (isn't that a Bon Jovi Album? --anyway)...

low gloss sealer will be less slippery than high gloss, but there is always the idea of mixing in an anti-skid additive to the sealer as it is applied.

That was a boatload of information for you on selecting and applying driveway sealers.

Concrete Driveways Further Reading

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