Maintenance Tips for Your Exterior Concrete

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We spend a lot of time concerned with the maintenance on the inside of our house. When was the last time you considered the maintenance of the outside of your house? Did you know there are a few simple steps you can take to actually extend the life of your driveway?

Use a Broom & Garden Hose

Keep your driveway clean by sweeping it occasionally. You can also use a garden hose to wash off the concrete when it gets extremely dirty. Many people like to power wash their driveway, particularly during the summer. This can be harmful to the concrete on extremely hot days because the cold water coming from the tap hitting the very hot concrete creates a stress on the concrete and it can cause damage over time.

Wintertime Cleaning

During the winter months in colder climates, salt and brine are scattered on the road to melt the frozen precipitation. This salt and brine are picked up by the car and eventually tracked onto your driveway. Over time, this salt and brine can eat away at the surface of your concrete.  You will want to keep your driveway as clean as possible during the winter months so the solution does not sit on the surface for an extended period of time.

Prevent Spalling

Spalling is a surface failure of the concrete as a result of water penetrating the porous concrete surface during the winter months.  This moisture can then freeze within the concrete below the surface as it penetrates.  As this moisture freezes it expands within the concrete, which causes pressure under the surface.  As this process is repeated several times, the pressure caused by expansion and contraction, can break down the surface of your driveway.  This break down shows up as pit marks in the surface where it looks like the aggregate is exposed.

Keeping your driveway clean can help minimize the severity of spalling. You can also help lessen the chances of spalling occurring by keeping salt and other destructive agents off of your driveway.  Another way to protect the concrete surface is by applying a penetrating sealer. Make sure the sealer follows the concrete institute’s standard, “ASTMC309” for penetrating concrete sealers.

Prevent Driveway Cracking During the Winter

All driveways crack. In fact, we try to help force where your driveway will crack when we trowel in control joints after the concrete is placed.  This cracking occurs because concrete naturally contracts and expands during the life of your driveway.

You want to keep moisture from getting in through these cracks, which can freeze and also cause damage from expansion and contraction. To help minimize any moisture getting into these cracks you can fill them in with a concrete crack filler or sealant, which will also help prolong the life of your driveway.

There are a number of things you can do to maintain your driveway and extend its life. By keeping your driveway clean, sealing the surface, and filling in the cracks in your driveway, you can enjoy your driveway for years to come.

Behind the Scenes: The Making of a Driveway

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Over Digging the Basement 

We over dig your basement two foot six inches all around the perimeter of the foundation. We do this to allow room for our contractors to work around the foundation when setting their forms and also to water-proof and install drain tile.  The soil is very hard to compact around the foundation in this area.  To combat this problem and to alleviate potential concrete problems, we pack what we can of the soil, water-soak, and then we also pin rebar into the foundation along the garage floor all the way along the over dig section.  This will keep the concrete from moving should the soil below settle out over time.

The Driveway

Have you ever noticed how the area between your garage floor and your driveway is at different heights? The driveway is actually poured at ½” to ¾” below the height of the garage floor. We leave this difference in height to allow the driveway to heave should frost find its way under the front edge of the driveway during the cold winter months.  By pouring it lower initially, we allow room for it to move up without heaving too far above the garage floor although in certain circumstances it is not uncommon for the driveway to heave as much as 1" above the garage floor.  We also install an expansion joint in this gap between the two pours to prevent the two areas of concrete from locking together.  This also provides room for expansion and contraction during the changes in seasons.  Both of these measures help alleviate many future problems you could experience here in the cold winters of Nebraska.

Dowel Rebars in the Driveway 

We also dowel rebar into the foundation where the driveway meets the garage floor.  This rebar sits directly under the driveway and the entire width of the driveway rests on it.  It is not poured into the driveway, which again helps from locking the driveway in place and causing future problems by preventing it from expanding and contracting.  This rebar also helps prevent the driveway from sinking should the soil settle out from under it over time.

Driveways are an important part of the overall appearance and functionality of your home.  With proper planning and installation your new driveway will last you many years to come.

Check us out next time for tips on maintaining concrete.