Repair & sealing a concrete driveway


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Old 02-03-13, 04:23 PM
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Repair & sealing a concrete driveway

My concrete driveway (6" thick) has some "salt" damage even though I've never used salt on it. I'm told it's highway salt coming from melting ice/slush under the cars.

I'd like to repair the salt damge (max 1/4" deep) & then seal the drive with blacktop drive sealer to (1) seal the crete from further salt damage & (2) make it black so the sun will melt the snow & ice faster.

Comments, ideas, & suggestions welcome.
 
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Old 02-03-13, 08:01 PM
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If it's a concrete driveway, why do you want to seal it with blacktop sealer? I'm not a fan of any sealer.
 
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Old 02-03-13, 09:32 PM
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I've seriously considered sealing my concrete driveway with blacktop sealer in order to cover the patches over the cracks in the concrete and for general appearance. I don't know if this is an accepted practice or what the possible downsides would be. I do know that asphalt sealers cannot be applied during colder temperatures or when it will be rained upon for a certain number of hours after application.
 
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Old 02-04-13, 04:37 AM
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I had a neighbor that had a concrete parking patch along with an asphalt driveway. One year as he was sealing the asphalt he had the 'bright' idea to seal the concrete patch too. Long story short - the asphalt sealer started peeling off of the concrete in less than 6 months and within a year there were only scattered patches of black on the concrete.

Using a solid concrete stain might be an option although I don't know how dark you can get them. I've had good results with the H&C stain sold at SWP stores but have never used anything real dark.
 
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Old 02-04-13, 05:02 AM
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Concrete, cement, asphalt & brick maintenance free surfaces. If you seal them, they are no longer maintenance free.
 
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Old 02-04-13, 12:51 PM
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True but maintenance can give them a longer life
 
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Old 02-04-13, 01:41 PM
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As marksr pointed out, asphalt sealers are not intended for use on concrete surfaces. Rather, they are designed to penetrate and bond into the matrix and void areas of existing asphalt surfaces. A thin asphalt overlay, using a tack coat first for bonding, would be a solution for both repairing and making light-colored concrete "black." Making sure that any dirt, deteriorated or delaminated concrete are first removed. Any areas where an overlay thickness might cause problems (garage entrances, adjacent sidewalks, etc.) can be dealt with by milling or grinding the underlying concrete first in those areas.
 
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Old 02-04-13, 03:37 PM
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Okay, I'm convinced it is a bad idea in my case. I didn't really want to do the work anyway, just thought it might be a quick and dirty method of improving the looks.
 
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Old 02-04-13, 06:21 PM
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marksr wrote:
"True but maintenance can give them a longer life"

Yes, but no maintenance give me a longer life.
 
 

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