Concrete Sealing and Resealing Rockford MI
Protect and restore your investment with professional-grade finishes.
Sealing Concrete
Many new home builders are now requiring homeowners to seal their concrete driveway themselves within the first year to keep the home builder's warranty on the concrete. We utilize a penetrating water based product that is meant to last 7 years. Unlike the solvent based sealer we use on stamped concrete that darkens the concrete and forms a film on the surface, our penetrating water based sealer does not change the color or look of the concrete. The only difference is that the sealed concrete surface will cause water to puddle, bead up, and run off the concrete. This sealing process can be done in a timely manner, and typical downtime between sealing and use is only a day, making the process quick and painless.
Resealing Concrete
We are often asked “How often do I need to reseal my stamped concrete?” Like most parts of your home, periodic maintenance is part of your stamped concrete product. It is our goal to provide a concrete product that is both long lasting and low in maintenance. However, exterior concrete sealer is a coating that must be applied thinly to perform correctly. For this reason, it will wear away over time. Periodically, it needs to be reapplied to protect your concrete and keep it looking great. Areas that are protected from sun and wind can remain sealed for many years but areas that see full sun, rain and foot traffic will need to be resealed much sooner. Typically, sealer needs to be reapplied to your stamped concrete every three or four years.
A new coat of sealer revitalizes the color contrast between the integral and release colors, making the colors look as they did when the concrete was originally placed.
We keep a list of our stamped concrete projects by year. We send out a letter four years after the project was completed to our customers as a reminder that it is probably time for a reseal, as well as an estimate for what it would cost for us to do the resealing.
A typical resealing project we do involves power washing the area, drying it, and applying another coat of sealer with traction grip additive. This process typically takes about half a day. The cost of our quoted resealing service is based upon this process.
Sometimes, however, more work is needed in order to make the concrete look great again. Many times, these are projects that were completed by another concrete company that did not offer a resealing service schedule. Surfaces that have not been maintained on schedule will tend to need more work to look new again. If the surface remains unsealed for too long, the secondary antiquing release color will begin to wear away. Water based antiquing agents will need to be mixed up and reapplied to replace the missing product, and allowed to dry before being sealed in. This additional time and material cost will cause your reseal project to cost more than was additionally estimated. If we show up to do a reseal and see that more than the standard amount of work is necessary, we will requote the project for the customer and get approval before proceeding with the additional work.
Occasionally we see concrete that has remained unsealed for so long that the creamy colored cement paste surface has begun to wear away and the stone aggregate beneath is now showing. At this point in time, the surface can still be repaired with additional products to look fresh again but the cost may approach a point to where the decision is made by the homeowner that the product should be fixed as well as possible with just antiquing and resealing, should be left as it is, or should be rescheduled to be replaced with new concrete.