Denver Decorative Concrete & Custom Masonrydoes outside concrete for a driveway need to have sealer put on it?
Just had an 20×64 apron poured outside of my pole barn and wondering if it needs sealer or anythiing ut on it. The contracto said only the inside of the building needed the sealer and did the inside but not the outside. Also does it need to have cuts made in it and how far spaced apart please?
Your Contractor is correct and you are better off not sealing the outside concrete. Usually the expansion joints are made with a special tool when the final finishing of the concrete is done. They’re usually placed no more than ten feet apart. Sometimes fiberboard is used to make expansion joints. You can still cut some joints with a concrete saw to control cracking but it will be a lot more work than it would’ve been to do while finishing a concrete.
CONCRETE OUTSIDE ? NO……
THE INSIDE SHOULD HAVE HAD PLASTIC LINING LAID DOWN BEFORE CONCRETE WAS POURED. THAT ACTS AS THE VAPOR BARRIER….
60 INCHES TO seventy two INCHES. five FEET TO six FEET. SOME PEOPLE K=LIKE four FEET.
They sell a concrete sealer for sidewalks and driveways. Not sure if it is needed, but the water beads up and disperses faster. Kind of like RainX on a windshield. If you live in the North where they salt the streets, and you park your car on it, it will help keeping the salt from pitting the concrete
Your contractor is right, there is no need for any sealer, just level it to fall.
However, it is advisable to have construction or crack control joints at every one hundred sq ft (10 x 10)
You may use bituminous felt cut to size, plastic crack control, aluminium or copper strip.
Sealing is 1 of those things where it depends on what you as a consumer want. Although sealing concrete is less necessary than sealing pavers it does have many benefits. The largest benefit is that stains won’t penetrate the porous surface and can usually be washed away with a pressure washer or it might need the assistance of some stain removal chemicals. Sealing also assists in the prevention of mold, mildew, and algae so if this is a problem it is recommended. If you do choose to seal the concrete make sure to thoroughly pressure clean and remove all stains you can because once it is sealed its not going anywhere. Then I would recommend using a polyurethane mix water-based sealer. I use Seal’NLock which I firmly believe is the best sealing product available but it is not yet widely distributed. My advice, stay away from the oil based products. They can easily turn cloudy and make a good job look terrible.
Concrete is commonly perceived as hard… you know, hard as concrete. Yet it is still a porous and breathing organic compound, and susceptible to the elements and regular wear and tear. If you live in a climate where the temperature drops below freezing, I highly recommend putting a permanent penetrating sealer down. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles allow water to penetrate the top layers and freeze inside the concrete. This will eventually result in popping, flaking and spalling on the top of your slab.
I am a contractor, and have been recommending and applying a permanent, penetrating waterborne sealer on all work I do. The product is called CreteDefender, and it is not like any other sealer out there. The concrete still breathes, but salt, ice, water and other chemicals don’t get into the slab and destroy it from inside. This stuff reacts with the calcium and lime in the concrete and forms a gel that hardens inside, filling all the pores.
If you want to keep your slab looking brand new and make it harder and denser, definitely seal it… weather and time will work to weaken and soften even the best concrete pour.
no