Frequently Asked Questions

How soon can I walk or drive on my new concrete?

Generally, fresh concrete can be walked on the next day.  Driving on your new concrete is not recommended for a minimum of 5-7 days to ensure your concrete gains its full strength during the curing process. 

How often should I re-seal my concrete?

It depends on the type of concrete.  For plain/traditional concrete, we recommend re-sealing every 3-5 years.  For colored and stamped concrete, we recommend re-sealing every 2-4 years, depending on how vibrant you want the colors.  For all driveways, we recommend cleaning and re-sealing every 2 years.  This helps protect against road salt damage.

Cleaning and re-sealing can be done by homeowners if a good quality sealer is used.  Please contact us if you would like product recommendations; or if you would like an estimate for us to come out and clean and re-seal.

What can I do in the winter with ice and snow?

Use snow blowers, plows, and shovels like normal.  Do not use Salt or Ice Melt products on your concrete, as it is caustic to cement, and will deteriorate the surface.  We do not recommend using salt products labeled as “concrete-safe”.    If added traction is needed, we recommend using dry, bagged sand from your local home improvement store. 

What can I do about stains from vegetation, oil, etc.?

Stains are tough, even properly sealed concrete can be susceptible to staining.  There are remedies to help remove certain stains, give us a call to talk through your specific situation. 

We follow all ACI Standards for flatwork on both plain and decorative concrete. 

Subgrade

Granular fill compacted (sand or class 5 gravel).

Rebar

We use 3/8″ rebar 3′ on center throughout, unless spec’d otherwise. 

Placing

We place all our air-entrained concrete at a maximum 5″ slump, this ensures the water-to- cement ratio isn’t too great which weakens the final concrete PSI. 

Control Joints

To help control cracking, we place control joints (cuts or grooves) in the concrete. We follow ACI standards for the proper placement and depth of control joints.   

Curing

We treat all our concrete the day it is poured, using a solvent-based cure and seal.  This slows the evaporation of moisture, which enhances the strength of the final product.  This also takes the place of water-curing your concrete, which was a widely used practice in the past. Concrete is considered “fully cured” 28 days after placement. 

We warranty the workmanship of our installation.  We install all concrete according to ACI standards which enhances the longevity of our product (see the “Standards We Follow” section).  This means that we:

• use a proper base/subgrade
• use a quality concrete mix
• pour with an appropriate water to cement ratio
• install material at a minimum 4″ thickness
• place control joints at or above ACI standards
• use a proper curing method

We do not offer any type of warranty against cracking, rock pops, or salt damage.  We do everything in our power to protect against cracking with the use of rebar and properly placed control joints, but concrete can crack.  Our use of rebar ensures that hairline cracks remain small and don’t grow into tripping hazards.