We all know how unpredictable Minnesota’s weather can be when the seasons are changing. Most homeowners don’t think about how hard this can be on concrete. Concrete is a porous surface that seeps up water. When your concrete driveway, patio, steps, sidewalks or aprons are saturated, and then it freezes, this causes it to expand. Ice contains 9% more volume than water. Year after year with the freeze/thaw cycles, your concrete starts to deteriorate. These are classic examples of what happens:
Concrete starts to get pits
Deteriorated Apron
Concrete Stairs- corners start to crumble
Not only are crumbling, cracked concrete driveways, aprons, stairs and patios unattractive, they can pose a huge risk on you or someone tripping and getting hurt. Water drainage locations are important too. When water is trapped around your house it seeps into the foundation causing it to bulge,crack and leak into your basement.
There are preventative measures in protecting your concrete from water damage. The best type of sealer to use on concrete outside would be a penetrating sealant that is solvent-based. Applying this, at most, every 3 years will help with making your concrete last. However, the most important is carefully choosing a reputable company, like Driveway Repair Inc. when installing and repairing any type of concrete surface.
