Sealing very steep concrete drive

buddy · Nov 24, 2008 9:06 pm

hi all - we have a very steep, short driveway that's only a few months old. it has grey tint through it, but looks awful (it's gone pale-like) and we want to coat it with something that will make it look wet, but grip is really important.

can anyone share any products that they've used (preferably DYI).

thanks in anticipation.

PrincessB · Dec 05, 2008 11:33 am

Hi there,

I'm guessing you have coloured concrete. You need to treat it first before you seal it. What you are discribing 'pale like' is what happens when you have trapped moisture. You will need a professional to come in and acid wash your driveway to bring back the true colour and then apply a sealer to seal in the colour for years to come, if you skip the acid wash your going to seal in your pale patches and will be expensive to repair.

PrincessB · Dec 05, 2008 11:35 am

One other thing- you say your driveway is only a few months old. In that case you should call back the builder/contractor who did the job to repair the issue of the trapped moisture under, you should also check if you had this job done with a contractor that you organised if sealing was included in the price (or check with builder).

davinci · Dec 05, 2008 4:40 pm

pale like may be be lack of sealing not moisture, subsurface moisture can cause effervescents, effervescents looks like a white powder (very fine ) on surface

if the concrete was sealed with a xylene based sealer when wet and it then went pale, acid both hydro or oxcylic wont fix it
the solvent and moisture reacted and went milky (stained)

concrete oxides or hardeners are not uv stable and fade quickly if not sealed

if it is a lack of sealer then acid clean drive and seal with a coloured xylene based sealer

buddy · Dec 05, 2008 8:26 pm

thanks so much for you replies. when we originally had the drive done (council done - long story!) it did bleed salts, but this isn't the current issue i have. this really is a all-over consistent 'bleaching' like a fade - to my female eyes it looks as if it needs some lovely moisturisor on it's dry skin!!! so i think the acid wash etc that davinci suggested might be the go.

any ideas how much this would cost for a 3mx10m??

thanks so much in advance - really appreciate it.

davinci · Dec 05, 2008 10:32 pm

if you do it yourself around $30 for acid and $120 for coloured sealer

buddy · Dec 06, 2008 7:58 am

that sounds pretty reasonable - my concern would be, will the sealant make the driveway slippery in the wet -- this is a VERY steep short drive -- are there particular sealants that don't get slippery that you know of?

davinci · Dec 06, 2008 4:57 pm

get a penetrative sealer not a surface sealer (not from bunnings etc)
goto a concrete product suplier store like slate-crete or faux-brick

concrete product suppliers will also have a non slip additive for sealer , for extra grip
use a roller or broom for application in two coat stages

50/50thinned out first coat for deep penetration and then a 20/80 second coat
or as per manufacturers recommendations

buddy · Dec 06, 2008 5:09 pm

thank you VERY much davinci for your advise - really appreciate - have a great weekend

stu · Jan 06, 2009 8:41 am

There is an acid etch product that you can buy from Bunnings (cant remember name but its approx $15 and in a white plastic container.
Easy to use, all you do is dilute the powder in water, and spray on concrete with a pump garden spray (try to get a cheap one with all plastic parts ($10 from The Warehouse/Sams), and dont forget to rinse pump thoroughly straight after use)
Also, give the concrete a light spray with water before spraying with product as this will prevent the product getting absorbed to deep into concrete (this part isnt on instructions but i figured it out after i started spraying) leave on for about 10-20 minutes (just keep checking concrete to see if its etched enough) (you can also add small amounts of water whilst its reacting and use a broom to spread it more evenly around )and when your happy rinse thoroughly with lots of water(buy a $10 squeegee on a pole to aid with rinsing). Its quite easy to do as this product is fairly mild, but still take precautions ie eye protection, rubber gloves & boots. Just remember that you have to move quickly so do it in small parts about
15 sq m and use a friend to brush whilst you spray.