Top 10 Tips for Maintaining Your Concrete and Masonry Driveway

1. Clean your concrete or masonry driveway on a regular basis. How often really depends on how much use the driveway gets and how much road traffic and other pollutants you have in your area. A pressure washer is the best tool for the job. You can hire a professional pressure washing company to do the job and if your driveway has a lot of stains or other discoloration, this may be the best option since they’ll have special products for stain removal.
2. Have sealer reapplied. Again, how often is dependent on how much use or wear and tear your driveway gets but every three to five years is a good rule of thumb. Never hire crews that go door to door offering to seal your driveway. This is a common scam used to con you out of some of your hard earned cash.
3. Remove spills and stains right away. Clean up spills as soon as they occur. You can soak up excess oil with almost anything you have on hand that is absorbent including kitty litter, sawdust or cornmeal. Clean stains with soap and water or a commercial product intended specifically for concrete and masonry driveways.
4. Avoid deicing products. The use of chemical deicing products on a cement or masonry driveway can literally eat away your driveway. They can also damage grass and other vegetation. Use sand on icy spots to avoid slipping and simply sweep it up in the spring.
5. Don’t use your driveway to change your oil. If you’re like a lot of people you may do at least some maintenance on your own vehicle but whenever you change the oil there’s a high risk that it may spill onto the driveway. If you have no other option, use a large drip pan available at an automotive store. They’re intended for just that purpose.
6. Don’t use sharp objects on the driveway. If you live in an area where snow and ice are a fact of life, you’ll need to shovel your driveway. Avoid snow shovels with metal blades that might scratch or chip the surface. Also don’t use a metal ice chipper to remove ice.
7. Keep weeds and tree roots from encroaching on your driveway. Plants can work their way into hairline cracks and make the cracks larger and tree roots can cause concrete and masonry to heave, completely ruining your
8. Repair cracks when you first notice them. Cracks in concrete and masonry occur naturally due to shifting and settlement of the ground beneath. Freezing and thawing of ice and snow can widen the cracks as can weeds and grass that take hold. Repair cracks while they are still small to help prevent further damage.
9. Resurface your driveway if the damage is serious. If your concrete driveway is suffering from too many cracks or obvious patch jobs it may be time to have it resurfaced. This is essentially adding an entire new top layer to your driveway so it looks like new.
10. A brick or stone paver driveway may need professional repair. If your driveway is constructed of brick or stone pavers and it has sunken or broken areas, the damage will need to be removed and the base rebuilt. It will take a professional masonry contractor to make a perfectly matched and seamless repair.