iv Vronski
Most people never realize that concrete needs maintenance. In fact, 80% of homeowners never bothered about maintaining their unique patio and driveways. Well, how you care for your cement will greatly affect the longevity of that piece of work. Cement is durable but not strong enough to withstand wear and tear due to weather conditions or from human activities on it. Maintaining your cement structures is not just to prevent cracking alone. It beautifies your home by eliminating dead surfaces and giving it a cleaner look. It could stay up a couple of years, but they cannot stay much longer without cracking. However, you can significantly delay such effects by adapting to proper maintenance. This article will guide you through the process of maintaining to help give your home that shiny look it deserves. However, before we get into that, let us look at the benefits of maintaining concretes.
Why Maintain Your Concrete
So here comes the big question asked by many people. Why do I need to maintain my cement floors? If you have a home, there is a chance that you have either concrete sidewalks or a concrete driveway. Adapting a proper maintenance structure will go a long way in preserving your surface. It gives it that new look that beautifies your home. Different cement materials are prone to wear and tear because of human activities on it. At some point, you notice some cracks. Those cracks are bound to cause serious damage if not properly maintained. However, cracks are inevitable, but proper maintenance will lessen the effect. Also, when cracks happen on your concrete, you begin to see grasses forcing itself through those cracks.
Sometimes, you begin to see insects littering everywhere with sands from the cracked point. You would not want to be spending money treating weeds every time or losing the beauty of home due to littering from insects. So, you will need to take proper care of your structure. This will also save you money in the long run. Cracks are not just ugly in the eyes, but they create unsafe and potentially dangerous structures in your home. It cost you nothing to maintain your concrete. You just need to devote the time and effort. It will greatly help your home. Ok now we have known these few benefits, I guess you are eager to know how you want to maintain your cement structure. Let us get there!
How To Maintain Concrete
Understanding how to maintain your concrete should be at the back of every homeowner’s mind. Moreover, you can do it on your own with no extra cost. However, the steps you choose to maintain can be of great value to how people view your home. Here we have decided to incorporate a few steps that will give your concrete the shiny look it deserves.
Keep the Concrete Clean and Attractive:
Cleaning your Concrete goes a long way in preserving your work. It is known to be that 80% of the reasons why your concretes become unattractive over time, is because of sand particles beneath your shoes. Yes, that is true. concretes are porous, especially when it is not sealed. So, when dry sand particles find its way to your concretes, it leaves some scratches on the surface. Thus, making it unattractive and negatively impacts its durability. Those living in humid areas are prone to have spirogyra growing on the surface. It is common in those areas. However, cleaning can help eliminate the growth of spirogyra. However, you can use a scrub brush, trisodium phosphate, pressure washer, or oxalic acid. You can choose any of the options that work best for you in cleaning your work.
Apply Concrete Sealer:
Concrete sealers are used to protect your surface from wear and tear from harsh weather conditions or human activities on the surface. It prolongs the life of the concrete and still gives it a better look after many years of installation. There are various different sealing methods available today (Tropical and Integral). There all offer a great advantage in preserving your concretes. However, most homeowners prefer to use topical sealers for their indoor floors because of flexibility in design choice.
Avoid Heavy Weighted Objects on your Indoor Concretes:
Your home walkway and driveway concrete are not as strong those used in road construction. Even much as we acclaimed that cement is durable; it also depends on the quality during the first installation. When producing your home floors, specification is already set because it is not built for heavy-duty motors to pass through. Allowing heavy objects on your concretes will cause serious damage, and that could sometimes result in spending money on repairs. It might not see the immediate effect of the damage. Still, it can gradually cause a reduction in the texture and structure of the surface over time.
Avoid Using Unapproved Chemicals:
Certain specific chemicals can cause serious damage to your concretes. If any chemicals such as bleach split on your surface, you should wash them off immediately because bleaches can decolorate your sealers, especially topical sealers. Also, avoid buying products that are not approved or tested to be used on concrete surfaces to clean your slab areas. Most chemical products do not offer what they claim on to on their label. Abstain from such products and seek advice from a well-trusted surface maintenance company.
Conclusion
Maintenance should be a priority for every homeowner. It can keep you safe, secured, and make your surface look as shiny as a new installation. Even though you had your project installed years ago, or you just installed recently. Maintenance is a key aspect of improving the durability of your walkway and driveway. How about you not wanting to see spirogyra growing on your surface? Well, if you need to avoid that, you need to adapt to proper cleaning hygiene. Moreover, it saves costs. You do not need to spend heavily on a total replacement of your cement structure. However, you can adopt proper cleaning hygiene so that issues do not occur frequently. Visit this site to learn more about proper care.
