Winter can bring on lots of unwanted elements to your concrete. Along with the cold temperatures and wet conditions, your concrete is also exposed to numerous harmful chemicals, such as road salt, that can quickly damage your concrete. The biggest preventer of damaging your concrete is coating it, but the real question is, can salt ruin my concrete coating?
What Happens to My Concrete If Left Uncoated in the Winter?
During the colder months, your concrete is much more susceptible to damage, especially if it is new concrete. This is because, during the winter, your concrete becomes weak and combines with road salt and other ice-removing chemicals. As a result, it directly affects the freeze-thaw cycle on concrete, which can cause cracking.
More specifically, concrete is like a stiff sponge absorbing water. While water absorption is acceptable during the warmer months, winter temperatures cause the absorbed water to freeze and form ice-crystals in your concrete, leading to the expansion and eventually breaking down of your concrete.
Salt only makes this process worse. The road-salt added only attracts more water to your concrete and therefore causes it to absorb that much more, making the damage much worse. In springtime, you may have to repair or replace your concrete.
What If My Concrete is Already Coated?
Having your concrete coated before the winter months arrive is a great start to having your concrete be fully protected. Concrete coating allows for your concrete to become more flexible, resistant, stronger, and more stable. But coating your concrete can only do so much during the harsh outdoor conditions. To completely protect your concrete, you need to have it sealed.
A concrete sealer prevents water absorption and thus prevents any harmful effects that may happen because of it. The water repellents in a concrete sealer also have the double duty of preventing anti-ice or other chemicals like road salt from seeping into your concrete. Concrete Coatings of Minnesota specializes in the application of not only coating your concrete but applying a clean & seal that is specialized to your specific outdoor concrete.
Concrete Coatings’ Clean & Seal Process
- We will professionally power wash with a deep cleaning tool to prepare the concrete surfaces.
- Next, we will apply cleaning agents that have been specifically formulated for concrete.
- Then, we will thoroughly rinse all the cleaning agents from the concrete surfaces.
- We will let the surface dry for 24-48 hours.
- Finally, we will apply one to two coats, depending on the project, of a commercial grade concrete sealer to fit your application to manufacture specs.
It’s Never Too Late To Seal Your Concrete
Choosing the option to coat and seal your concrete will overall be beneficial for your home and your bank accounts. It prevents you from having to repeatedly repair or replace your concrete after every harsh winter in Minnesota. Call Concrete Coatings of Minnesota today to see when you can get your concrete coated and sealed and get a free project estimate!
