Homes can be made beautiful by designing a great landscape around it. A quality garage door and your driveway are a part of this landscape. There are many ways to construct a driveway but people today prefer to use concrete over other materials as you can find a lot of decorative options here.
Lot of beautiful colours and designs are available today for the concrete driveways. Though the concrete when installed properly can last long but if not taken care can lead to cracks. With some simple processes, it is possible to repair or remodel the concrete driveway for better and beautiful home.
Options for repairing the concrete driveway
The concrete driveways are built in such a way that they will last really long. But due to some reasons, you can find cracks, scaling and discoloration on the driveway.
Extreme weather conditions, bad pavement procedure, use of less concrete mix etc. could be some reasons behind the damage. Instead of building a new driveway, you can find easy options to renovate and repair them.
Concrete engraving
This method can be used to hide minor cracks and discolorations by engraving some patterns on the surface. Patterns must be as such that the flaw present can contribute to the look of the surface. There are routing machines to cut pattern after concrete is stained.
Concrete resurfacing
In this process a concrete overlay is put on the driveway that has cracks, spalling or scaling. Resurfacing can hide the flaw and make the driveway beautiful with different colors and patterns. But it is important to remove bad concrete and repair the bigger cracks before the existing concrete is resurfaced with overlay.
Recoloring
Many reasons like sun exposure, improper application of color, absorption of grease and oil, extreme weather conditions can lead to discoloration of long lasting and wear resistant colors on the concrete. New coat of water-based or acid based UV- resistant stain can be applied along with good sealer to retain the old beauty of the concrete driveway.
Slab jacking
If you find the problem of the sinking of slabs at some spots of the driveway due to poorly compacted concrete or soil erosion, then slab jacking is the best. Here the slab is pushed up to the original position by putting in mixture of cement, sand, fly ash and other additives.
Sealer for concrete driveways is the best option that can help the driveway to remain great for longer period. A high quality sealer chosen after checking the reviews of the quality can extend the life of the driveway.
It can also make the decorative concrete look glossy and attractive. You can hire a professional for applying or do it yourself as no big equipment or labour is needed for application.
How to repair the driveway
The concrete driveways with cracks that are less than a quarter-inch wide can be easily repaired. Surface damages that don’t run deep can be repaired using liquid crack fillers.
If you find cracks in the driveway which are more than quarter-inch wide and are deeper in some areas means the situation is serious. Filling such cracks can be temporary solution which will break after some time.
Patching materials can be used to fix the holes but it is also a temporary solution as water seeps out and it will create holes once again. Replacement of concrete or asphalt driveway is the only permanent solution for long run.
There are few steps that can be followed by the homeowner to ensure the appearance of the driveway remains as it is for long.
Little care like avoiding the use of deicing chemicals that contain ammonium nitrates and ammonium sulphates can prevent damages cleaning the driveway at certain occasions and removing the stains of oil and grease as well as applying sealers can extend its life.