Salt is what wears out Ohio concrete.
Most driveways around Columbus don't fail from traffic. They fail from water and salt getting into the surface and freezing, over and over, until the top layer flakes off. That's the pitted, peeling look on older drives, and it's called scaling. A good sealer keeps water and salt out of the pores, and it's the cheapest thing you can do to make a slab last.
It starts with a clean slab
Sealer only bonds to clean, dry concrete, so every seal job starts with a wash. If the surface is dirty, sealer traps the dirt under a film that peels later. See powerwashing for what that involves.
Sealing and resealing
Every slab we pour is sealed before we leave. For existing concrete, we clean it, let it dry, and apply a penetrating or film-forming sealer depending on the surface. Stamped and colored concrete gets a sealer that brings the color back. Most driveways benefit from a reseal every two to three years.
Coatings are a different job
Sealer soaks into concrete and protects it while still looking like concrete. Epoxy is a coating that sits on top and changes the surface entirely — that's the one for garage and shop floors.
The powerwash-and-reseal package
This is our most popular maintenance job: a full wash of the driveway, walks and patio, followed by a fresh seal coat, done in one visit. Book it in spring to clean off winter salt, or in fall before it goes down.
