Decorative concrete can be a beautiful feature for your home or business year-round, but winter can bring some challenges. The inclement weather as well as the harsh chemicals in de-icers like road salt can potentially damage your decorative concrete. Here are some care tips to help your decorative concrete survive the winter and continue to look great throughout the year.
Keep it Clean
The best way to prevent winter damage is by keeping the surface of your decorative concrete as clean as possible. By sweeping and washing your decorative concrete on a weekly, you will help maintain it. When it comes to snow, try to shovel it off of the concrete as soon as possible. Otherwise, too much snow accumulation could cause water damage.
Use Sealers
Concrete sealers are a little bit of insurance against winter damage. Keep in mind that you can’t set it and forget it with sealers, but you will need to apply them regularly. Also, concrete sealers can protect from ice and salt damage to a degree, but they won’t prevent stains, so it is still important to keep your decorative concrete clean.
Reduce Salt
The best way to prevent damage to your decorative concrete is to avoid salting it. Sidewalk salt is important for preventing ice from forming and in adding traction to prevent slipping. If your decorative concrete is in a common walkway, then you might need to salt it a little bit for safety. However, by regularly shoveling off the snow, it will prevent the snow from solidifying into ice, which means that you might not need as much salt.
Masonry Contracting from Del Prete Masonry
If you are ready to upgrade your home with beautiful decorative concrete, Del Prete Masonry has the experience and expertise to get the job done right for the right price. To explore our residential and commercial services and set up a consultation, please give us a call at 410-683-0650 or contact us online. We currently serve Baltimore City and County, Harford County, Carroll County, Anne Arundel County, and Howard County. To see examples of our work and get more updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Tags: Concrete, decorative concrete, decorative concrete floors