How to Maintain Your Concrete and Protect it From Cracking, Pitting and Crumbling

It’s been said that your home’s concrete is its calling card. This is certainly true for its driveway, which is usually the first thing you see as you approach a home from the street, but it’s also true for the other concrete around your home, including its sidewalk, paths, patio and pool deck. So, when concrete is left to crack and crumble over time, it can really be an eyesore that conveys a negative impression of your home even before guests set foot inside.

Not only that, but crumbling concrete can also lower your home’s value along with its curb appeal. Plus, cracks and pits can even present tripping hazards that can be dangerous to visitors and family members alike.

So, you may ask, “How do I protect my concrete from cracking and crumbling?” The answer is, it’s actually easier and less expensive than you might think.

But first, let’s get an idea why good concrete goes bad.

Water, Water Everywhere

Water is concrete’s enemy. It can wash away supporting soil when there’s too much of it. It can cause soil to shrink when there’s too little. And when it freezes and thaws over and over, it can cause concrete’s surface to crack, pit and crumble.

Here’s the thing: concrete is porous, so it acts like a giant sponge. So, what happens is, water is absorbed at the surface — maybe from rain or melting snow. Then, if temperatures drop below freezing, the water turns into ice, which expands and breaks the walls of those pores, weakening the concrete.

You probably wouldn’t see anything at first. Unfortunately, though, it worsens exponentially with every freeze/thaw cycle until the pitting and flaking becomes obvious to the naked eye.

In addition to damage caused by freezing and thawing, concrete’s porous nature makes it susceptible to staining from chemicals, dirt and other materials. As with cracking and pitting, staining is an eyesore that can reduce your home’s curb appeal.

So, how can you prevent all this from happening?

The Seal of Protection

The key to protecting your home’s concrete for the long term is to seal it from the elements. This seems like a no-brainer, but too many homeowners forego this simple step only to regret it years later when it becomes necessary to replace or resurface their driveways and patios.

So, it’s off to the big-box DIY store to buy a five-gallon bucket of sealant, right? Wrong. It's best to start at the root cause of the problem. Most concrete slabs have cracks, pits, voids or holes. LRE Foundation Repair offers a wide range of products that can lift, level, seal, or smooth your concrete slabs, eliminating present and future damage.

How They Work

Concrete sealers — such as NexusPro — uses a silicone-like material to inject into cracks and divots to protect the surface from weathering, erosion or other damage. This sealant is flexible, durable and long-lasting. LRE also offers a polyurethane-based product called PolyLevel that is actually injected into the concrete to flow just beneath the surface. PolyLevel is quite effective at filling holes and voids as well as lifting, leveling, and stabilizing sunken slabs. 

LRE offers a wide variety of concrete repair solutions to fit every homeowner's needs. Contact LRE Foundation Repair today to schedule your free, no-obligation inspection and quote, and get one step closer to the concrete driveway, walkway, patio or pool deck of your dreams.