Cleaning and sealing your concrete driveway can make it look new again, almost. If a good cleaning is needed for your concrete driveway, plan to rent or buy a power washer.
After a thorough power washing, you can remove any deeper stains, seal cracks, and then roll on a coat of translucent masonry sealer, available at your local home improvement center.
Remaing grease or oil stains can be soaked up using cat litter, fine sawdust, hydrated lime, or cement powder, and then sweeping away the residue.
For older, deeper type stains, try a commercial degreaser, emulsifier, or 1 to4 bleach-water mixture. You may find that some stains cannot be removed but can be lightened.
Next,seal any hairline or surface cracks in the driveway with concrete patching compound, normally applied using a caulking gun. For any crack wider than 1/4 inch, widen the crack with a mason's hammer and cold chisel,removing any loose concrete, sweep out the crack and blow out any dust or fine pieces of concrete and trowel on a concrete-patching compound, again available at your local home improvement center.
When the compound starts to set, using a wet trowel, smooth over the patch so it is even with the surrounding concrete. Moisten the patch with water throughout the week to ensure the concrete dries slowly.
After the compound dries apply a clear or stain type concrete sealer to increase your driveway's beauty.
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