Cleaning and Sealing Stamped Concrete
How to clean stamped concrete?
Cleaning stamped concrete is relatively simple and be done with a simple garden hose and a liquid dish soap. All you have to do is rinse your concrete with a garden hose set to high pressure. Scrub the concrete with a push broom and some liquid dish soap until all the soap is rinsed away and there is no residue. Done! A pressure washer on mild setting can be used for any tough stains. Or of course, call us and we can do it for you! We can also examine your concrete while we are there and provide you some maintenance tips.
Stamped concrete must be cleaned before it is sealed because we need to clean off the release agent and powder that keeps the stamp from sticking to the concrete when it is pressed in. The powder also adds a bit of an “antiquing” effect to the concrete. We use a pressure washer to properly clean off the release agent and all the powder residue to make sure that the concrete sealer will be able to properly bond to the concrete. Then we scrub it with brushes as well as soap to get 95% of the release agent to disappear. The cleaned stamped concrete will need to dry overnight before it can be properly sealed.
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How to seal stamped concrete:
Stamped concrete sealer will help protect the concrete work against fading from prolonged UV exposure, and blocking chemicals, dirt as well as any salt damage from Winter. We recommend you steer clear of using deicing salts on the stamped concrete surfaces, particularly during the first winter after the pavement is installed. Sealers for decorative concrete are ineffective in places where deicing salts are placed or that accumulate run-off from parked vehicles. The cause of damage is not from the salts though, rather it is freeze/thaw cycles that happen because of the salt. We apply two light coats of sealing which at about 300-400 square feet per gallon to darken the concrete and then enhance any colors in the stamped concrete.