If you live in a place like Minneapolis concrete repair can be needed more often than in other places. There are a lot of contributing factors to driveway repairs or sidewalk fixes. Concrete driveways in particular can end up sunken or cracked or in need of some kind of help. In a place like Minneapolis concrete repair should be done by professionals and experts because they are familiar with the environment, the weather and other factors that play in to why it needed fixing in the first place.

Over time, concrete can chip or crack for various reasons. This could be anything from settlement to overloading to poor installation or construction or that the ground underneath could be washing out. Minneapolis concrete repair isn’t always a cheap fix, depending on the problem so maintenance is key to saving money. Don’t procrastinate on upkeep or else you could end up wasting a lot of time and money that you didn’t have to. Here are a few tips for maintaining your concrete driveway.

1. Keep Sealer Fresh
   This includes cleaning and reapplying as needed. Your driveway will need a good clean sometimes and keeping it sealed off is the best way to keep it looking top notch. The weather conditions will determine how often you need to clean or reseal your driveway because it depends on how much the concrete is exposed to. It also depends on how much traffic is receives. Typically, you can plan on resealing once every two years. A good rule of thumb is to just eyeball it and when the driveway starts to show wear then you can reseal it.




2. Remove Stains
   If your car leaks oil or gas or grease or anything else on to the driveway then you should clean it up immediately. The sealer will protect your concrete somewhat but it still needs to be cleaned as soon as possible. Discolored concrete can be fixed by pressure washing or different kinds of chemical cleaners. However, there are some chemicals that eat away at concrete, so make sure you do your research before using them to remove the stains that your concrete has endured.




3. Avoid Deicing
   This is one of the chemicals that you definitely want to avoid using on your concrete driveway. Minneapolis concrete repair will involve some deicing but using deicers during the winter can cause the surface of your driveway to become damaged. Scaling and spalling can occur because of forcing the moisture to thaw and then refreeze. Anything that contacts ammonium nitrates and sulphates are very harmful because they eat away at the concrete as well as the ice. Instead, try using rock salt if you don’t have any plants or vegetation near by. If you do, sand will do the trick.




4. Be Careful
   Concrete is extremely durable. It really is one of the strongest types of materials that can be used for driveways. However, it still needs to be taken care of. Your run of the mill residential driveway is made to support severely heavy vehicles or large equipment so try to avoid parking things like that on it. Using rubber blades with plowing your driveway is a good idea so that you don’t scratch or scrape the concrete. Simple tips like this make a huge difference in how long your concrete driveway lasts.

Even if you take care of your driveway to the tee and are absolutely perfect in everything you do, you will notice that eventually there will need to be fixes and repairs done but you can avoid a lot of unnecessary work by simply following the above tips for driveway maintenance. It doesn’t take a lot of work to upkeep concrete so there really is no excuse not to do it. The simple steps could tack on years of life to your driveway. If you simply treat it with care and don’t take it for granted you will be able to keep the same driveway for a long time. Otherwise, you may need to fix it sooner rather than later. You may even need to replace the entire driveway which can be very costly and take awhile and you won’t even be able to use your driveway during the time of construction.