Welcome to Elusive Concrete Developments. Here is our go to blog for all and any concrete specific information residing here in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
If you’re planning on taking any type of concrete project on, whether being a concrete slab, Concrete driveway in Melbourne, exposed aggregate concrete in Melbourne, concrete stairs or any other outdoor concrete based area, ECD have your questions and queries completely covered in this business to client concrete blog. Taking care of your newly poured concrete is one of the most important keys to maintaining the longevity of your freshly poured slab.
Home | Concrete Mix & Garden Supplies | Midway Concrete
Plain Concrete
While starting with the basics of plain concrete here are some of our best used methods to taking care of your new concrete.
- pre-cut control joints in your concrete are essential in maintaining the longevity of your concrete, for reasons of: Controlling where your concrete slab will crack and minimizing the risk of wide-open cracks on the surface area.
- Hydration: hydration is another key element in keeping your slab from losing its battle against the Australian climate. Example: extremely hot weather conditions throughout the Australian summer can very much make a giant impact on how your concrete cures, concrete going off too quick in hot conditions can cause a lot more stress cracks and weakness under the surface. If pouring in hot conditions, it is advised that after the pour process the concrete is to remain hydrated for the remainder of the week (if heat continues). Keeping your concrete hydrated is by allowing moisture to cool the curing process and slow down the rapid setting elements bonding too quickly. One of the best ways is to lightly spray your new concrete with a garden hose after the first hour after being poured and to follow every two hours with a heavy soak of water to relieve the slab of too much heat.
- the last main factor here is to keep the surface of your concrete clean. We advise every 6 months to scrub the surface face with a hard broom and a bucket with water and dish soap, scrub concrete, let soak overnight to eat away any unnecessary dirt or grease, the follow 24 hours later by giving the concrete surface a pressure wash to remove any unwanted debris.
Coloured Concrete
Moving on to one of our favourite styles of concrete here we will inform you our best ways of looking after your new coloured driveway.
- pre-cut control joints as stated above. pre-cut control joints in your concrete are essential in maintaining the longevity of your concrete, for reasons of: Controlling where your concrete slab will crack and minimizing the risk of wide-open cracks on the surface area.
- Hydration: hydration is another key element in keeping your slab from losing its battle against the Australian climate. Example: extremely hot weather conditions throughout the Australian summer can very much make a giant impact on how your concrete cures, concrete going off too quick in hot conditions can cause a lot more stress cracks and weakness under the surface. If pouring in hot conditions, it is advised that after the pour process the concrete is to remain hydrated for the remainder of the week (if heat continues). Keeping your concrete hydrated is by allowing moisture to cool the curing process and slow down the rapid setting elements bonding too quickly. One of the best ways is to lightly spray your new concrete with a garden hose after the first hour after being poured and to follow every two hours with a heavy soak of water to relieve the slab of too much heat.
- keep the surface of your concrete clean. We advise every 6 months to scrub the surface face with a hard broom and a bucket with water and dish soap, scrub concrete, let soak overnight to eat away any unnecessary dirt or grease, the follow 24 hours later by giving the concrete surface a pressure wash to remove any unwanted debris.
- following the cleaning process every 6-8 months (recommended) making sure every particle of dirt of unwanted debris is removed from the concrete driveway, we highly recommend a new fresh double coat of concrete sealer to be applied. first coat being lighter and the second coat to cover all grey areas. a fresh coat of sealer is a great way to protect your new concrete from any dirt, grease or oil stains that are unwanted from the area, being a driveway, they do receive a lot more foot and vehicle traffic and can result in having oil stains and dirt stains from time to time. A brand-new lick of sealer will protect and also keep the coloured texture from getting that ugly sun fade that is predominant across many driveways seen in Melbourne. SEAL your driveway
- we do also offer maintenance services to all of our clients, make sure to keep a business card handy so that when you are needing a touch up the Elusive crew are a call away.
Exposed Aggregate Concrete
Looking after exposed aggregate concrete will follow similar guidelines to previously mentioned above.
- pre-cut control joints in your concrete are essential in maintaining the longevity of your concrete, for reasons of: Controlling where your concrete slab will crack and minimizing the risk of wide-open cracks on the surface area.
- keep the surface of your concrete clean. We advise every 6 months to scrub the surface face with a hard broom and a bucket with water and dish soap, scrub concrete, let soak overnight to eat away any unnecessary dirt or grease, the follow 24 hours later by giving the concrete surface a pressure wash to remove any unwanted debris.
- following the cleaning process every 6-8 months (recommended) making sure every particle of dirt of unwanted debris is removed from the concrete driveway, we highly recommend a new fresh double coat of concrete sealer to be applied. first coat being lighter and the second coat to cover all grey areas. a fresh coat of sealer is a great way to protect your new concrete from any dirt, grease or oil stains that are unwanted from the area, being a driveway, they do receive a lot more foot and vehicle traffic and can result in having oil stains and dirt stains from time to time. A brand-new lick of sealer will protect and also keep the coloured texture from getting that ugly sun fade that is predominant across many driveways seen in Melbourne. SEAL your driveway
- these are all very simple steps at keeping your concrete looking new and keeping that modern look to it.
