Concrete Winter Care and Maintenance
Europa Concrete & Interlocking Inc brings you a few concrete care and maintenance tips so that your concrete structures and exteriors are not left unnoticed during the harsh winters. You can follow these recommendations to ensure your Hamilton property is maintained the same way you would do during the summer or fall. Get in touch with us for more information.
Do Not Use Salt and/or De-icing Products on New Concrete Installations (Under 12 Months Old)
The use of salt and/or de-icing products can result in discolouration, pitting, spalling and scaling. You must use only sand or kitty litter to add surface traction if needed.
Surface Heaving
During winters, the natural freeze/thaw cycles can cause your concrete surface to push up (heave). Usually, your concrete installation is designed with specifically placed pressure cuts to prevent cracking, in case this should occur. The concrete structure will settle back down to its installed position/level once the frost has gone out of the ground in the spring.
Snow Removal
We highly recommend the use of a plastic shovel for snow removal. This will eliminate scratching and the loss of stones to the stamped or exposed aggregate. You can also use snow blowers as long as you ensure the rotating blades do not come in direct contact with the concrete surface. You must also ensure that the snow guides are not too sharp. If the sharp snow guides come in direct contact, these can possibly scratch the concrete surface. Also, if you need to use truck blades on your property, be sure that the actual blade has a plastic guard along the bottom and take extra precautions to eliminate scratching of the concrete surface.
Care and Maintenance Recommendations
Here is a summary of all the tips that you must remember to ensure that the concrete installations on your property are not damaged:
- Seal your concrete surfaces regularly. We recommend that you seal your stamped concrete and exposed aggregate surfaces every two years to protect and preserve them.
- Use sand or kitty litter to improve surface traction when necessary.
- Never use salt or de-icing products on new concrete installations.
- Heaving as a result of ground frost is a naturally occurring situation and generally resolves with the spring thaw.