Want To Do Something With Bare Concrete Driveway - Suggestions Please
 

Just what the title says. We'd like to finally put some sort of surface on our bare concrete driveway, and probably sidewalk and other connected concrete areas. We're not looking for real fancy patterns, but will consider anything that keeps the driveway looking decent, is washable, and is durable.

Thanks. :)

Pavers..Took me 7 years of searching make up my mind if few break changed them out any other coatings on a driveway or walkway fade over time require constant maintenance maintained maintenance

a few of us on our street had a local guy paint our driveways....it was a two day project (base coat and design/sealer)

the color compliments the house color...we all had different designs in the middle and around the edges of the driveways It looks as nice after a year as it did when it was done

Fellow's name was Roger....unfortunately his invoice doesn't have any contact information on it...and he didn't have a card...
like I said...just a local guy with a truck trying to make a living. I would guess that he's working the Southern Oaks area

We inherited a textured drive, In 6 years, our first reseal, and fix some issues $800.00, next reseal $600. This week had king create reseal $1100. So far they did the best job, and guys were great. We do have a full 2 car and cart drive.

If I had my choice I would love a bare driveway

Why

Have had 9 new homes in Florida some with long driveways . I’ve had beautiful landscaping but never spent a dime on the driveway and I or visitors never noticed. FYI my homes were also decorated well but I never spent a dime on garage floor and I or visitors never noticed . What’s The Point

We had ours painted with a Xylene based paint, and a cobblestone design. Driveways by Jay did the work, but I heard is is no longer doing this, too bad he did a really nice job. That was over 5 years ago, just getting ready for the first reseal. One very important point, make sure who ever does your drive uses shark grip or equal slip reducer on these surfaces or you will have an ice skating rink (slippery) surface when they are wet.

Most people use a concrete stain, which goes on like paint and costs about $1,000. Then, it needs to be sealed every year or so. To me, it is a waste of money. I prefer the bare concrete.

You “keep the bare concrete” people have me reconsidering that option. :)

Any suggestions on how to clean it? Or who who be good to hire to clean it?

I think Egners, 352-758-8537, will clean it as part of their house washing service. I used a product called "Pour-N- Restore" to remove an oil stain. There are also other products to remove rust stains. I wouldn't use bleach on it because that can make a permanent stain.

I prefer plain concrete but a lot of driveways, like ours, develop black stains. This I thought was the residue of "black mold" but I was recently told by a neighbor that minerals in the concrete may be causing the stains.

This makes some sense because the stains have discrete edges and it hard to imagine how mold would grow on sun baked concrete with discrete edges. Also, I power washed my concrete so that it was perfectly clean and in a couple of years the stains were back in the same locations. "Wet and Forget" has had no effect on them.

So, if somebody has a suggestion for preventing these black stains on unpainted concrete, I would love to hear them.

So, if it is minerals in the concrete, wouldn't a concrete coating make the situation worse? You wouldn't be able to clean the black stain. My driveway develops a black stain where the downspout discharges water. I think it is mold or tar from the roof.

Many of the stains on Concrete are from the sand when the Concrete was produced.

If I had it to do over again it would still be just Plain Concrete.

We’ve used Wet & Forget Outdoor Cleaner On our driveway. Over a period of weeks, the black stains disappeared, and it stayed clean. We love the stuff!

Been here 19 years. We like it plain concrete, seen our neighbors spend a fortune on their driveways over the years. It's a driveway, you drive your cars on it, leave it concrete, put the money to upgrades inside your home that you'll enjoy over the years, or into great vacations.

We are having our driveway done even as we speak. We are using Florida Deck and putting acrylic texture (cement) (not paint!) which only requires resealing every 3 years. So far, we are extremely pleased with the work and timeliness and service of this company. Not cheap but I think it's going to look great! It will be complete in a few more days. You're welcome to come by and look and if you call them about doing your driveway they will give you 4 pages of addresses of homes they have done. They also don't ask for any money up front. You pay when you are satisfied with the job. Oh, and I have absolutely no connection with this company at all...

I absolutely love our finished flooored garage. No stains and I just blow it out daily. Bright and always clean. That doesn't happen with cement.

Totally agree. I suppose if $$ was unlimited we would consider upgrading the driveway. But with limited funds, we would get much more pleasure spending our discretionary money on a Caribbean vacation doing some scuba diving and sitting on the beach drinking exotic cocktails with little umbrellas in them : )

My driveway is fairly steep and when I checked into having it resurfaced or painted I was advised not to do it from a guy who came out for an estimate. He said on a steep driveway bare concrete is better than a painted one for not being slippery when wet.
I did have the garage floor (which was slippery when wet) resurfaced with shark grip.

No matter what you choose to do, it will require maintenance and money. I have owned two houses and put down pavers. I love the look and do not have any slippery issues. First house, I used Pooters, LLC..... big mistake. Stay clear of them. On half the driveway, the border pavers slid off in to the sod because he did not cement the borders properly. That caused all the pavers in the middle to shift leaving huge gaps. Second house came with pavers, not sure who put them down, but they are still beautiful. They need to be sealed about every couple of years, so I am told, so I had that done for $950. Concrete cracks, just normal especially in Fl. If you put down a coating and the concrete cracks... well, now an eyesore. If I were to buy a new house, I would leave my driveway as is!! Invest the money in beautiful landscaping that you and your neighbors can enjoy! Just my opinion.

Love my driveway
 

Earlier this month I had my driveway, sidewalk and garage floor done by American Concrete Staining Inc. I love it! They were informative, prompt, professional, courteous, cleaned up after themselves, and affordable. A good friend recommended them to me, and now I’m recommending them often. Give Pricella a call: 352-308-7213

Depending on which county you are in, you may not be permitted to do anything other than paint your driveway and you must use only approved colors. I’ll keep mine as is.

What's the point?
 

What's the point you ask. I'll tell you what's the point! The point is you're absolutely correct. That's the point! I have a pressure washer. I bought it 5 years ago. Clean the driveway and concrete outside and inside my courtyard every year or so as well as the sides of the house. Looks great and no complaints. Gives me something to do and it makes me feel productive.

Driveways by Jay just gave us an estimate for driveway and garage floor
We saw him working and loved the way he did it

Decrative Concrete of Central Florida.....352-620-9561. Talk to Cliff and as many others as you feel necessary I guess. All this stuff is personal. Those that don't do anything try and convince you that their opinion is the only one that counts, those that DIY provide a viable option if $$ is a factor. Our neighborhood has a combination of all of the above (and pavers) and it only matters what you want. It's your driveway and garage and it's your $$. Do what makes you feel good :)

Aesthetic Concrete Design. 352-308-7410. Amy and Ronica. Will do a design for you or show you pictures of what they have designed. The girls do a great job. You do have to reseal every couple of years. Can do it yourself with a long handle paint roller. buy sealer at Sherwin Williams.

Plain Concrete
 

Since we may decide to move to another TV home, going to just leave driveway concrete. If you theme out your driveway and want to sell it, this may be a deal breaker to a buyer.

I agree with JoMar. We had Cliff Rider at Decorative Concrete use sharkskin paint on our driveway, sidewalk, garage floor, and back patio. It looks great and is non-slip when wet. He applies a sealant every year. Still looks great.

You can power wash concrete every year, and that’s fine; however, we like the end result. Depends on what you like and whether you want/can spend a little money on it.

His number is (352) 427-2589. Disregard the leaves on the driveway. :icon_wink:

I recently bought a home and it has stamped concrete. It was redone a year ago and its a darker color than it was when I did google earth. So it must of been painted or resealed in a color? Is their any way that can be changed and not costly?

My personal opinion is to leave it as is and use the money for something else. Pavers are expensive and require maintenance. The other choices are less money and still require maintenance. Just be sure to work thru your ARC before you do anything.

No maintenance to speak of.

Just today we had Adam, from his company that I’d have to get the info for you if you’re interested, give us an estimate to remove stains from our paver driveway and color seal it. He’s doing the same to our landscape walls and paths within the area along the front and sides of the house. He’s also grinding off an ugly epoxy color and refinishing the cement on a small patio outside of our lanai.. He’s going to griNd down our garage floor, and without the expense of epoxy, but just as good and long lasting, he’s going to finish it for us. . I looked at a few different picture of the very, very creative ways that he has taken plain concrete to a whole new level using color and the natural texture of a cement. He does etching, etc., but I loved the natural look that came about by just being creative with the cement color sprays. We’ve had others quote in the range of $2000 just to power wash and seal the driveway, so either they were ridiculously high or Adam is very fair for all that he’s doing. If you want to do something that is out of the ordinary unlike the same driveways etched or other designs, and you’re into a more organic look, let me know and I’ll get the info and pass it on. pass on his information to you. He gave us some addresses where we can see his work.it all sounds great, but I’ll only be able to see it after he finishes it. I’ll let you know when it’s done if you aren’t in a rush or would like to see his work. You can also tell him that you’re interested and would like to see the driveways that he’s done. He appears to love the creative aspect of what he does. He’ll also add or change something if color isn’t exactly to your liking after it’s finished We’ll see...

I do hope you know that your driveway is warranty for 10 years against cracking. That is if you don’t coat it. Now with the kids in charge the house is in Fenney May be a little bit different. LOL

Did anyone notice how many of the driveway painters are out of business in this post? I think that alone tells you something. I like plain old concrete and don't need something else to maintain that requires any additional time or money.

Acid stain
 

Google Direct Color concrete acid stain.

i'm still in the trade & there's no such thing as 3yr period for resealing yet,,, is that phrase part of your contract ? do they guarantee the 3yr schedule ?
what you're probably getting is an acrylic fortified polymer-modified cement w/acrylic top seal,,, check out 1 of the bags - should have a mfg # on it UNLESS the installer mixes & bags it in his shop
when we were down in jan, i saw ONE artisan's work that was, impo, pro work,,, all the rest looked like painter's & handymen - even saw 2 girls painting w/h&c - a product rarely used by decorative conc artisans,,, here's why gender was mentioned - neither could explain to me what/why/how - only that they were doing it again,,, you'd think they, at least, would've had some training, no ? saw 2 guys - they at least had plausible answers
for the best long-term performance, conc pavers are #1 in my book,,, more $, sure BUT they're easily repaired if damaged or sunken
by the way, our own driveway is not coated - its plain conc which i do NOT seal
acid-stains outside ? NOT without a uv-resistant sealer - they'll fade in a heartbeat
10yr guarantee w/o cracking ? even fed/state dot specs only call for 1 - that must include caveats - designed ONLY for automobile traffic which is their 'out' if the moving co's truck causes a crack - sitting loads weigh more ( static ) than moving/rolling ( dynamic )

I have pavers which came with the home. They are one year old and I have sanded the joints with polymeric sand and sealed them at a DIY cost of 300.00. I will have to repeat in 3-5 years.

Compare to concrete at essentially zero maintenance.

pavers are more expensive per sf than conc - part materials but mostly labor,,, maint is minimal w/pavers IF the installer knew his stuff