[ronda]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

When we had ours painted it was about $2 per square foot for preclean (pressure wash) and painting, this assumes the driveway was never painted. Ours was done by 'Driveways by Jay' and these are NOT sealed right away. I contacted Jay about sealing after 7 years (driveway still looks great) and was told they no longer do sealing due to potential problems with clouding of the sealer. I was told just continue to use DAWN and pressure wash.

Not trying to pe picky here, but was your drive painted, or stained? I thought you said in a different post that you had yours stained. I'm trying to understand the options. Thinking paint is different from stain. Getting the idea from another post that stain penetrates the concrete below the surface, so it's more durable than paint.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by ronda

Not trying to pe picky here, but was your drive painted or stained? I thought you said in a different post that you had yours stained. I'm trying to understand the options. Thinking stain is different from stain. Getting the idea from another post that stain penetrates the concrete below the surface, so it's more durable than paint.

My understanding is that stain is definitely more durable than paint. Paint sticks to the surface and can stick to car tires in the heat and peel away. Stain soaks into the concrete, and then a layer of clear sealer is applied over the stain to protect it. Over time, I think every three to five years, a stained driveway needs to be power washed and have a new coat of sealant applied, so it is not maintenance free. My understanding is that the stain basically lasts forever as long as it is properly sealed. The one exception is that petroleum products can damage the stain and would need to be professionally fixed. So be careful not to spill gas or park a vehicle in the driveway with an oil leak. That is why the mobil golf cart repair people work on the carts in the road and not the driveway, they don't want any liability for staining their customers driveways. One last thing, it is very important to have very clean concrete before staining it, otherwise any blemishes in the driveway will discolor the stain job. Amy Newsom and her crew did an outstanding job pressure washing and acid cleaning our driveway before applying the stain. She also left me with some samples of the actual stains that were used on the driveway. That way, if she ever had to come back and fix a petroleum product blemish in the driveway, she could get an exact match to the samples. Hope that helps and good luck with your project.