Sealer that went white and cloudy, or started flaking off like paint, and a contractor who said that was normal?
It is not normal. Sealer usually turns white when it goes on over a damp slab or gets rained on before it cures, and it flakes when a film sits on a surface that is already breaking down. We seal driveways, patios, walkways, pool decks and stamped concrete across the Denver metro, and we check for both problems before anything goes on.
You get a fixed, itemized written price after we measure on site, from a licensed and insured Colorado contractor working here since 2010. Call (720) 782-8086 and we reply the same day during business hours.
Your patio or driveway got sealed. A few weeks later it looks like a salt flat, white and hazy, and it won't come off with the leaf blower. The contractor says it was likely just the sealer and offers to come back when it warms up.
Here, sealer does not go on a wet slab, on a new pour that has not cured, or outside the product's temperature range. Those three cover most white haze.
The cracks were never filled, the spalling was never repaired, and a coat of sealer went over the top so it looked finished for a season. Now the top layer is popping off under a shiny film.
We do not seal over open spalling. If the surface is already breaking down, we tell you to repair it first and show you why.
A glossy sealer went on your walk or steps without any anti slip agent, and now it is slick every time it rains.
On driveways we usually recommend a penetrating sealer, which adds no slipperiness. On pool decks and walkways, a fine grit goes into the sealer.
No. It means something went wrong when it was applied, and it nearly always traces back to one of four things.
If yours has already gone white or is flaking, we look at it on site and tell you plainly what fixing it would take. The work is done by a licensed and insured Colorado contractor and backed by a warranty, so you are not left arguing about whether it is normal.
It happens a lot in this trade. Someone comes by for a quote and never sends it. The start day comes and goes with no call and no show. Or the deposit clears and the texts stop. Here is what you can hold us to.
You will hear both sides: acrylic sealers that need redoing every year and show every scratch from patio furniture, and people who say penetrating sealers are the only way to go. Both are right about different surfaces.
They soak in and react inside the concrete. No visible film, no change in appearance, no added slipperiness, and nothing sitting on top to peel. They protect very well against water and salt. They will not give you a wet look. Best for driveways, sidewalks and plain broom-finish patios.
Acrylics and urethanes sit on the surface as a thin layer. They enrich color, add satin or gloss, and give a decorative surface the look you paid for. They can be slippery when wet unless a slip-resistant additive goes in, and they wear, so they need reapplying on schedule. Best for stamped concrete, stained and colored surfaces, and exposed aggregate.
On stamped work, film-forming is nearly always right. On a driveway, penetrating usually is. We will tell you which we would put on your slab and why.
Every two to three years for most exterior flatwork. Toward two years for stamped and decorative surfaces, south and west facing exposures, and anything that takes direct road salt like a driveway apron or a front walk. Toward three for shaded, low-traffic surfaces.
Look that up nationally and you will find longer intervals, often four to five years. Those numbers are written for the average American climate. Denver is not it, for the three reasons below.
The same square footage can be a very different sealing job, so we do not give a flat number over the phone. What moves the price:
If one contractor's quote is far below the others, it's worth asking which of those it leaves out. Ours is a fixed, itemized written price after an on-site measurement, so the number you approve is the number you pay.
About a hundred freeze-thaw cycles a year. Denver has one of the highest counts in the country, because our winters swing above and below freezing constantly instead of staying cold. Every cycle, water sitting in the surface pores freezes and expands by roughly nine percent. A hundred times a winter, that force works the top layer apart. A sealer keeps the water out of the pores in the first place, which is the entire mechanism.
Magnesium chloride. The state and the metro cities run mag chloride rather than rock salt because it works at lower temperatures. It comes home on your tires, drips onto your driveway, and does two things: it attacks the cement paste chemically, and it lowers the freezing point of water sitting in the concrete, which means more freeze-thaw events right at the surface where the damage happens.
UV at 5,280 feet. Sunlight is measurably more intense at this elevation. That breaks sealers down faster, and fades surface color on decorative work faster too. The sealer itself has a shorter service life here than the same product would have in Ohio.
Late spring through early fall gives the best conditions: dry, moderate, and a stretch of good weather to cure in.
The single best window is early fall. You get the sealer on before winter, which is when the freeze-thaw and salt damage actually happens, and September conditions are usually ideal. Sealing in April protects you through summer and then asks the sealer to face winter already a season old.
If it has been more than three years, do it whenever you can rather than waiting for a perfect window.
A film-forming sealer with no anti-slip agent can leave a driveway, walk or steps slippery when wet. Penetrating sealers add no slipperiness, which is one reason we usually recommend them for driveways. On pool decks and walkways we add a fine grit to the sealer for slip resistance. More on that on our pool decks page.
No. Sealing a slab that already has problems locks the problems in.
It is not unreasonable to ask any contractor for proof of insurance, and to make sure it covers workers' comp for anyone on site. All of our work is performed by a licensed and insured Colorado concrete contractor carrying general liability and workers' compensation on every project.
We'll measure, talk through your options and hand you a fixed written price. No pressure, no hidden charges.
Do not put another coat over it yet, because sealing over a problem locks it in. Call us, we look at it on site, and we tell you plainly what fixing it would take.
No. Sealer over a surface that is already coming apart traps moisture in the damaged layer and can speed it up, and it cannot hold onto a layer that is letting go. Repair first, then seal.
For driveways, sidewalks and plain broom-finish patios, usually a penetrating sealer: nothing on top to peel or wear, no change in look, no added slipperiness. For stamped, stained and colored concrete, usually a film-forming sealer, because it brings out the color, but it wears and needs resealing on schedule.
Every two to three years for most exterior concrete. Closer to two for stamped and decorative surfaces, south and west exposures, and anything that takes road salt. Closer to three for shaded, low-traffic areas.
Usually a film-forming sealer went on without an anti-slip additive. A penetrating sealer adds no slipperiness. On pool decks and walkways we add a fine grit to the sealer for grip.
Get a free on-site quote this week. Honest pricing, no pressure, work backed by a warranty.
