While concrete is an extremely durable material with the potential to last for many years with little maintenance, ‘low maintenance’ is not the same as ‘zero maintenance’.
Why Maintain Your Concrete?
Correctly maintaining your concrete surfaces ensures they are long-lasting, safe and structurally sound throughout their lifespan. This aids in reducing your financial outlay on repairs and replacement work in the future.
Even though concrete is highly durable in principle, properly maintaining it greatly extends its lifespan, and helps the surface maintain its beauty – which is particularly important for decorative concrete applications. By maintaining concrete well, even plain, grey concrete can look bright opposed to stained.
Concrete is an investment for any home or business owner who installs it at their property and following a maintenance routine can assist in protecting that investment for the long term.
Concrete Maintenance
Concrete is an organic product that still requires some simple care and maintenance on a regular basis. This helps the surface retain its visual appeal and extends the lifespan of the product. Knowing the correct methods to maintain your concrete can make a huge difference in its visual intrigue. There’s no need to put off your concrete maintenance, as it involves a few simple tasks that can be completed by a single person. Note that the level of maintenance required on your concrete is based on the amount of wear and tear from general use your surface is exposed to.
Polished Concrete Maintenance
By undertaking relatively simple housekeeping activities, you can ensure your polished concrete maintains a stunning shine for years to come.
- Dust Mopping: Dust and grime sitting on the surface of your polished concrete eventually seeps into the pores where it has a detrimental effect on the polish, dimming shine and clarity. Regularly dust mopping with a microfibre pad is the most effective way to prevent this.
- Attending To Stains: It is crucial to clean liquid or other spills from your polished concrete as they occur. This prevents the substance spilt from penetrating the concrete.
- Wet Mopping: Semi-regular wet mopping with clean water is beneficial for maintaining the shine of your polished concrete application. It is critical the water is changed consistently to avoid introducing contaminants to the surface.
- Neutral pH Cleaners: Floor cleaners with a neutral pH can be utilised to assist in the cleaning of the surface. Neutral pH cleaners must be used to prevent any reactions with the concrete.
Exposed & Honed Aggregate Maintenance
Similarly to polished concrete, exposed and honed aggregate surfaces can be maintained with a few simple tasks.
- Don’t Allow Stains To Settle: The longer stains are left on the surface of your concrete, the further they will seep in and the harder they will be to remove.
- Maintain Sealing: Ensuring your concrete surfaces are sealed aids in maintaining its original look over time. This helps to protect your investment as prolonged exposure to weather and heavy traffic can accelerate signs of wear.
- Pressure Washing: For stubborn stains, a pressure washer can be utilised. Care should be taken when using a pressure washer with exposed aggregate, as you don’t want to loosen, or completely remove, the exposed stones.
Liquid Limestone Maintenance
The following tips will help you to maintain and maximise the lifespan of your liquid limestone application. New to the material? Start with our homeowner’s guide to liquid limestone.
- Seal The Surface: To increase the longevity of your liquid limestone surface, having it sealed is recommended. This will help to prevent damage to the surface as well. Liquid limestone in different areas of the home may have different requirements – for example a pool surround will need to be water resistant and weatherproofed.
- Sweep & Hose Surface: Remove loose dust and dirt by sweeping the surface. Your limestone should be hosed down to remove spills as they occur, preventing the penetration of the surface and the likelihood of staining.
What To Avoid When Maintaining Your Concrete
In order to maximise the lifespan of your concrete surfaces, there are a few things that should be avoided.
- Neutral cleaning agents only should be used on your concrete flooring. Acidic or alkaline products, including ammonia, bleach or citrus solutions, can cause damage to the surface of your concrete.
- Rubber products should be avoided as they can potentially leave permanent marks on the concrete surface. This includes rubber floor protectors and rubber-backed mats.
- Care should be taken when using cleaning equipment such as brooms or vacuum cleaners to remove dirt and dust, as this gear can cause scratching to your surfaces.
- Ensure to remove as much loose dirt and grime from your decorative concrete floor before steam cleaning. Steam cleaners can trap dirt on the surface of your floor instead of removing it.
Choose Limecrete For Your Decorative Concrete Project
With a wealth of experience and access to the finest decorative concrete resources available, Limecrete has cemented itself as a leader in industry. We have placed a focus on adoption of advanced technologies, allowing us to create specialist decorative mixes to perfectly suit homes and businesses across Perth.
We are Perth’s only concrete supplier specialising in the creation of stunning decorative concrete products from within our own facilities. Our expertise, technologies and resources enable us to deliver concrete solutions with unparalleled consistency. Reach out today to discuss your upcoming concrete project!
