It most certainly is! For details, check out Our Guarantee.

Not at all. There is an almost limitless palette of special finishes for concrete pavements and slabs. With the addition of color and a skilled decorative concrete contractor, concrete can take on almost any shape, pattern, color, or texture, in both exterior and interior applications..

We offer many colors! To see them all, check out our Concrete Coloring page.

Prior to applying a protective sealer, your driveway must be cured to attain the strength and durability potential of the concrete. The potential for concrete shrinkage, cracking, and dusting increases significantly when concrete is not cured properly.

Generally, the surface needs to stay moist for at least 7 days to provide good curing. Curing maintains the concrete at satisfactory moisture and temperature conditions to allow hydration to continue. Any one of the following methods can be used:

• Spray on curing compound (according ASTM C309).
• Polyethylene cover.
• Seven day continuous water cure.
• Saturated burlap with polyethylene cover.

Of the methods mentioned, the spray on curing compound provides the most cost effective approach towards curing particularly during summer concrete construction.

For our market area, the American Concrete Institute and the American Concrete Pavement Association recommend a minimum of seven days following concrete placement before using a concrete driveway.

Once your driveway is cured and given an opportunity to air dry (30 days), it is now ready to be sealed. A protective sealer minimizes moisture and deicing salt penetration into the surface of the concrete and to limit surface deterioration due to cycles of freezing and thawing. Michigan is classified as a severe weathering region. Therefore, a sealer must be applied approximately 30 days following placement provided that the surface is dry and ambient temperatures are above 55°F, and certainly before the onset of winter. After the initial application, it should be done every 2 – 3 years depending on the sealer used.

Most definitely. The rate at which concrete hardens is very much affected by temperature, moisture and wind. Wind can cause the surface to crack. Rain will significantly weaken the surface. Placing concrete in cold weather often involves heating some of the concrete ingredients, protecting the freshly-placed concrete from freezing, and closely monitoring the strength gain of the concrete. Placing concrete in hot weather might mean cooling materials or placing concrete at nighttime to avoid daytime extremes. That’s why it’s important to work with the right concrete mix for your application.

Yes, concrete will often crack. To minimize and control cracking, control joints or “cuts” are placed in the concrete so that the concrete cracks where those control joints are placed. You can also add concrete products that contain millions of fibers mixed throughout the concrete to help to control cracking even more. Ask us when you place your order about adding fibers to your concrete. And for more information, please read Our Guarantee.

The difference in initial price is more than made up over the lifetime of the driveway. A good quality concrete driveway will last more than 30 years with little maintenance. Asphalt driveways need regular periodic sealing coats to retard age-related cracking. Even properly constructed residential asphalt driveways will deteriorate more quickly due to environmental factors than vehicle traffic. When you factor in the cost of surface and crack sealers and the shorter life-span of the asphalt, concrete will cost much less over the life of the structure.

In addition to sealing concrete every 2-3 years,

• To avoid staining and discoloration, do not allow rusting metals to sit on the concrete.
• Frequent sweeping and occasional hosing will be enough to keep your concrete looking good. Wet leaves on a driveway have a tendency to stain, so be prepared to clean your driveway often in fall.
• Do not drive on the “new” concrete for at least 7 days.
• Do not allow water to drain beneath the slab as settlement cracks may develop.

Most definitely. The rate at which concrete hardens is very much affected by temperature, moisture and wind. Wind can cause the surface to crack. Rain will significantly weaken the surface. Placing concrete in cold weather often involves heating some of the concrete ingredients, protecting the freshly-placed concrete from freezing, and closely monitoring the strength gain of the concrete. Placing concrete in hot weather might mean cooling materials or placing concrete at nighttime to avoid daytime extremes. That’s why it’s important to work with the right concrete mix for your application.