Last October we purchased a house in an upscale neighborhood and nearly everyone has a stamped concrete driveway. That’s all well and good, but our driveway looks terrible. It was installed about 15 years ago, and with the harsh Montana winters, snowblowers, and snow shoveling, it’s gotten beat up pretty badly.
The original stamped concrete was reddish pink, it was then painted over a darker color, and it has been sealed a number of times. In some places, the sealant has started to come off, while in other places the paint has started to wear off. There are pits, gouges, scratches, and cracks throughout, some were filled in with a yellowish-white filler that looks awful. I’m at a loss at what to do now. See photos here. Shutterfly
I was thinking we could just paint it again, but the painter said we would have to remove all of the sealant or the paint won’t stick, which would be a huge job to remove. One guy said he could just powerwash off the paint and sealant, but I think he must be smoking crack since I have power washed it and no paint or sealant has ever been removed.
I would really like to tear it all out and start over… but that would cost a small fortune. Any suggestions?
I would agree with you that if you have already powerwashed and the paint doesn’t come off, just leave it there.
I personally (after looking at your pictures) would 1. power wash 2. use metal bristled brush around edges of any crack or pothole. 3. Seal all cracks with a asphalt or pavement caulk (Ace Hardware, HD, etc.) and allowed to cure/dry. 4. sweep to clean in 1-7 days later 5. paint with a concrete paint/sealant.
~$100 investment and you will be no worse off. You will eventually need to repeat the painting more and more frequently, but the painter is quite simply not interested in a job this small so isn’t willing to do it without stripping and doing it right in order to get into a better position.
Your typical power washer for home use is probably somewhere around 1500 to 2000 psi. I have one like this and it probably would not be able to take the paint off of your driveway. A friend of mine used to have a much more powerful one that he used for professional cleaning which I think was 7000 psi. Picture a small trailer with a big tank of water on it and a gasoline powered power washer. He said that he had to be careful with it because it would take paint off. If the power washer guy you talked to had one of these more powerful washers then he might not be smoking crack after all.
It looks like the most powerful washer that Lowes rents is 3500 to 4000 psi. That might do the job, or you can check if someone locally will rent out a more powerful unit.
Note that a more powerful washer can remove flesh as well as paint, so if you go this route be careful with it.