Maintenance

When you leave the jobsite, make sure the owner understands what needs to happen to keep the parking lot in good condition. With concrete, it's easy!

Courts and Cracks
Joint sealing is only necessary if the joints are wide.
Courts and Cracks, Effingham, IL.

Here are some tips:

  • Keep traffic off the pavement for at least 3 days in the summer and 7 days in the winter. You want the concrete to have about 3000 psi compressive strength before it takes a load. Truck traffic should be kept off even longer. Deicing salts dripped onto concrete that is less than about 30 days old greatly increase the chance of surface spalling. One option here is to seal the surface with linseed oil.
  • For most parking lots, don't use a sealer on the surface unless it appears that the concrete is substandard and can't handle freeze-thaw cycles. However, if you want to keep the lot looking really good, and prevent staining, sealers will help. Make sure you get a sealer that allows vapor to escape from within the concrete.
  • Joints can be sealed to keep out water and debris, although it's not really necessary if the joints stay pretty tight and the traffic is mostly cars. Heavy trucks can cause pumping of the subbase and result in a loss of support beneath the joint—in that case joint sealing is necessary. Saw joints to provide a 1/8 to ¼ inch sealant reservoir. Joint sealant can also be applied over isolation joints. Sealants don't last forever and should be checked and replaced as needed.

Removing stains should be done on a regular basis. The Florida Concrete & Products Association has an excellent description of stain removal techniques on their parking lots web site (Keeping Concrete in Tip-Top Shape). They recommend that stains be removed once a year.

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