Old Concrete Driveway

[canes816]

Hi, I have an old concrete driveway in my house and it has been painted over a few times (at least twice that I can tell from the colors visible). The driveway is obviously chipping/peeling in a few areas as I've been told is to be expected with painted concrete driveways. However, that being said, I would like to do something with the driveway that will look good for a few years before I have to re-treat it.

What are my options? - Should I strip all the paint off (and if so, how) and stain/seal it? - Should I just clean it and repaint it and suck it up every year (or whenever it starts looking bad)? - Any other options I can look into? I would prefer not to use black top as I have a carport that I don't think would look good with a black surface. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Allen....

[mike]

If it's already peeling, I'd think a power washer would easily strip most of the paint off. If that doesn't work completely, steam from an old iron followed immediately by a wire brush wheel will.

You don't need to seal a concrete driveway. It's not a countertop.

[canes816]

-------------------------------------

It's peeling in some areas, not all over the driveway, most of the paint is firmly in place so a pressure washing will not easily strip most of the paint off.

Also, an iron? Are you serious? The driveway is 20 feet wide by 35 feet long!

As for the counter top comment, really? You've never heard of staining and sealing concrete? Do you have any experience with driveways or are you just looking to mess with people looking for help?

[mike]

How do you know pressure washing won't work until you've tried it?

And yes, I am serious about an iron. You'll likely only have a few spots that resist a high-pressure power washer, and a few seconds with an iron will allow a wire wheel brush to lick the paint right off. You just kick the iron around as you need it to move. It's a hell of a lot faster than waiting for some nasty chemical cocktail to work (or not).

Yes, I've heard of sealing concrete, and it is completely unnecessary. If you want to blow you money, go ahead. I don't care.

[ransley]

de quoted text -

Thats funny, a clothes iron, 6 months later and he will be half done.

[dpb]

- leave it be. It'll wear off w/ time and you can forget somebody ahead of you did something silly.

--

[ransley]

6)

|

.- Hide quoted text -

There are pro electric paint stripper plates, I wouldnt even consider it and I know painting.

[mike]

Hide quoted text -

de quoted text -

After pressure washing, he'll only have a few spots. It's faster than chemicals. Try it. Lay down the steam iron, wait 5 seconds, kick it head, apply wheel brush, kick, brush, kick, brush. It's goes fast.

The iron will be unsuitable for clothes afterward, just as a warning.

[mike]

I've tried them. The addition of steam works 100X better.

[mike]

Along those lines:

[mike]

More along those lines, this time without even using a scraper or wire wheel brush:

[Tony]

Wow! Even with professional equipment it takes some time.

[mike]

With my cheap old iron, I was able to remove paint at about the same speed with a simple wire brush. It takes a few seconds to brush off the paint, and, conveniently, that's about how much time the iron needs to soften the paint beneath it. Much better than dry heat. The advantage for the guys in the video is that they can stand up while they are stripping paint.

I do wonder if the nearby plants might suffer from the steam flow in that video. Steam can be a potent herbicide.

[norminn]

I would help to have photos, as well as area in question and condition of the pavement. A smooth, intact concrete drive might not be difficult to repaint. Pressure washing first would be normal, AFAIK...removes loose paint quickly. Only pressure washing I have done is concrete block walls...get too close or use too much pressure and you can carve your initials in concrete with p.w.

If there are grease spots, I would expect them to be a problem. Stomping down some kitty litter and letting it sit would help remove grease. They use Dawn dish deterg. on oil-soaked animals...might work after the k.l. for small spots.

[swarga]

I would first determine what kind of coating you want to put on the drive before I would decide how to remove the paint that is there.

I would also try and determine if it is paint or the drive and garage epoxy sold by some big box stores.

If you live in an area prone to rain and/or snow than I would go for an epoxy that has a texture to prevent slipping. If you go that route then you don't mind if you scratch the surface of the drive when removing the old finish.

Either hire a professional to come do the job and they will remove the old finish or go to your local rental place and get a concrete floor grinder, they have 3 rotating diamond plates that will remove the finish and slightly rough up the surface of the concrete.

When that is done use a shop vac and a powerful leaf blower to clean it. Don't use a pressure washer unless you are going to give the concrete a long time to dry.

When the surface is clean and dry you can put on the new finish. If you are careful with the grinder you could stain the drive but every scratch and stone (aggregate) will accept the stain differently so don't expect a uniform look.

There are strippers and acids you can use but them you have a huge mess to clean up and you have to protect the plants near by. Some grinders can be connected to a shop vac to help control the dust while working, others just don't so you have to clean up the dust afterwords.

Don't forget to wear proper protective clothing and a mask, you don't want to breath that concrete dust, it sucks coughing it back out and good luck getting it out of your nose.

I hope this helps For more helpful tips visit my blog at

------------------------------------- Scott Warga ACSI American Construction Specialists & Investigations Arizona

------ _o

---- _ \

[jimmydahgeek]

After hearing this comment it made me wonder if maybe a wallpaper stripper(steamer) might help. It might be worth a try.

[hallerb]

Geez I would just pressure wash it, as best possible.

Then see how it looks.

Concrete floors arent meant to be painted!

[RickH]

This must be regional, around here nobody paints a concrete driveway.

I'd hire someone to sand blast it, then either leave it alone or (if you must) just apply some latex penetrating sealer (Thompsons, Behr, etc).

Painting outdoor flat concrete is kinda wacky IMHO. Maybe stain or sealer (but not paint).

[canes816]

responding to

canes816 wrote: Thanks for the thorough and obviously informed response. My area is very prone to rain (Miami) so I would definitely look into something that is not slippery. I am still trying to determine what type of coating is best to put down, as I said previously, it is a very old driveway that is now very smooth from years of wear. There are about 3 different layers of paint that I can see. I've pressure washed it to get it clean (using a

2200 psi machine) and most of the paint did not come off, just dirt and debris.

I guess I will probably look into first getting all (or most) of the paint off (yes, it definitely appears to be paint and is a fairly common practice down here) then I will try one of the epoxies. I can't post a pic from work but if people are interested I could probably get a pic up later this evening so you could see what I'm working with.

Again, thanks for the helpful replies. Any recommendations on epoxies would be appreciated.

swarga wrote: