How To Repair and Refresh Exterior Concrete Surfaces
Affordable, strong and durable, there are dozens of reasons to love your exterior concrete surfaces. And while exterior concrete surfaces are low-maintenance, they are not resistant to the elements or wear over time. Which is why, it’s always a good idea to put a bit of extra love and care into them.
Keeping your exterior concrete surfaces in good looking condition is as important as repainting the exterior of your property. It not only helps protect your exterior concrete surfaces, but also increases the value of the overall property. In this post, the concrete surface experts at Dulux Avista explain how to refresh your exterior concrete surfaces, in a convenient and affordable way:
High-pressure cleaning your exterior concrete surfaces
Generally, the first step in refreshing exterior concrete surfaces is to give them a solid high-pressure clean. Wearing protective equipment, use a high-pressure cleaner that can reach 3,500 psi to blast off dirt and grime from your exterior concrete surface. This should remove any debris stuck to your concrete surface and bring it back to its original bright colour.
If you’re not confident in high-pressure cleaning the surface yourself, Dulux Avista will happily refer you to a trusted applicator in your area.
Sealing cracks
Once your exterior concrete surface is free of dirt and debris, you can identify cracks and seal them using an epoxy crack repair kit. We suggest going over your entire exterior concrete surface and placing small markers on every crack that needs repairing – this way, you won’t miss any cracks.
For the crack repair, simply use the high-quality Dulux Avista Crack Repair Kit. It is a 2-component, low viscosity epoxy resin system to which clean fine sand can be added to produce a mortar for filling cracks in concrete. It’s ideal for both interior and exterior concrete surfaces.
For a bigger commercial or retail surface, Dulux Avista Concrete Patch Repair Compound can be used, which is a high strength patch repair mortar for repairing concrete surfaces. The rapid strength gain of Dulux Avista Concrete Patch Repair Compound minimises downtime. It can be used internally & externally. It is supplied as a ready to use blend of dry powders which requires only the site addition of clean water to produce a highly consistent, high strength repair mortar. The material is based on a blend of cements, graded aggregates, special fillers and chemical additives to provide a mortar with good handling characteristics.
Dulux Avista Patch Repair Compound 0-10mm is a high strength mortar for repairing concrete surfaces. It is designed for small concrete repairs and can be applied from feather edge up to 10mm.
Dulux Avista Patch Repair Compound 3-40mm is a high strength mortar for repairing concrete surfaces. It can be applied up to a maximum thickness of 40mm.
Applying water-based concrete sealer
And now we come to the most effective, comprehensive and satisfying way to refresh your concrete exterior: applying a water-based concrete sealer! This provides a durable, protective clear coating for outdoor concrete surfaces which are frequently exposed to harsh elements such as high UV rays, wind and rain.
The Dulux Avista Waterbased Concrete Sealer is our water-based concrete sealer that provides a long-lasting clear coat for a range of interior and exterior surfaces, including pavers, stamped, stencilled, coloured and exposed aggregate concrete and rock and block walls.
The NEW Dulux Avista Tintable Sealer delivers a highly durable, superior finish using primers and sealer that is fast drying, non-hazardous and low odour. That means these sealers are better for you and better for the environment. And you can complete projects in just one day!
Dulux Avista Waterbased Tintable Sealer is tintable in-store in one of 25 designer colours.
The new Waterbased Tintable Sealer creates a protective finish that resists UV exposure, dirt ingress, stains and marking. You can also add Dulux Avista Slip Reducing Powder to increase the slip rating to P5.
Easy to apply, easy water clean up and easy to maintain - the new Dulux Avista Waterbased Sealer System is a win for you and your customers. Discover the range here
Why use a water-based concrete sealer on outdoor concrete surfaces?
There are several benefits to applying a water-based concrete sealer on your exterior concrete surface:
- Low-odour solution
- Protection from UV, traffic, dirt, water and spilled oils and chemicals
- Easy to apply and clean
- Affordable
- Non-toxic
- Safe around pets and children
- Can do used indoors and outdoors
- Better for the environment
Ready to get your exterior concrete surfaces back to their original condition?
Dulux Avista has everything you need to achieve this. Our range of concrete sealers, repair kits and other products are all top-quality and are built for tough Australian conditions. Ideal for residential and light commercial applications, check out our range of concrete sealers and other products to revitalise your exterior concrete.
