Did You Know Concrete Breathes?

Concrete is a porous surface with millions of microscopic holes. When the sun hits your driveway or other concrete surface, it heats up and the air expands and is forced out of these holes. When it cools down, it "breathes in", forcing the air to be sucked in. This is a process that can happen multiple times a day depending on weather, shade etc. Why is this important when applying sealer? If you apply sealer as the surface is warming up, the concrete will blow bubbles into the sealer, causing a less than desired finish. Sealer should be applied when the concrete is "breathing in" to suck the sealer into the concrete, creating a well sealed surface. The are many factors when it comes to the timing of applying sealer, including the current weather and if the area being worked on is in the shade or not. The best time to seal concrete is in the early evening, when the temperature is cooling, almost guaranteeing the concrete is breathing in. Many other contractors ignore this important fact because they work earlier in the day, and extending their work day even further is not an exciting prospect, thus possibly doing a sealing job during the wrong conditions. Most of our sealing jobs are done in the evening, unless we are absolutely confident that the climatic conditions during the day will produce a result worthy of our high expectations. That is the Malibu Way. Don't trust just anyone with your expensive concrete finishes.