Driveway Sealing
Can You Seal Straight Over Old Stencil Concrete ?
Yes, straight over the top. Stencil concrete was the standard driveway finish through the estates for years, and a lot of them across the Hills and North West are now faded, patchy and chalky. Most owners assume the only fix is getting a concreter back to lay new stencil concrete.
There is another option. Sealing goes over the driveway you already have, with no demolition, no new slab and no waiting on concrete to cure. Concrete driveway sealing starts from $1,500, and we confirm the figure in writing after a free look on site.
Two coats of concrete sealer, pigmented or clear, depending on the look you want. UV-stable sealer built for full Sydney sun, so it does not chalk or yellow.
Why A Concrete Driveway Starts To Look Old
Nearly always it is one of these, and usually several at once.
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- Surface staining: oil and transmission drips from cars, rust marks from a trailer or a bin, dark tannin stains under a gum or a jacaranda, and rubber marks where a car turns on the spot.
- A failed sealer: the original sealer breaks down under UV and turns patchy, chalky or yellow, so the driveway looks blotchy even after a wash.
- Flaking and dusting: the very top skin lifts in thin scales, especially where water sits, and the surface goes powdery underfoot.
- Weathered exposed aggregate: the cement paste holding the top of the stone in place erodes and the sealer disappears, so a driveway that used to look wet and rich now looks flat and grey.
- Moss and lichen: the shaded strip down the side of the house that never dries out and never comes clean with a hose.
- Efflorescence: the white bloom that keeps coming back because water is moving through the slab and leaving salts on the surface.
None of that is structural. It is the outer layer of the concrete breaking down after years of sun, rain, car tyres and pressure washing, which is exactly what a sealer is there to stop.
What Driveway Sealing Involves
Sealing is the low preparation option.
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Nothing is ground back, which is why it is the cheapest way to bring a tired driveway up and why it works straight over a stencil finish.
The whole job usually runs over a day or two on site, depending on the size of the driveway and how much filling it needs.
- Pressure clean: the driveway is washed down hard to strip off dirt, moss and whatever else has built up on the surface.
- Acid etch: this opens the pores of the concrete so the sealer keys in rather than sitting on top of a closed surface.
- Cracks and gaps filled: cut out, filled and made good before anything is coated.
- Two coats of sealer: clear or in a colour, for weather and water protection.
- Slip resistance worked into the top coat: a fine aggregate goes into the sealer rather than being added after someone has slipped.
One thing to know: a sealed driveway lasts a couple of years and then needs to be coated again. It requires minimal prep, just a fresh application to bring it back like new.
Lighter Driveway Colours Stay Cooler
Lighter driveway colours stay cooler in the sun than darker ones, and NuTech publishes a figure for it.
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Every colour on NuTech’s colour chart carries a total solar reflectance number, and the higher the number, the more of the sun’s heat that colour reflects instead of holding.
- At the light end: Cool White is 90, Dover White 85 and Surfmist 75.
- Mid greys: Shale Grey and Light Grey are 57, Earl Grey 54, Windspray 52 and Sunset 45.
- Dark colours hold the heat: Woodland Grey is 30, Gunmetal and Ironstone 28, and Monument and Midnight 27.
Those figures are published for NuTech’s NXT Cool Zone roof coating in a gloss finish and vary slightly across other finishes, so use them to compare colours rather than as a rating for what goes on your driveway. Shade and the concrete underneath make a difference too.
Where it helps is a close call. If you cannot decide between a mid grey and a charcoal, the lighter one will be cooler underfoot in summer, and on a driveway the kids cross barefoot that matters more than the difference in look.
Exposed aggregateExposed Aggregate Driveways, And When To Replace Instead
Exposed aggregate driveways are common through Kellyville Ridge, Beaumont Hills, Stanhope Gardens, The Ponds and Box Hill, because most estate builds used it. When the sealer breaks down in the sun the driveway goes grey and dry, even though the stone underneath is still good.
An exposed aggregate driveway is prepared differently from plain concrete. We grind the driveway to expose the aggregate, then go over it again with a finer grade so the stone is polished rather than worn down, and then we reseal it to bring the colour and depth back. Done properly, the driveway looks close to the day it was poured. We do a test patch first, so you see the result before the whole driveway is done.
Rejuvenate when
- The slab is a single sound piece that does not move.
- Cracks are hairline or narrow, with no step between the two sides.
- The damage is a surface layer that has weathered, stained or flaked.
- The fall still sends water where it should go.
Replace when
- Sections rock or have dropped against each other.
- Cracks are wide with the sides at different heights.
- The concrete has broken into pieces.
- Large areas have spalled deep enough to show the steel.
- The sub base has washed out and the slab is bridging a void.
If your driveway is in the second group we will say so, because sealing a failing slab means doing the whole thing again later.
Sealing A Driveway, And What The Sealer Protects
Bare concrete is porous, so it soaks up whatever lands on it. That is why oil stains it, why moss takes hold, why salts bloom out of it, and why the surface breaks down faster than it should. Sealing is what keeps the driveway looking the way it does on the day we finish. There are two broad families of sealer, and epoxy is the third option if you want a pattern or a colour rather than plain sealed concrete.
Concrete driveway sealing starts from $1,500. That covers a pressure clean, an acid etch so the sealer takes, filling the gaps and cracks, and two coats of concrete sealer in a pigmented colour or a clear finish. Most driveways connect to the paving around the house, so that is quoted on top, and the figure is confirmed in writing at the free on-site quote. Sealing sits alongside every other floor type on our epoxy flooring cost page.
Our preferred driveway sealer is NuTech’s PaveCoat, an Australian acrylic sealer listed for driveways, paving and decorative concrete. It is supplied in gloss as standard, with high gloss or matt on request, in clear and 29 standard colours, and it can be custom colour matched. Ask for sample pots if precision matters, because a colour reads lighter outside.
Penetrating Sealer
A penetrating sealer soaks into the concrete and works from inside the pores, repelling water and oil without changing the look much. It suits a driveway where you want the concrete to still read as concrete, and where protection matters more than bringing colour back.
Film Forming Sealer
A film forming sealer sits on the surface as a clear or coloured layer, blocks contaminants at the face, and brings colour and depth back to the concrete. That is the wet look most people are after on exposed aggregate. Which one suits depends on sun, traffic, whether water sits anywhere, and how you want it to look.
Epoxy Driveways
A coloured epoxy coating can be laid through a stencil to give the look of pavers, tiles or stone across a plain slab, or as a flake or solid colour finish. The same finishes go on patios, paths and pool surrounds, and a driveway that was coated years ago can be ground back and recoated rather than replaced.
Before And After
Two driveways we have sealed, both pressure cleaned, acid washed and coated. Drag the handle across each one to see the change.
This driveway was pressure cleaned, acid washed, then coated with a non-slip additive worked into the top coat.
The front path at the same house, sealed on the same visit.
From Booking To Finished Driveway
Get a Free QuoteHow long it takes comes down to the size of the driveway and the state of the surface. Evo Epoxy’s working figure is 72 hours before a sealed driveway goes back into normal use, and you can walk on it well before that. Weather, temperature, the condition of the slab and the product going down all move it, so we confirm the actual dates when the work is booked in.
#1. Quote
We come out, look at the driveway, check what is surface and what is structural, and talk through colour and finish. The quote follows the visit, not photos, and covers the preparation, the product, the colour and the days on site.
#2. Preparation
The driveway is pressure cleaned to strip contaminants and acid etched so the sealer can key in, then the cracks and gaps are filled. A surface that has failed, flaked or been coated before is ground back first.
#3. Sealing And Handover
Two coats of sealer go down, pigmented or clear, with slip resistance worked into the top coat. You can walk on it well before it takes a car, and we give you the dates for your driveway.
Why Customers Choose Evo Over The Rest
What Makes Us Different
Our aim is a floor that still holds up and looks right years after we have finished it.
Real Dates, And We Keep Them
We give you real dates. You will know when we arrive, how long we need, and when you can walk on the floor and park on it.
One Crew From Quote To Warranty
Your quote, your floor and your warranty all sit with one team. The people who quote the floor are the people who lay it, and we do not subcontract.
Rated 5 Stars Across Sydney
Servicing The Hills District & North West Sydney
We work out of Kellyville and cover Castle Hill, Kellyville Ridge, Bella Vista, Norwest, Baulkham Hills, Rouse Hill, Beaumont Hills, Glenhaven, Dural, Kenthurst, Box Hill, Stanhope Gardens, Glenwood, Parklea, The Ponds, Schofields, Winston Hills, Seven Hills, Northmead and Marsden Park.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will The Driveway Match The Concrete Path And The Rest Of The Property?
Preparation exposes fresh concrete, so the colour will look different from adjoining areas that have not been touched, and generally cleaner. If matching matters to you, tell us at the quote, because the sealer choice affects how close it lands and we can often bring paths and the front porch into the same visit.
Can You Get Rid Of Oil Stains Completely?
Surface oil comes up with degreasing and preparation. Oil that has been soaking into open concrete for years can go deeper than the layer we remove, and it can occasionally ghost back through a sealer. We look at the stains before we quote and tell you which ones we are confident about and which ones we are not.
How Long Before I Can Park On It Again?
Evo Epoxy’s working figure is 72 hours before a sealed driveway goes back into normal use, and you can walk on it well before that. The sealer needs to reach proper hardness before tyres go on it, particularly where a car turns on the spot. That is a guide rather than a fixed promise, because weather, temperature, the condition of the slab and the product going down all move it. We confirm the actual dates when the work is booked in. Plan to park on the street for that stretch and put the bins out by hand.
Can You Match The Driveway To My Roof Or My Render?
Usually. NuTech lists PaveCoat in clear and 29 standard colours, and it can be custom colour matched on request. If you want to be certain before anything is ordered, ask for sample pots, because a colour looks lighter outside and lighter again spread across something the size of a driveway.
Do I Need To Reseal, And How Often?
Yes, at some point. Sun and tyres wear the sealer, so how long it lasts depends on how much sun the driveway gets, how much traffic it sees and which product went down. It is due for another coat when water soaks in instead of beading up, the wheel tracks lose their shine, or stains stop washing off. A new coat on a driveway we have already sealed takes far less work than starting again.
Ready To Talk Driveway Sealing?
Free on-site assessment and a fixed written quote. We will explain what is surface and what is structural before anything is booked.
Get A Free Quote
Tell us roughly how big the driveway is and what shape it is in, and we will come and look at it.
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