Every September the door hangers show up: clean and seal, this week only. For some driveways, that's exactly the right move. For others, sealing now just protects a problem that needed fixing first.
Here's how to tell which group your concrete falls in, what the package should include, and what it will honestly look like when it's done. For the bigger question of whether to seal at all, see should you seal your concrete and the research in does concrete sealer work.
The Two-Minute Candidate Check
Grab your phone and a cup of water, walk the concrete, and answer these.
| # | Question | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Does water darken the surface and soak in within a minute? | It's unprotected. That's a point in favor. | It may still be sealed. Retest next year. |
| 2 | Is any slab lower than its neighbor, tipped toward the house or garage, or holding puddles? | Lift first, then seal | Keep going |
| 3 | Are joints empty, weedy, or crumbling, or is there an open gap along the house or garage? | Caulk after cleaning, before sealing | Keep going |
| 4 | Is the surface flaking with stones showing, or does it crumble when you drag a key across it? | Those areas aren't candidates | Keep going |
| 5 | Is it stamped, colored, or shiny from an old glossy sealer? | That's a decorative reseal, not this package | Keep going |
| 6 | Was it poured within the last month? | Wait for it to cure | Keep going |
| 7 | Is it the floor inside your garage? | That's a coating job | You're a candidate |
Reading your answers:
- Yes on 1, no on 2 through 7: a textbook candidate.
- Yes on 2 or 3: still a candidate, but the job needs repairs in the middle.
- Yes on 4, 5, or 7: a different service, or a different contractor.
- Yes on 6: you're early. Come back after the cure.
Good Candidates
| Surface | Why it's a good fit | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Sound, broom-finished driveway | Grime and salt film come off clean, and a penetrating sealer soaks evenly into an open, textured surface | The tire paths wear first, so they decide when you reseal |
| Garage apron and the first few feet of driveway | Brine drips off your cars all winter and sits there | Usually needs the most stain pre-treatment for oil and tire marks |
| Salted walks, stoops, and steps | Shovel blades and deicer every storm | A penetrating sealer doesn't change the grip, which matters on steps |
| Newer concrete past its cure | Starting protection early is easier than slowing damage later | Labels commonly call for 14–28 days of curing first, and no deicers the first winter |
| Concrete that's getting lifted or caulked anyway | Cleaning first gives caulk a clean joint, and sealing last covers the whole slab | One plan, usually spread over more than one visit |
Poor Candidates (and What to Do First)
| What you have | Why clean-and-seal is the wrong first step | Do this instead | Seal later? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A sunken or tipped slab | Sealer doesn't change slope. Water keeps running toward the house and soaking the base. | Foam lifting to raise it back to proper slope. See how concrete lifting works. | Yes, after the lift and caulk |
| Open joints or a gap at the foundation | Water goes straight down the gap, sealed surface or not | Backer rod and flexible joint sealant. See our caulking process. | Yes, once the caulk cures |
| Heavy scaling or crumbling concrete | Pressure washing strips weak surface faster, and sealer only protects the top fraction of an inch | Resurfacing or replacement from a concrete contractor (not a service we offer) | Only the sound areas |
| Stamped or colored concrete with a glossy sealer | It needs a compatible film-forming reseal, and a penetrating sealer can't get through the old film | A decorative concrete contractor. We refer this work out. | Not by us |
| An old film sealer that's peeling | The film blocks a penetrating sealer from reaching the concrete | Strip it, or stay with a compatible product. See choosing a concrete sealer. | After stripping |
| Concrete poured in the last few weeks | It's still curing and drying out | Wait out the label's cure time, and use sand instead of deicer its first winter. | Next window |
| The floor inside the garage | A thin sealer is weak protection against drips, brine, and hot tires | A garage floor coating. See garage floor coatings. | Not needed |
Not sure which sealer type fits your surface? Our sealer types comparison covers penetrating versus film-forming in detail.
What the Package Includes, and the Order It Happens
A clean-and-seal is two jobs with a waiting period in between. When repairs are needed, they go in the middle. Here's how a job lays out on the calendar, using an example driveway with one sunken apron panel and open joints. A plain clean-and-seal skips the middle rows.
| When | Step | Why it happens here |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Pre-treat stains, clean the flat areas evenly, detail the edges, rinse, and steer runoff onto the lawn | Sealer can't soak through grime or salt film, and it locks in whatever it covers |
| Days 1–2 | Let it dry | Sealer needs open, dry pores. Labels commonly want at least 24 hours after washing, longer in cool weather. |
| Day 3 | Lift the sunken panel and patch the drill holes | Lifting moves slabs and shifts joints, so it comes before caulk. The slab is drivable the same day. |
| Day 3 | Caulk joints and cracks, with backer rod where they're deep | Joint sealant needs clean, dry, bare concrete at 40°F or warmer, before any water repellent touches it |
| Days 3–10 | Caulk and patches cure | Polyurethane joint sealant is tack-free in hours but takes about a week to fully cure. The sealer label sets the wait. |
| Around day 10 | Apply a penetrating sealer at the label rate | Last, on dry concrete inside the label's temperature window, with no rain due for 12–24 hours |
| Days 10–11 | Stay off it as long as the label says | Usually a few hours, longer when it's cool or humid |
A plain clean-and-seal is usually two visits a day or two apart. Your quote lays out the actual schedule. For the details of each step, see our cleaning process and our sealing process.
What It Will Look Like When It's Done
Setting expectations up front saves everybody a disappointing walk-through.
| What you'll notice | Why |
|---|---|
| Lighter, more even color | The salt film, tire grime, and algae are gone |
| Otherwise, it looks like clean, bare concrete | A penetrating sealer soaks in. No shine, no film. |
| Possibly slight darkening on dense or colored concrete | Some penetrating sealers do that, especially if over-applied. A test spot shows you first. |
| Old oil shadows and set-in rust may still show | Deep stains often lighten without disappearing, and they stand out more on a clean slab |
| Patch dots and caulk lines are visible up close | They're small and flush, but they're there |
| Scaled spots are still scaled | Cleaning removes what's on the surface. It can't replace surface that's gone. |
| Water starts beading or stops darkening the concrete | Repellency keeps building for several days after sealing |
| The same grip underfoot | There's no film to get slick |
How Long the Results Last
The two halves of the package wear out on different clocks.
- The clean look lasts until the next salt season. By April, the apron will have a fresh salt film and some tire grime. A spring rinse with plain water and a stiff broom brings most of it back. See spring concrete maintenance.
- The sealer lasts years, not decades. Product literature we've seen cites about 5–10 years. DOT experience on surfaces with traffic is closer to 3–7. On a driveway, the apron and tire paths need it first.
- The caulk lasts several years, often close to ten for a good flexible sealant set over backer rod. Walk your joints each spring.
A realistic rhythm: rinse each spring, water-test each late summer, and reseal when the test says so (often every few years on the apron), cleaning first each time. Our concrete maintenance schedule puts it all on one calendar.
Doing It Yourself vs. Hiring It Out
| Do it yourself | Hire it out | |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Rent or buy a pressure washer, ideally with a surface cleaner, plus a pump sprayer for the sealer | The contractor brings it |
| Cleaning quality | Stripes and etching are the common mistakes. See pressure washing concrete. | Should be even and stripe-free. Ask how they clean flat areas. |
| Stains | Store-bought cleaners matched to the stain. See our cleaning guide. | Stain-specific pre-treatment, with an honest note on what won't fully come out |
| Runoff | Your job to keep it out of the storm drain | Ask how they'll handle it. Northeast Wisconsin's regional stormwater group suggests asking any pro washer that question. |
| Sealer | Buy by chemistry and active content, and follow the label rate | Ask what product type and active content they use |
| Repairs | Caulking is DIY-friendly. Lifting isn't. | One plan covers cleaning, lifting, caulking, and sealing in order |
| Your time | A weekend for a driveway, plus a return trip once it dries | Moving the cars, mostly. Usually two or more visits. |
| Cost | Lower out of pocket, especially if you already own a washer | Higher, but no rental, no learning curve, no do-overs |
| Best for | Walks, small patios, and people who enjoy the work | Full driveways and aprons, heavy staining, or jobs that also need lifting or caulking |
If it's a front walk or a small patio in decent shape, do it yourself. You don't need us. If you hire anyone, ask:
- What sealer type and active content will you use, at what coverage rate?
- How will you clean, and how long will you let it dry before sealing?
- Will open joints be caulked before the sealer goes on?
- Where will the wash water go?
- What parts of my concrete won't you seal, and why?
The Best Time of Year in Green Bay
| Months | Clean? | Seal? | What the weather is doing |
|---|---|---|---|
| March–April | Rinse salt off on mild, above-freezing days | No | April's normal low is about 35°F, and Green Bay's average last spring freeze is around May 3 |
| May | Yes | Possible late in the month, on a dry, mild stretch | May's normal low is about 46°F, and spring rain makes dry stretches harder to find |
| June–July | Yes | Yes, but skip hot midday sun | June's normal low is about 56°F. Labels commonly top out around 90°F. |
| Late August–September | Yes | Best window | September's normal low is about 50°F, and sealing now protects the slab before the first salt |
| October | Early in the month | Only early, on a warm, dry stretch | The normal low is near 40°F, and the first freeze usually arrives in early October |
| November–February | No | No | November's normal low is about 29°F. Rinse water freezes on the slab. |
Normal lows are Green Bay's 1991–2020 averages.
Late summer beats spring for three reasons. You're sealing right before the concrete's toughest months. The weather is drier and more predictable. And nights stay comfortably above the 40°F minimum most labels set, which matters because some products want it to stay above that for many hours after application. Spring works if you missed fall, as long as the winter's salt residue is rinsed off thoroughly first.
If the slab also needs lifting, it fits the same calendar. Lifting season runs from spring thaw to freeze-up, so late summer handles the whole package.