Sealing is the one concrete service where the price on the quote tells you less than the price per year. A bargain coat that's gone after two winters can cost more over time than a better one that lasts five.
It's also the service with the most confusing prices online. One guide says twenty cents a square foot. Another says three dollars. Both are right about something different.
Here's what we charge, what those national numbers actually describe, what a do-it-yourself job really costs, and the math that settles it: dollars per year of protection.
Our Sealing Prices
We seal driveways, aprons, walks, stoops, steps, and plain patios with a penetrating silane/siloxane sealer. It soaks in, leaves no film, and keeps about the same grip as bare concrete once it's dry.
This is concrete sealing in Green Bay, not asphalt sealcoating. We don't sealcoat blacktop, so a sealcoating quote won't compare with these numbers.
- Sealing only, on concrete that's already clean: $0.40–$0.90 per square foot, depending on the sealer and how thirsty the concrete is.
- Clean and seal together: the cleaning comes first. Our Standard cleaning package is $950 for up to 1,600 square feet, which covers every layout in the table below. Booked together it's one job, and bundling can lower the overall price.
| Area | Typical size | Sealing only | Clean + seal, before bundling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front walk and stoop | About 150 sq ft | $60–$135 | $1,010–$1,085 |
| Back patio, plain finish | About 200 sq ft | $80–$180 | $1,030–$1,130 |
| Short two-car driveway, 20 × 24 | 480 sq ft | $192–$432 | $1,142–$1,382 |
| Longer two-car driveway, 20 × 40 | 800 sq ft | $320–$720 | $1,270–$1,670 |
| Driveway, walk, and patio together | About 830 sq ft | $332–$747 | $1,282–$1,697 |
Most residential sealing jobs land between $640 and $1,000+. That's usually a driveway plus walks, the apron, or a patio. A small or dense layout can come in under that, and a big driveway on thirsty concrete can run past it.
The clean + seal column adds our $950 Standard cleaning package to the sealing price. Cleaning costs the same in every row because one package covers up to 1,600 square feet in one visit, so if the walk and patio need it too, put them on the same visit as the driveway. Bigger layouts move up to our Large package ($1,100, up to 1,800 square feet) or Extensive package (from $1,500, over 2,500 square feet). Bundling can bring the total down from what the column shows, and your quote gives the actual number.
Sealing-only pricing assumes clean concrete: new concrete that's past its cure time, or a slab that was cleaned recently and hasn't picked up anything since. Most concrete that's been through a few Wisconsin winters needs cleaning first, and we'll tell you from your photos which price applies. The cleaning package includes stain pre-treatment for oil, rust, and mildew. See concrete cleaning cost.
Add-ons: Open joints get caulked before the sealer goes on, at $5–$10 per linear foot, on the same quote. Booked on its own, caulking has a $275 minimum. If a slab needs lifting first, the lift goes on the same quote and carries its own $450 minimum.
Where you land in the range comes down mostly to how thirsty the concrete is, which sealer it needs, and how much hand work the layout takes. More on that below. Our pricing page shows how our other work is priced.
Why Online Sealing Prices Are All Over the Map
Here's what national cost guides say about driveway sealing cost, side by side:
| Cost guide (updated) | What it's pricing | Per square foot |
|---|---|---|
| HomeGuide driveway washing guide (June 2026) | Sealing added on to a pressure washing job | $0.15–$0.40 |
| Same HomeGuide page | Pressure washing plus sealing, total | $0.30–$0.75 |
| Fixr driveway washing guide | Sealing, materials and labor | $0.88–$2.10 |
| HomeGuide concrete sealing guide (Nov. 2025) | Installed sealing, with penetrating listed in the same range | $1.00–$3.00 |
| HomeAdvisor (June 2026) | Professional concrete sealing, labor included | $1.35–$2.50 |
Three things explain a spread that wide:
- 1They're pricing different productsThe full sealing guides lump penetrating sealers in with acrylics, polyurethanes, epoxies, and decorative work, some of which take several coats and a lot more prep.
- 2Some include cleaning and some don'tHomeGuide's sealing guide lists pressure washing and prep separately, at $0.35–$0.75 per square foot on top.
- 3The cheapest numbers leave little room for materialA penetrating silane/siloxane sealer in 5-gallon pails ran about $27–$45 a gallon at a national home center in October 2026. At a label rate of around 150 square feet per gallon, that's roughly $0.18–$0.30 per square foot in sealer alone, at retail, before anyone picks up a sprayer.
So a twenty-cent bid either uses a thinner product or puts down less than the label calls for. It looks identical the day it dries. It doesn't perform the same. Our research roundup in does concrete sealer work shows how much coverage rate and product choice matter.
Our $0.40–$0.90 per square foot is for sealing only. Its low end matches the top of HomeGuide's add-on range, its high end just reaches the bottom of Fixr's, and the whole range sits below the full-service guides that fold in acrylic and decorative work. The low end is for smooth, dense concrete that drinks less sealer. Weathered, thirsty concrete lands toward the top.
Cleaning is where we can come out higher. We price it as a package, $950 for up to 1,600 square feet, so a clean-and-seal on one small driveway works out well above HomeGuide's $0.30–$0.75 per square foot for washing plus sealing. At the full 1,600 square feet, our cleaning comes to about $0.59 a square foot, inside the $0.35–$0.75 HomeGuide's sealing guide lists for washing and prep.
The Number That Matters: Cost Per Year of Protection
A sealer is a subscription, not a purchase. It wears away, especially in the tire paths and wherever the shovel scrapes, so the honest comparison is what each option costs per year.
Here's a 480-square-foot driveway, sealing only (cleaning is extra in every column). Penetrating sealer makers commonly cite about 5–10 years. We use 5 here, because highway experience on surfaces that see traffic runs shorter than maker literature, and a plowed, salted Wisconsin driveway sees plenty. Film-forming acrylics typically last about 1–3 years.
| DIY penetrating | Hired penetrating (our price) | Hired glossy acrylic (cost guide rate) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per application | $135–$225 (one 5-gallon pail at listed prices) | $192–$432 | $480–$960 (at $1.00–$2.00 per sq ft) |
| How long it lasts | Plan on about 5 years | Plan on about 5 years | About 1–3 years |
| Applications in 10 years | 2 | 2 | About 4 |
| 10-year cost | $270–$450 | $384–$864 | $1,920–$3,840 |
| Cost per year | About $27–$45 | About $38–$86 | About $190–$385 |
Now add the cleaning that almost every round needs:
- DIY: renting a gas pressure washer runs about $70–$100 a day, plus $20–$50 for a surface cleaner attachment and $10–$25 for detergent. Call it $100–$175 a round, which brings DIY to about $47–$80 a year.
- Hired: with our $950 Standard cleaning package, a clean-and-seal on that driveway is $1,142–$1,382 a round before any bundling, or about $228–$276 a year.
What the table tells you:
- DIY penetrating sealer is the cheapest protection per year, if you clean it well, let it dry, and put down the full label rate. On the sealer alone, our low end overlaps DIY. Once cleaning is in, DIY wins by a lot. On a walk or a small patio, that's the smart money, and you don't need us.
- Hiring costs more per year, mostly because of the cleaning, and buys you the parts people skip: even cleaning, joints caulked before the sealer, label-rate coverage, and your weekend back.
- Glossy acrylic costs the most per year on plain concrete, because the film wears through within a few winters, starting where tires, salt, and shovels hit.
- If your apron needs resealing every three years instead of five, every per-year number above goes up by about two-thirds. The tire paths set the schedule.
Penetrating or Glossy: What We Price and What We Refer Out
| Penetrating (what we apply) | Glossy film-forming acrylic | |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Barely changes it | Darker, wet look, sheen |
| Grip | Same as bare concrete once dry | Can be slick when wet without a grit additive |
| Salt and freeze-thaw | A state concrete industry association rates penetrating silane/siloxane sealers best for deicer scaling resistance | Protects while the film is intact; wears fastest where traffic hits |
| Typical life | About 5–10 years per maker literature | About 1–3 years |
| Best fit | Plain driveways, aprons, walks, steps, patios | Stamped or colored patios where you want color and shine |
Glossy resealing of stamped and decorative concrete is specialty work we refer to a decorative concrete contractor. If your photos show it, we'll say so rather than quote it. A penetrating sealer also can't soak through an old film that's still on the surface, so if yours is shiny or peeling, we'll tell you what it takes to get back to bare concrete first. Our sealer types comparison goes deeper.
What Moves a Sealing Quote Up or Down
| What we see in your photos | Why it matters | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|
| Salt film, grime, algae, or stains | Sealer can't soak through dirt, and it locks in whatever it covers | A cleaning package added before the sealing |
| Rough, weathered, porous concrete | It drinks more sealer, and some labels call for a second coat | Toward the top of the range |
| Smooth, dense, or newer concrete | It takes less sealer per square foot | Toward the bottom |
| Open joints or a gap at the house | They get caulked first, because sealer can't bridge a gap | Caulking added by the foot |
| A sunken or tipped slab | Sealing doesn't change slope, so it gets lifted first | Lifting priced separately |
| Siding, garden beds, a wood deck, or asphalt at the edge | More masking and careful hand work | Toward the top |
| Steps, narrow walks, lots of small pieces | More edges per square foot | Toward the top |
| A shiny or peeling old sealer | Penetrating sealer can't get through it | A conversation before a price |
One thing that doesn't move our price: the time of year. It does change what you get for the money, though.
Timing Changes the Value, Not the Price
A sealer applied right before salt season protects the concrete through its toughest months. In Green Bay, that makes late August through September the best window. September's normal low is about 50°F, while October's slides to about 39.5°F, right at the 40°F minimum most sealer labels set, and some products want it to stay above that for hours afterward.
A few label rules that decide your date:
- Dry concrete. Usually at least 24 hours after rain or washing, longer when it's cool.
- No rain right after. Commonly 12–24 hours, depending on the product.
- New concrete cures first. Labels commonly call for 14–28 days, and new concrete shouldn't see deicer its first winter anyway.
Spring sealing works too, once the winter's salt is rinsed off. Our clean and seal guide has a month-by-month Green Bay calendar.
When Not to Pay for Sealing
- It still sheds water. Sprinkle water on the tire path. If it beads or the concrete barely darkens after a few minutes, the last coat is still working. Wait a year.
- It's the floor inside your garage. That's a job for a garage floor coating, not a sealer.
- The surface is crumbling. Sealer protects the top fraction of an inch. If that layer is coming off, the money is better spent on a resurfacing or replacement conversation with a concrete contractor.
- It's stamped and glossy. That's a decorative reseal, which we refer out.
- Something needs fixing first. Sealing over a sunken slab or open joints just gives you a sealed problem.