| By :
Stewart Wrighter
Your home is your castle, so you've invested in it wisely. You want to have an attractive and comfortable house for you and your family. Nonetheless, you do not want to go over budget. That is probably why you took care of laying out your driveway and garage floors through concrete contractors. San Diego with its warm climate and expensive real estate is an ideal place to hire cement contractors. San Diego residents have seen the cost of owning a home go up at a faster rate than their salaries. After having your concrete surface laid out, you want to take care of it. If it's maintained properly you'll save money by avoiding costly repairs. The main task in maintenance is cleaning. Dust, dirt, grease, etc. can ruin the appearance of you concrete floor. Regular cleaning will keep it looking like brand new. There are basically three kinds of concrete cleaning: * Light Cleaning -- This is the good old fashioned kind. The tools are a metallic brush and soap. The strength of the detergent or soap will depend on how tough the grime on the surface is. If it's really tough consider adding ammonia to the mix. * Power Washer Cleaning -- Here the cleaning gets a little bit more expensive, since the required tool is a power washer. There are cold and hot water washers. The hot water ones cost more, but are quicker and more thorough. For your typical residential job a cold water washer will do, though. A model with 3,000 psi of pressure and four gallons per minute flow rate will suffice. * Chemical Cleaning -- The tool is a chemical concrete cleaner that you can purchase at your local home improvement store. Read the label of the product carefully because you want to clean the concrete, not strip it. If still in doubt, ask a sales associate for help. You'll need to get enough cleaner to go over the whole area for even results. Another element of concrete maintenance is sealing. If your floor was not sealed when it was laid out or if you are considering reapplying it, you have to remove tough dirt and stains before going ahead. Strong chemicals are used for this kind of cleaning. You can try a degreaser. There are several brands available that work by softening and lifting hard-to-remove, oil-based substances. Contractor supply houses are the place to buy them. Another chemical used for the in-depth cleaning we're talking about, is diluted muriatic acid. In this case, you'll have to hire a professional to the actual cleaning for you. Due to the strength of the muriatic acid solution used, the surface of the concrete might be changed. Whether you use a degreaser or hire a professional to use diluted muriatic acid, you will need to dispose of the chemicals properly. Before you go through with the cleaning, you should know how the chemicals are going to be disposed of and if special arrangements are needed. A clean concrete floor will add value to your home.
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