So I bought a pressure washer.......

[deerminator]

And it works great on the steel siding. I got one with 2600 psi and put on a wider spray tip and cleaned a lot of dirt and grime off the house in a test patch. Next I cleaned the cement with a slightly more focused tip but not the most powerful, keeping it several feet away from the cement garage pad in most instances. We just had this cement garage pad put in last spring and after washing today, I noticed pea size dents here and there and two quarter size chips. The pad has been filthy this spring until now, so I'm wondering, was it the pressure washer that caused the indents and chips, or is it because I cleaned the driveway off so good now I can see them. The outfit that put the concrete in is one of the best around so I'm not thinking it was poor quality concrete. Thoughts welcome. Thanks!

[ranger20]

i really dont think the washer would do that unless there was a air pocket there then maybe

[wishing for walleyes]

I would quess the chips are caused from salting the concrete in the winter.

[Surface Tension]

It sounds like scaling to me.

I've heard salts don't harm cement then I hear conflicting reports that say they do. They will at least etch the cement and of coarse rust rebar and rewire. Freeze thaw cycles is whats making the chips pop.

What can you do, seal the driveway.

[BudMan]

Most likely the pops are caused by shale in the aggergate.And yes even some of the big concrete suppliers can have that issue. Really doesn't hurt anything , cosmetic. I'm not sure where you are from , but lots of driveways in Mkto show these .

[deerminator]

Thanks for the responses guys. I wasn't saying the bigger guys are better just that this is a well-established outfit that does good work. They're actually fairly small but they never have a day off because of the work they do. In any case, they did seal it last summer, and we haven't used any salt on it yet because it was new. Just sand. I probably wont use salt unless absolutely necessary. We did have a lot of freezing and refreezing in West Central Minnesota this year so perhaps that's another cause. In any case, would you patch chips that are a quarter or silver dollar in size with some concrete adhesive and patching material?

[katoguy]

Did you notice if the dents or chips are where your tires usually go over/and or park? I have the same problem (6 year old cement), and I have never salted. You will bring a lot of road salt on to your cement.

[deerminator]

Good point. Yes they are near where the tires are. We've had a brutal winter with lots of road salt on our country roads. I plan to reseal the pad and our new patio this year again so hopefully that will help some.