Concrete Sealing Cost in Denver: Price Per Square Foot for Driveways, Patios and Garage Floors

HomeGuide’s national cost guide puts concrete cleaning and sealing at $1 to $3 per square foot on average. Your own number comes from a free on-site walk-through and a written quote.

Angi puts sealing at $1.35 to $2.50 per square foot with labor. HomeAdvisor says most homeowners spend about $1,500, inside a full range of $850 to $7,000. Our page on concrete sealing in Denver covers the sealers we use and how we prep a slab.

Driveway sealing searches often turn up asphalt sealcoating, which is a different job on a different surface. Every price in this guide is for concrete.

What does concrete sealing cost per square foot?

A sealing price has two parts: the sealer itself, and the labor to prep the slab and apply it. The national guides publish each part, plus the installed price that combines them.

In Angi’s numbers, the sealer runs $0.10 to $0.75 per square foot, and the installed price runs $1.35 to $2.50. The difference is labor, which HomeGuide says covers basic cleaning and prep but not repairs.

Coverage sets the sealer bill. HomeGuide puts concrete sealer at $30 to $80 per gallon, with one gallon typically covering 200 to 500 square feet. Angi puts coverage lower, at roughly 150 to 300 square feet per gallon.

Totals spread wide because slabs do. Angi says most homeowners spend $1,350 to $3,500 on a sealing project. HomeGuide adds that larger areas cost more in total but carry lower rates per square foot.

Sealing prices for driveways, patios, garages and basements

HomeGuide publishes totals for the common sealing jobs around a house. Every row below comes from its guide.

HomeGuide’s driveway prices cover an acrylic or polyurethane sealer and its application. They leave out power washing and extra coats, and HomeGuide says driveways need more coats than a basement. HomeGuide also notes that a sealer will not fill cracks, so crack repair is its own line.

A sound broom-finish patio or walk usually takes a penetrating sealer, which soaks in and leaves the look alone. Stamped and decorative concrete takes a film-forming sealer, acrylic or urethane, so the color comes back.

HomeGuide’s stamped concrete guide puts stamped concrete sealer at $35 to $100 per gallon. HomeGuide’s sealing guide says stamped concrete needs sealing every 2 to 3 years. Sun at altitude fades unsealed color.

Pool decks take the same choice of sealer. For color and grip on a deck or patio, see our pool deck and patio coatings.

HomeGuide prices a 360 square foot garage floor at $360 to $1,080 to seal. It says penetrating sealers resist stains and keep a natural look there. In a Denver winter, tires carry magnesium chloride in off I-25 and I-70, and snowmelt pools inside the door. Our guide to garage floor coating costs covers the full coating route.

HomeGuide puts a 1,000 square foot basement floor at $1,000 to $3,000 to seal. On a sound slab, a sealer is the lowest cost way to stop basement concrete dust. Our basement floor coatings page covers the step up from there.

What does each type of sealer cost?

Sealers come in two families. Penetrating sealers soak into the concrete, while film-forming sealers, acrylic or urethane, sit on top and add sheen.

HomeAdvisor calls acrylic the least expensive sealer. HomeGuide says acrylic sealers last 1 to 3 years on average. Outside, an acrylic top coat holds its color in the sun at altitude.

Polyurethane is the tougher film. HomeAdvisor says it is much thicker than acrylic, which makes it more durable. HomeGuide rates it best where temperatures fluctuate, which fits the Front Range’s freeze-thaw cycle. HomeGuide says urethane sealers last 5 to 15 years.

Penetrating sealers leave no surface film, according to HomeGuide, so there is nothing to peel or flake. That is why they suit a sound driveway.

Polished interior floors get a densifier before the sealer, to harden the surface. Bob Vila notes that silicate sealers strengthen the concrete they seal but do not stop water on their own. The national sealing guides we read do not price a densifier as its own line. Our guide to polished and stained concrete costs covers those floors.

What prep and minimum fees add to a job

HomeGuide says the surface must be clean and dry before a sealer will bond to it. Outside, we pressure wash, then grind or profile where the sealer needs a mechanical key. Inside, the prep is diamond grinding.

HomeGuide puts fixing small driveway cracks at $100 to $400. We chase and fill cracks and patch spalls before any sealer goes down. Oil-soaked spots get treated first too.

An old sealer is the wild card. Angi puts removing old sealant at $1 to $3 per square foot. Forbes Home puts stripping old sealant from a floor at $4 to $8 per square foot. Forbes Home says stripping matters most when you switch between an oil-based and a water-based sealer.

When the old sealer still holds and is in the same family, we clean the slab and recoat it. When it is peeling, cloudy or flaking, we strip it first. Bob Vila says resealing a driveway almost always costs more than sealing new concrete, since older concrete needs more prep.

Small jobs carry a floor price. HomeGuide puts minimum service fees at $150 to $300, and Angi says a small area may get a flat fee. Angi suggests sealing several areas at the same time to lower overhead.

How often does a Front Range slab need resealing?

The guides put resealing on a short cycle. HomeAdvisor and Bob Vila both say every two to three years, and Angi says every one to five. Forbes Home stretches it to every one to 10 years.

Winter pushes a slab toward the short end. Angi says areas with heavy traffic or extreme ice and snow may need more frequent sealing. Front Range slabs run through freeze-thaw all winter, and tires track magnesium chloride home from the highways.

Take HomeGuide’s $575 to $1,700 for a two-car driveway and repeat it on HomeAdvisor’s two to three year cycle. By our math, that comes to roughly $190 to $850 a year, or about $1,900 to $8,500 a decade. A longer-lasting sealer or a coating changes that math.

Test the slab rather than trust the calendar. Angi suggests testing your concrete every two years to see whether it still repels water. When water stops beading and soaks in dark, it is time to reseal.

Spring and fall are sealing season here. HomeGuide says to seal when the temperature holds between 50 and 80 degrees for at least 24 hours.

When is a sealer not enough?

A sealer protects concrete that is already sound and already looks right. It does not rebuild a worn surface or hide repairs.

HomeGuide says epoxy and polyaspartic cost up to three times more than other sealers but last the longest. In a garage that takes hot tires and road salt, a garage floor coating is often the better buy. Our guide to what epoxy flooring costs in Denver has those numbers.

Pitted, scaled or oil-soaked concrete needs repair before anything goes on it. Our concrete resurfacing cost guide prices that work. A slab that is heaving, sinking or cracked through its full depth is a replacement question. A sealer or an overlay will not fix it.

Is sealing concrete worth it in Colorado?

On sound outdoor concrete, yes. Water that soaks into bare concrete freezes overnight and pops the surface off in flakes. HomeAdvisor notes that salt used for melting ice can damage unsealed concrete more than sealed surfaces.

Magnesium chloride is the Colorado version of that salt. The state sprays it on I-25 and I-70 all winter, and it breaks bare concrete apart from the inside.

The cost is the catch. Forbes Home says the main disadvantage of sealing is the routine cost of resealing. It also warns that poor application can leave a slippery surface. Where a film sealed surface gets wet, we broadcast anti-slip grit such as aluminum oxide into the top coat.

What moves a Denver sealing quote?

Size and condition set most of a sealing price. These are the other levers on a Denver quote.

• Coats. Angi says anything beyond the standard two coats adds to the price for materials and labor. HomeAdvisor notes that driveways and garages often get more than one coat.
• Sealer type. Penetrating and film-forming sealers price differently, so the quote should name the one it priced.
• Location. HomeGuide says metro areas carry higher labor costs than rural ones. Bob Vila prices the same 500 square feet at $665 in San Antonio and $1,099 in New York City.
• Access. A back patio reached through a side gate takes longer to clean and seal than a driveway at the curb.
• Weather. Exterior sealing waits for a dry slab and mild temperatures.

Two quotes on the same slab should each name the sealer, the coats, the prep and the square footage. A quote that lists those can be compared with another.

Getting a written sealing quote

We come out, measure the concrete and look at its condition. Then we put the prep, the sealer and the price in writing. The number holds unless the scope changes.

We have been coating floors since 2008. We seal residential and small commercial concrete across the Denver metro and the Front Range. We are open seven days a week, and the walk-through and the written quote are free.