Archive for the ‘Concrete Sealer’ Category
My aggregate concrete with a sealer was cleaned with mineral turpentine. There are now big brown stains. Help?
Muriatic Acid, a mix of sulfuric and hydrochloric acids, will eat away the stained concrete. This will do the trick provided the stains aren’t too deep.
WARNING: This stuff can be deadly! Wear goggles, rubber gloves (the heavy plastic kitchen gloves are good, but NOT latex exam gloves!) and a respirator specifically designed for these fumes! Also, you will want to wear a PVC rain suit so none gets on your skin. Any in your eyes, you’re blind; if you breath the fumes, you sizzle your lungs and gurgle when you breath for the rest of your life, if you get really unlucky, you may only need to carry an oxygen bottle. On the skin, you’ll get one heck of a burn! There is a good reason I charge loads when I play with this stuff!
I am not trying to scare you into not using it, but if you do decide to, I hope I have scared you into treating it with the respect it deserves.
Oh, you said it was aggregate concrete? Is it an exposed aggregate, where the rocks are showing at the surface? If so, and they are stained, then the stained rocks may need to come out. This is next to impossible without ripping out the concrete and pouring fresh. If it isn’t an exposed aggregate, it may well turn into one with the application of the muriatic acid.
It may well be easier (and a darn sight safer!) to call a concrete polishing company to smooth it down and coat it…
Is wet-look concrete sealer too slippery for pool decks?
Try ZEP wet look Floor Finish(Step 3) which is available in the cleaning section at home depot.
It is slip resistant. I have it on my floors and finished concrete in my garage.
http://www.castlewholesalers.com/ZEP-ZUIMAGE128-Wet-Look-Floor-Finish-Gal-.html
Sealers for Stamped and Decorative Concrete
Traditionally, concrete has never been a popular choice if a homeowner wants something with designs on it. Mostly, the surface of concrete just looks gray and dull, with nothing fanciful on it. However, with the invention of stamped concrete, homeowners can look forward to having beautiful concrete structures. The texture of stamped concrete can be modeled after any natural stone. For example, the texture can look like bricks, but it’s actually concrete underneath.
As with all concrete, stamped concrete also needs to be protected with sealers. There are many benefits for using sealers, and they should be applied on a regular basis. The frequency of application depends on the rate of wear and tear of the concrete surface. The more exposed the concrete surface to contaminants, the higher the sealing frequency.
The internal structure of concrete can be weakened by external contaminants, change of temperature, or a combination of both. For instance, due to an increase in temperature, the concrete starts to expand and crack. Oil or water then seep into these cracks, causing further damage. To make things worse, water that is trapped in concrete can freeze and become ice when the temperature drops. As we all know, ice expands as it freezes. This will cause the structure of the concrete to be further weakened.
Of all the damages that oil, water, dirt and grime may cause, the most difficult to solve are damages that occur within the internal structure of concrete. It is very difficult to get rid of contaminants that is already trapped inside large concrete blocks. For this reason, it is always wise to prevent contaminants from getting into the concrete in the first place.
The solution to is, is to apply sealers on a regular basis. This helps in two ways. The first way is that the sealer actually helps to prevent cracks. When temperature changes occur, the sealer acts as an insulator to the rise or drop in temperature, thus helping to protect the concrete. Without cracks, contaminants cannot get into the insides of the concrete easily.
Even when there are already cracks or holes when the sealer is applied, the sealer will help cover up such cracks and prevent oil or water from seeping in. As the concrete is exposed to more and more contaminants, the initial coat of sealer will eventually wear out. Still, even with a thin coat of sealer, contaminants tend to stay on the surface, and can be cleaned off easily.
To prevent a host of problems that may occur in the future, sealers are commonly applied to stamped concrete to protect the designs and the internal structure of the concrete. When the sealer starts to wear off, the surface actually becomes less shiny and starts to look dull. This is the signal for the homeowner to give the stamped concrete a new coat of sealer.
When applied on a regular basis, sealed stamped concrete can last for many years.
Gen Wright
http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/sealers-for-stamped-and-decorative-concrete-675963.html
Concrete Sealer – How to do a Matte Finish pt 2
Concrete Sealer part two on how to achieve that perfect matte finish on our concrete sealed countertop.
Duration : 0:10:34
Can the concrete sealer that is used to seal basements be used on the inside of Porcelain toilets?
They are in an apartment complex with 80 units. All of the other solutions for the sweating toilets have not been feasible due to cost. Also the liners have not work.
NO sealer will address sweating. Seating is a TEMPERATURE and/or HUMIDITY issue. If the temperature inside the tank is sufficiently colder than the temperature of the air outside the tank, moisture from the air condenses on the tank. If the temperature inside the tank matches the temperature of the air outside the tank, sweating does not happen.