We review concrete sealers that range in price from $20 a gallon all the way up to $200 a gallon. I mean is it really worth spending $200 on a single gallon of concrete sealer. Absurd, isn’t it? What if you get the gallon on sale for $150. To some people $200 is an offensive amount to spend on a clear concrete sealer, but $150 is still obscene….or is it.
Why are some concrete sealers so expensive? If you aren’t familiar with the concrete sealer industry, you may suffer sticker shock as you first begin pricing products. Especially when it is hard to see visible results. However, you must remember the many advantages concrete sealers offer. With these in mind, the prices may start to seem more reasonable. The benefits make the extra cost well worth the initial investment. Here are the advantages of using a high quality, expensive sealer.
The Five Details That Matter
Performance : The actives percentage in a concrete sealer is related directly to longevity and product performance. Actives can range anywhere from 1% to 100%. The higher the actives the better the product. If you think of it in terms of fruit juice, 100% juice is always going to be the purest and healthiest form. If you are drinking 10% juice the other 90% is going to be water, sugar and fillers. The same goes for sealers. If a product is 7% actives it is going to have a lot of fillers or is going to be extremely watered down. That being said the actives content will vary based on if the product is water-based or solvent-based. Water-based products are typically always under a 40% concentration. This is because if the actives concentration has any higher viscosity (thickness) the formula would be too great and would not be able to penetrate as well. Solvent-based sealers on the other hand do not have these issues. If you were to compare a 40% water-based sealer with a 40% solvent-based sealer the solvent-based product would out perform the water-based version every time. This is because the solvent is able to carry the active ingredients into the concrete better than water can. 100% actives penetrating sealers are by far the best performing and longest lasting type but they are also going to be the most expensive. Because of their price point they are typically used on commercial projects. Actives contents matter when it comes to determining if an expensive brand is worth it. Review the actives concentration in each of the products you are considering to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. A 7% actives concrete sealer may be $30 a gallon whereas a 40% actives concrete sealer may be $60 a gallon. Take into consideration that the $30 gallon may need to be reapplied yearly whereas the $60 gallon wont need to be reapplied for another 3 years.
Longevity: Which brings us to our next point, longevity in regards to reapplication. Since the actives content is directly related to longevity and price you also need to take into consideration the labor cost of application and reapplication. If a sealer is less expensive you are probably going to need to apply it every year or so. You then have to be mindful of the cost and time of reapplication. Applying a product every year can be costly and time consuming versus applying a product every five years.
Quality: Relating directly with actives concentration is quality. What type of chemical composition was used. For example you may be comparing two silane sealers. They may both be 40% actives yet one may be more expensive then another. Is there a reason for this? The short answer is yes. The long answer is the cost could be related to the type of silane used as not all silanes are created equal. Isoctyltriethoxysilanes are going to be better than alkoxysilanes. Now this may sound like gibberish to you but quality ingredients matter and will effect pricing.
Features: There are features and add-ons that can make a concrete sealer more expensive such as coloring, salt protection or oil repellency.
Chemistry: Chemistry directly reacts to price. Acrylic sealers are topical and because they are film forming and constantly exposed to the elements they need to be reapplied yearly. Penetrating sealers are non film forming and because of this can last over five years. When comparing different types of sealers make sure you are comparing acrylics to acrylics, epoxies to epoxies and silanes to silanes.
Just because a concrete sealer is less expensive doesn’t mean that it is the best option. You need to take into consideration actives content, reapplication and quality before determining if an expensive brand is worth it. There are reasons some concrete sealers are more expensive than others and before writing them off take into account what is most important to you. Are you looking to save money initially or down the road. We believe expensive brands are worth it because of their actives, chemistry, features, quality and longevity. There are priced accordingly. You just need to make sure you are comparing them accordingly.
