Picture this: you have just finished building your dream home and everything has worked out perfectly. The concrete in your basement has cured and proven its strength by holding up the rest of your house. The driveway has just finished curing, ready for your cars to drive up it. The garage has also finished its processes, ready to house your vehicles and various possessions, protecting them from the elements.
You envision yourself living in this home forever, at least until your kids go to college. However, you know the risks and the damages that can plague a home over the course of decades: natural disasters, floods, and everyday weathering can deteriorate your concrete over time. After investing so much time and effort into crafting the perfect home, how can you protect it?
The easiest and most cost effective way to protect your concrete investment is by treating the material with a high quality concrete sealer. While they have been around for a while, concrete sealers are fast becoming more and more popular as chemical formulas improve with recent technological advancements. The right choice in a concrete sealer, as well as proper application and care, can preserve the strength and efficacy of your concrete surfaces for as long as you would ever need them.
Concrete has potential to be one of the longest lasting materials in history – the Egyptian pyramids in Ancient Egypt were even constructed from a primitive form of concrete, and they’re still standing strong. Why shouldn’t your home, or any other concrete structure you own, exhibit the same longevity? Concrete sealers are cost effective and relatively east-to-apply solutions to preserving your concrete while protecting it from the long-term damage the sun, road salt, chemical spills, water damage, and many more calamities can have on the material.
One of the most compelling reasons to use a concrete sealer is to help improve the aesthetics features of the slab, pavers, bricks or stone. Decorative concrete has become extremely popular and can be seen used in driveways and patios, interior and exterior floors, steps and walkways, pools and more. Now what is the best method of protecting all of these surfaces?
An acrylic concrete sealer would be you best option. Acrylic sealers come in water-based versions and solvent based versions. The biggest difference between the two is the VOC content, sheen and life of the product; meaning how often it lasts before needing to be reapplied. Solvent based acrylics tend to have higher VOC’s and solvent odors; however, they leave a higher gloss shine and last a few years longer than water based versions. Solvent-based sealers tend to be the strongest options when you are sealing an exterior substrate, or patio. When applying an acrylic sealer outdoors make sure that the manufacturer states their product is UV stable. If an acrylic is not UV stable and is used outdoors there are high risks of yellowing, peeling and flaking from the sun’s strong, harmful rays. Although solvent based sealers are great for exterior, decorative concrete be aware that they can make surfaces extremely slippery. They may add a beautiful high gloss finish, but if applied to a pool deck they could cause excessive slipperiness. Some manufacturers offer additives (to be used in conjunction with the sealer at the time of application) that help make the surface less slippery.
If you do not want a slippery high gloss surface you should consider a water based concrete sealer. They may need to be re-applied more frequently but they usually meet all VOC regulations and will offer a softer matte or satin sheen. Water based acrylic sealers usually last 1-3 years before needing to be re-applied compared to 2-5 years you would get from a solvent based concrete sealer.
Acrylic concrete sealers are one of the most common concrete sealers on the market today. Just be sure when you are shopping around that the sealer is a pure acrylic and not a blend of an acrylic and something else. Acrylic sealers are great for stamped decorative concrete patios, driveways and pavers and really do beautify and enhance concrete’s aesthetic appearance.
Our Take: We like Cryli-Tek 5505 with a nice wet-look that is non-yellowing and long lasting.
One of the most compelling reasons to use a concrete sealer is to help improve the water resistance of the slab. While many manufacturers and distributors claim their products will waterproof your concrete, there is actually no way to guarantee this. If you read about such a guarantee, the company is not being entirely honest with you. Certain products offer better odds of water resistance, but no product can absolutely guarantee that their product will entirely waterproof your concrete for life.
Once you ignore the grandiose claims of most companies, you can start to figure out which type of concrete sealer offers the best level of protection from water. There are two types of sealers: topical and penetrating. The topical sealers will leave a film on the surface of the concrete, but it will not give your concrete as much protection from water and other moisture. For one, water can seep into the material from underneath, traveling through the concrete to cause the protective films to bubble and flake. These surface sealers are more like raincoats for your concrete, offering only minimal protection.
The better option to improve water resistance would be the penetrating concrere sealers. Silanes, siloxanes, silane/siloxanes, siliconates and silicate/siliconates will all function to lock out water and other harmful moisture. Once your concrete is protected from excessive water damage, you don’t have to worry about problems like mold and mildew build-up, as well as the dampness and mustiness that can plague unprotected basements. Increased water resistance also improves the structural integrity of the concrete, as water can leech from the material vital minerals crucial to its strength and durability. If water damage is something you want to prevent, you should use a penetrating sealer, which gives you the most comprehensive protection.
Our Take: By using a penetrating, impregnating sealer that densifies and hardens concrete and also provides a hydrophobic surface barrier you can ensure a fully waterproofed substrate. One of our favorite concrete waterproofers is Lithi-Tek 9500. This sealer is an invisible, penetrating concrete sealer that will not only densify concrete, but it will waterproof and help to prevent deleterious organic growth.
When looking for a concrete sealer, you have to narrow down your choices from the initial level of surface versus penetrating sealers. Next, if you choose penetrating sealers, you must choose between silicate-, siliconate-, or silane/siloxane-based concrete sealers. If you decide to use a silane/siloxane sealer, you finally need to choose which of those you want to use.
Silanes and siloxanes are both derived from the silicone family. Despite being very closely related, they have significant performance differences. Because silanes are made up of smaller molecules than siloxanes, they typically will obtain deeper penetration than siloxanes. As a result, silanes perform well under abrasion and weathering conditions. A consequence, however, of this small molecular size is that silanes are relatively volatile. Therefore, the solids content of a silane product should be high enough to compensate for the loss of reactive material through evaporation during application and cure. Siloxanes, because they are less volatile, generally offer good water repellent performance at lower costs. However, for concrete surfaces subjected to abrasive wear, treatment with a silane sealer will provide longer lasting protection. In regard to surface texture and color, treatment with silane sealers typically cannot be detected visually. Siloxane products may slightly darken the treated surface.
Manufacturers have since realized that the disadvantages can be mitigated with a special blend of the two. While there are many poorly blended silane/siloxanes on the market, there are some high-quality ones that offer a unique blend of penetrating and surface protection.
When choosing a silane/siloxane sealer, you want to look for a product that is water-based with a low VOC content. These will be easier and safer to apply, with fewer fumes and less flammability. You also want to use a product that is water repellent, such that the water will bead on the surface of your concrete. If the water doesn’t bead, then you can’t know if the siloxane part of the blend is properly working. If it is not properly working, it means the manufacturer has likely messed up the blend.
Our Take: We like the salt, chloride, freeze-thaw and water protection from the Siloxa-Tek 8500 and Okon S40.
What are the best silicate concrete sealers?
When you’ve decided on a penetrating concrete sealer, maybe for a project like a garage, a driveway, or a basement made of traditional concrete, you no longer have to consider surface sealers like acrylics, urethanes, and epoxies. However, there are a few different choices at the level of penetrating sealers.
Silicate sealers are the a common choice for densification. They are a high quality, dependable choice of penetrating sealer. They are made up of small particles of silicate, a material that will penetrate past the surface pores of the concrete to react chemically within the concrete to create CSH. CSH, or calcium silicate hydrate, is a naturally occurring mineral within the concrete that provides its strength. However, concrete is naturally porous with a large number of air pockets. With a penetrating sealer delivering silicate into the concrete, the silicate will react chemically with the calcium, free lime, and various alkalis within the concrete to create more CSH, which increases the concrete’s strength.
A silicate sealer is made up of silicate suspended in a type of carrier, typically a sodium. That is why you see sodium silicate sealers everywhere on the market. These are excellent choices, but a newcomer to the field is the lithium silicate sealer. The difference is that the carrier, which only functions to transport the silicate into the concrete, is lithium instead of sodium. Keep in mind that silicates both sodium and lithium do not offer any type of waterproofing protection.
Our Take: Silicate densifiers we like are Lithi-Tek 4500 and The Ashford Formula.
What are the best decorative concrete sealers?
Concrete primarily tends to be functional: strong, gray material that is dull while getting the job done. This is rarely a problem because we don’t really tend to care about what our foundations look like. Concrete doesn’t have to be this way, however, which leads people desiring something more visually appealing to turn to decorative concrete.
The current trend is for homeowners and contractors to try to liven up their otherwise drab concrete surfaces. Many people turn to pavers to get the tropical look they want, even in the frigid Northeast. Others try out concrete dyes, mixing and matching colors to create a vibrant visual atmosphere. Ultimately, though, it is important to protect this decorative concrete as you would (and should) with your regular concrete surfaces.
The materials you should use to protect decorative concrete will differ from those you would use when you don’t care about the surface color. Decorative concrete is typically more delicate than non-decorative – the material is NOT weaker, but you care more about the color and physical appearance of your surfaces, which means you need to go to greater lengths to protect that visual exterior.
Acrylic-based sealers tend to be a good idea when sealing decorative concrete. These sealers do not penetrate past the surface of the concrete, instead hardening over the surface to prevent water leakage and spills from marring the face of the material. Because they are not penetrative, they do not have the tangible benefits of a traditional penetrating sealer (such as locking out mold and mildew, as well as resisting efflorescence). However, the places in your home or business where you would use decorative concrete typically aren’t as threatened by these calamities as, say, a basement.
The acrylic-based sealer will not penetrate beneath the surface, but it will still provide excellent protection without damaging the physical appearance of your concrete. Penetrating sealers delve deep within the concrete to react chemically below the surface, which would ruin any sort of dye or intentional coloring already within the material. The large particles of acrylic-based sealers will ensure the substance remains atop the surface.
It is important, however, to purchase a high-quality sealing product when protecting your decorative concrete. A lesser-quality product could ruin the color quality you just spent so much time and effort perfecting.
Our Take: For a readily available, water based decorative acrylic sealer we like this one found at HomeDepot.com