After over 21 hours of researching more than 14 concrete sealers and testing and evaluating a few of them, our results for the Best Concrete Sealers for 2018 – Penetrating Sealers are found below.
Part 1: Best Concrete Sealers for 2018 – Penetrating Sealers
**Be sure to check out Part 2: Best Concrete Sealers for 2018 – Decorative Concrete Sealers
Best of the Best: Ghostshield Siloxa-Tek 8500 concrete sealer
Pros: Longevity and availability; available in a 1 gallon ready to use or 1 gallon concentrate that makes 5 gallons. For larger projects the concentrated version can be used to save money and shipping costs. Used in both the commercial and residential markets.
Cons: Price; it costs more than most of the other concrete sealer products we tested. You also have to apply two coats but a square footage calculator on the manufacturers website easily calculates how many gallons you need for both coats.
Home Depot Star Rating: 4.6/5
Check Price: Home Depot.com
Lowes Star Rating: 5/5
Check Price: Lowes.com
Actual customer reviews: (source HomeDepot.com)
Star Rating: 5/5 “Water beads up on the surface like a recently detailed car. Sweeeet!” – Novi
Star Rating: 5/5 “… So far, it’s holding very well. Had a couple of bad storms with no seepage anymore. It was just a cup of water but no water is definitely better…” – Cor68
Star Rating: 5/5 “This product performed superbly just as the reviews said it would. Easily applied with a roller, easily cleaned up and with the first rain the water beaded up like little marbles and ran in rivers off the patio. Excellent product and worth every penny!” – Medic
Star Rating: 5/5 “I purchased and used 2 gallons to seal a new versa block patio wall -3 sides.- approximately 250 sq. ft. front and a little less on the backside – applied where not back filled yet.
The product went on easily with an electric paint sprayer -2 coats wet to wet as instructed.
I waited until the block was dry -3 days following a hard rain- before applying.
Following application the results were remarkable. Previously saturated block was completely dry. Very impressive! … I would highly recommend this product. Great Results.” – ewr
Star Rating: 5/5 “OMG this stuff is fabulous. I ran it through a paint sprayer (it’s thinner than water) onto a 28-day old concrete foundation. Five gallons did 1000 sq ft plus some elevation-leveling cinder blocks (likely another 350 sq ft) double coat. As the name says, it’s invisible. Concrete stays the same color. This stuff penetrates the surface some, but seals the surface to the point that water beads up into little balls, just like on a freshly waxed car. You can push it with a broom, or a leaf-blower, it’ll roll like ball bearings. I will be doing this again on any concrete I have to deal with.” – clint
Also Good: Okon S-40 concrete sealer
Bottom Line: Not as universally available or reviewed but the manufacturer Rust-Oleum is tried and trued.
Pros: Available for purchase in store if you prefer not to purchase online.
Cons: HomeDepot.com only sells the concrete sealer product in a 5 gallon bucket or a 6 gallon case. This is not great when you have a smaller amount of square footage to seal. Also this product does not have as many reviews as some of the other products we tested so it was harder to get a feel from customers as far as longevity.
Home Depot Star Rating: 4.5/5
Check Price: Home Depot.com
Actual customer reviews: (source HomeDepot.com)
Star Rating: 5/5 “very easy to apply, I used pump sprayer and a paint brush to apply to joints. It dried in about 12-14 hours.” – fritz
Considerations:
Chemistry – For Part 1 of our Best Concrete Sealers for 2108 series, we reviewed penetrating concrete sealers; more specifically silanes, siloxanes and silane/siloxanes.
Finish – Penetrating concrete sealers leave natural finishes and do not change the appearance of the concrete whatsoever. If you are looking for a decorative sealer check out our Part 2: Best Concrete Sealers for 2018 – Decorative Concrete Sealers.
Features – Features include deicing salt resistance, water repellency, stain protection, mold, mildew and efflorescence growth protection.
Availability – We considered concrete sealer products that are in stock on shelves, concrete sealer products sold online through big box retailers and/or concrete sealer products sold online only shipped through the manufacturer themselves.
Performance -Results were conducted through independent tests by our experts, contractors, and homeowners. Concrete sealer products were evaluated on a 1 week, 3 month, 6 month and 1 year basis.
How we decided: There are hundreds of concrete sealers available on the consumer market, so how do you tell which one is right for you? We test every product we review. For this comparison 14 concrete sealer models were considered, 21 hours were spent researching, 2 experts were interviewed and 60 consumers were consulted. In our research, we found that more inexpensive penetrating concrete sealers suffered in quality due to low actives content and most commercial products were exorbitantly priced. We prioritized finding a high quality concrete sealer that was both durable and had a high actives content at a reasonable price. We also looked to big box retailers for credibility, and pulled reviews and information from Home Depot, Lowes and Amazon.
Deciding factors: The 8500 concrete sealer product that we have been testing for years has still maintained its integrity, water repellency and salt resistance while all of the other concrete sealer products tested failed in the same time period.
Tips and Tricks:
Siloxa-Tek 8500 Concrete Sealer: When purchasing through Home Depot and Lowes, free shipping and free returns were offered but the price was more expensive than buying from other distributors.
Okon S-40: Try Okon S-20 for a more economical, lesser actives formula. It does not last as long and needs to be reapplied more frequently but will provide a quick fix.