With the excessive number of companies manufacturing and distributing concrete sealers continuing to grow, it is important to eradicate some of the more pervasive myths. Most of these myths have to do with the concrete sealers and their propensity to repel or completely protect against water. Waterproofing concrete sealers are hard to find – typically the only types of sealers that can truly waterproof are lithium silicate/siliconate products that are not exactly everywhere on the market as they are more expensive to produce. Most companies simply content themselves to label their lesser (and less expensive to produce) products as waterproofers, when they will offer only a level of water resistance at best.
We now turn to examine the concrete sealers that claim to repel water. Water repellents are everywhere on the market, and many readers have been contacting me to ask whether or not products that claim to be water repellents actually are. In other words, does a water repellent truly repel water?
The answer is yes, they do. While there are many products that are developed and sold by unscrupulous companies who simply want to make money by offering a worse product for less money, there are a umber of companies that produce quality water repellent products. The key to see if your product is water repellent can, unfortunately, only happen after you have purchased and applied your concrete sealer. If you apply the sealer and any water that drips onto the surface of the concrete after the application and drying process has properly completed beads and drips off the concrete, then the product you used is indeed a water repellent sealers.
Water repellent sealers can be acrylics, but they are most often silane/siloxanes. Nearly all silane/siloxanes are water repellent, and they should be more or less bought with confidence. These products work by creating a hydrophobic barrier that locks out water with the particles of silane (that penetrate) and the particles of siloxane (that remain on the surface). This process creates the hydrophobic barrier that does not allow water to penetrate into the concrete, nor does it allow the water to even sit on the concrete surface, resulting in the beading and dripping off. Of course, water repellents are not waterproofers, and water will eventually seep into the concrete in minute amounts with the presence of enough water. However, as long as there is not standing water for a significant period of time, silane/siloxanes will offer comprehensive water repellent protection for your concrete surfaces.
