Q: What Do You Use to Seal Concrete?

A: A concrete sealer is used to seal concrete! If you are looking for a product specific recommendation check out our Best Concrete Sealer recommendations.

In order to determine “what do you use to seal concrete” and what type of concrete sealer is best for your application you need to decide what type of finish you are looking for and what type of protection you are looking for. If you are looking to seal a basement from water you are going to want to use a penetrating waterproofing sealer or a moisture reducing epoxy floor coating. If you are looking to seal a paver patio or a stamped concrete patio and you are looking to make the colors darker and wet looking you are going to want to use a solvent based acrylic concrete sealer. If you are looking to protect your driveway from spalling, cracking, road salts and staining you are going to want to use a penetrating water, salt and oil repellent concrete sealer. If a concrete garage floor is what you are looking to seal, you are going to want to use a durable concrete coating for a glossy, easy to clean, dustproof surface, or a penetrating salt, oil and stain repellent concrete sealer if you are looking to keep the garage floor natural.

Before using a concrete sealer you want to make sure the concrete is properly clean and prepped. Surface preparation is one of the most important steps when it comes to sealing the concrete. If the concrete is contaminated and full of grease and debris the sealer is not going to be able to penetrate into the concrete. If there is not good surface profile a concrete coating is not going to be able to properly bond with the concrete and will be at high risk of delamination. If you are going to be applying a penetrating concrete sealer you are going to want to use a concrete degreaser or an etcher to clean the concrete. If  a previous concrete sealer was used you are probably going to need to remove it in order to apply a new concrete sealer. If you are going to be applying an epoxy floor coating you are going to need to grind the concrete.