The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
Sealers are applied to concrete surfaces to protect them from the elements and extend their useful lifespans. There are two main types of sealers: film-forming varieties that enhance the surface with color and sheen, and penetrating sealers that go into the concrete’s pores and seemingly disappear.
Dye-N-Seal from Brickform is a translucent dye designed to penetrate and color any non-porous cement-based surface. It can be used with or without a stain.
If you install stamped concrete, you should be maintaining stamped concrete. You already have all the equipment you need, and you have the experience and training you need as well. Offering an annual maintenance program on your work, or any stamped concrete work for that matter, is a good source of revenue that does not require much in the way of equipment or mental gymnastics.
Decorative concrete can be temperamental. Materials we have used for years can suddenly become problems. It is always best to brainstorm with both your crew and the manufacturers to come up with the best solution. Sometimes a problem can be fixed by allowing people to think outside the box.
Decorative concrete has become the fastest growing segment of the concrete industry. But in part because of this, the decorative market rarely allows individual contractors to effectively master and install each type of decorative concrete.
As Bob Chatterton, co-owner of Surface 519, puts it, "Countertops are just a sealing nightmare. It’s asked that they be resistant to everything under the sun."
So it seems a natural correlation to make a stain- and scratch-resistant coating that uses the sun – or at least the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
As new concrete hydrates, it creates calcium hydroxide. When the calcium hydroxide comes in contact with carbon dioxide in the air, it creates calcium carbonate (free salts).
For many years, customers have been asking SealSource LLC for a densifier with color. As company CEO Kym Nelson reports, they may be the first company to offer a densifier that includes coloring pigments: SS ColorSystem, a penetrating, chemical densifier available in a wide range of colors.
One-part concrete sealer products are easily stored for reuse in the future. Of course, you want to avoid foreign contaminants, so don’t pour back into the container what you may have portioned off unless you strain the used material first.
Is thinning a sealer recommended? The obvious answer is “no.” Anytime you alter a sealer’s formulation you risk affecting its performance — not to mention voiding any stated warranty.
Decorative sealers are designed to provide a wide range of benefits. The top two are always protection and color enhancement. Safety, appearance, and performance (SAP) should be considered when determining what decorative sealer system to use.
