Your Ultimate Guide to Concrete Sealing

| Posted by Soonah Walkom | in Concrete Cleaning Gold Coast
Driveway that has had concrete sealing

Concrete Driveway that has had a colour seal

Want to DIY your concrete sealing like a pro?

 

I have sealed more square meter then I’ve had hot dinners!!!

 

So listen up concrete sealing DIYer, if you want to tackle your concrete sealing job on your own I have some amazing tip that I will cover in this blog!

 

 

 

1 – Understand what you are trying to achieve with your Concrete before buying any products

Sharks are everywhere & you will get sold if you don’t understand what it is you are after this could be in the from of small sample piece, picture & verbal description of what you are try to achieve with the concrete sealing surface & to make the job easier for the supplier

 

2 – Know the product that has been used previously

Know if the product you want to use is suitable match with old sealer. This helps with the selection of the correct products to uses this time around & to help prepare the surface correctly & will help the new sealant keying into the old sealant.

 

3 – Know the instruction of manufacture instructions.Concrete Sealing Application certificate

ASTUTE NOTE: If a warranty is important to you check the Terms & Conditions, as some companies won’t honour the warranty if it not applied by a licenced professional.

Here are Astute Asset Management we pride ourselves on having a great list of suppliers that we can work with, so no matter what your budget is, we can source the product for your and complete the job and provide a warranty as we are your local licensed applicator.

 

4 – Know what equipment you need to complete your concrete sealing job.

Below is a list of the equipment needed to get the professional look. If you don’t have an item, start making a list and add up the cost of each items. This will help you make a decision if you are going to continue on your own.

  • Manufactures PPE requirement’s for the chosen product/s
  • Funnel for poring product
  • Rags for spills & wiping over
  • Thinner for clean up
  • Barrier tape to stop any unwanted entry on wet sealer
  • Extension sealing pole
  • Paint brush & pot / container to fit. For cutting in edges
  • 230mm Roller frame/lambs wool applicator & timber float
  • 230mm roller sleeve
  • sealing tray wide enough to fits the roller/sleeve & 5+liters of sealer depending on the size of your job (<50sqm <5l >50sqm >5l)
  • Garden sprayer if the chosen sealer needs to be sprayed on
  • Leaf blower & fuel – You can hire these at Kennards
  • Drinking water as not to stop sealing once you have started
  • Hand wash for cleaning up before you eat.

 

5 – Concrete cleaning Prep work is where your sealing job is won or lost.

Now the theory/homework is over & it’s the hand on section.

If you think a garden hose off with sugar soap will do the job go directly to our contact page and if pass go collect $200, As I’ve just save you more then $200 worth of heart aches.

If you don’t prep the surface correctly you are wasting your time putting a coat of sealer on. There is clean & then there is clean enough for maximising the concrete sealing penetration of the concrete for the longest possible results. So you want ZERO containment on the surface such as dirt, sand, mould, grease, oil, leaf / organic staining as they will jeopardise the integrity of the concrete sealer & it wont stand the test of time.

Check out our article Scrub-free cleaning that gives you grime fee concrete

 

6 – Plan your sections

Concrete Sealing Disaster

Concrete Sealing DIY Disaster

So the surface is clean, dry & ready for concrete sealing.

As most products suggest working to a joint or wet edge this is to stop the final finish showing up uneven or patchy, so it is important to plan you sections & make sure nothing is on the surface or in the way of a clear run for each section.

If you need to use the phone, toilet, food, water do so in-between sections also filling up your sealing tray so there is no stoping to fill.

Check out the disaster on the left! This job has been done randomly over several months and the finish is irreparable! Its Patchy and unsightly – & as a concrete sealing professional I have to drive past this driveway every day!! Please don’t let this become your place.

 

 7 – Spills & splash

You want to minimise them as they can show up in the end result. If you do spill or splash some of the concrete sealer wipe up right away with rag to remove any excess.

ASTUTE NOTE: when using solvent based sealer the colour of the rag may bleed out onto the surface so a white rag is the safest option.

If it’s a big spill double time & work the spill out evenly to the joins with the sealing roller as if you are sealing that section. As any spill will dry as 1st coat so it will show up in the end result or in 18months when the sealer starts to deteriorating.

 

 8 – Mixing up the concrete sealing product/s.

This is critical for an even consistency finish to mix the product throughout the job as it will show in the end result & even worse effect the performance of the sealer, If you are colour-sealing use a hand mixing paddle or drill if you have. This gives no question marks to the end result as with concrete sealing its costly to do & even more costly to undo.

Mixing once at the start is not enough you need to shake the drum every time you pour in to sealing tray this is the reason you want a tray that hold a good amount so you are not wasting time on shaking product up every 2 mins & running the risk of spilling & or splashing it every time you do shake up.

 

 9 – Cutting in the edges

Like with the spills you want to be working to a joit or wet edge don’t go around a large section stick to the joints if the joints are to space apart just do a section that allows you to be working to the wet edge.

ASTUTE NOTE: make sure you sit the cutting in pot & paint brush where it wont get knocked over this includes the wind

 

 10 – Rolling out sealer

Many fine points here but the main thing is to use your eyes & light reflections to see the evenness of applications are correct.

ASTUTE NOTE: The reflection you see off the surface should look like glass (depending type of sealer) in the first 10min after that don’t look at it till about 2hrs as it will play tricks with your eyes & you will want to play around with it as its drying & you will over work it to cobwebbing & unevenness.

You want to see how far the fully filled with sealer roller sleeve will go without any uneven spots (like glass) & dividing up that area into even sections over the selected area. You need to be clinical in the way you apply the sealer, using the same technique over the surface every time.

If it’s a large job have spare rollers & sleeves handy for quick replacement.

 

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