Concrete sealer never looks good

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A

aswetich

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May 23, 2007
83
Michigan
My pool was installed about 8 years ago with colored and stamped concrete. (Tan) The installer never sealed it and after about three years it was looking dull so I had it sealed by a local concrete company. After the sealer dryed it looked like some areas were more glossy than others to a point that some spots almost looked untreated. I never saw the guys seal it so assumed they went light on the dull areas with the sealer. Last year I had another concrete contractor come out to seal it and it again had glossy and non glossy areas. My research mentions something about the concrete PH can affect the sealer so could that be my issue ? I thought having a concrete company seal it would identify a problem like that but obviosly not. It is a salt water pool if that matters. Last year they used Certi-Vex AC1315 to seal it.

This year I intend on sealing it myself can anyone give my some recomentions on what to use ?
 
When talking about concrete sealers there are a lot of junk products on the market, the reality is good concrete sealer cost more money than most people are willing to spend. If you want to do it right deal with someone that sells/uses industrial strength sealers designed for commercial locaitons (warehouses, etc.) Having a stamped and colored concrete I assume your wanting a clear sealer, these tend to be cheaper than the opaque tinted sealers. If your looking to do this yourself and are considering epoxy sealers look at the information at epoxyoutlet.com (I have used their epoxies for other projects and they are a good small company to deal with).

Part of my business is janitorial and cleaning supply sales, we are a Spartan Chemical dealer sell a Spartan brand concrete sealer called "Concrete Seal" for industrial locations (they also sell other products like "Staright Seal" for indoor use, etc., I have used it on occasion and it seems to work fairly well, however I can't tell you how it would do around a pool, or over existing layers of unknown sealer, one key point in the product use instructions is to clean the surface with a strong industrial solvent/degreaser (they specify Spartan SC-200) before applying the sealer. For heavier duty finishes Spartan also offers multiple 2 part epoxy sealers, and heavier concrete coatings, which I have only seen used indoors in warehouse/store locations, but they do seem to hold up even under heavy traffic and have no first hand experience applying.

Ike

p.s. note the 2 part epoxies have very short working times so it helps to have a lot of people applying it, working time is temperature dependant, and can be as short as 30-45 minutes on a warm day (application range 55-95 Degrees F, with a working time of up to 3 hours at the lower end of that range, and 2 hours at 80F), these also require acid etching as part of the prep.
 
call your local concrete redi mix plant ask them what they recommend for a high gloss sealer. I'm a concrete contractor in minn. for 35 yrs. and do a lot of pool decks. When you do it yourself, start by power washing your deck no soap or any solvent just water. Let it COMPLETELY dry, 2 days or more in the sun. Apply the super diamond clear sealer [what we use here ] with a heavy nap roller, going over it until you see spider webbing, that means the xyclene is breaking down the old sealer and mixing it with the new. Its not that hard to do , but your 1st concrete guy should have sealed it right away. All concrete is porous and needs to be sealed.sealer should dry in 8 hrs. Hope this helps
 
See the Concrete Sealer thread. As noted there, I use Glaze 'N Seal Multi-Purpose Sealer every year that was recommended by our textured concrete installers. It is low-gloss protection using a non-yellowing acrylic base. It is, however, water-based. It isn't too slippery, especially after about a week. However, as noted by Ike in this thread and that one, there are different kinds of sealer options depending on what you are looking for.

The sealer we use is easy to apply and isn't too expensive, but it also clearly doesn't last that long since one can tell it needs another sealing after a full season. We usually seal in the spring and it works fine through the swim season into fall, but over the winter it definitely looks like it needs sealing again by spring again. This might be somewhat backwards of what one wants to do since part of the purpose of sealing is for the winter rains, but it looks much better having it sealed in the spring.
 
Vinyl Supreme from Seamco works well.

Sometimes it is best to use a brush to apply the sealer instead of a roller because the brush can give better coverage by working the sealer into the concrete. It takes longer, but gives a better result.

Since the concrete is already sealed, you will have to remove the old sealer, or make sure that the new sealer is compatible.

Any old sealer that is not in good condition should be removed prior to applying the new sealer.
 
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