Decorative Concrete and Trouble with Concrete Sealers

Sealers... Who would think yesterday's simplest installation task would be today's biggest headache? It sure seems that way. In the past few short years since VOC law changes came into effect, sealer issues have been the most common type of technical question we receive at the Concrete Kingdom Decorative Training Center.

The problems that most guys are having are pretty much the same throughout the entire AIM (Architectural and Industrial Maintenance) coatings-compliant region. I have received calls from as far north as upper Maine and along the entire East Coast all the way down to Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, almost to North Carolina, not to mention going east to west from Long Island to Ohio. Everyone you talk to about sealers would just about give you their right nut for some of the good old stuff before the new VOC laws came into effect.

Let me provide you with some background on how the products have changed: Prior to the end of 2004, VOC levels for many sealers were in the range of 600 to 700 grams per liter. Heck, some of them in the 1990s were even knocking on the door of 800 grams per liter. Today, the current VOC-compliant sealer gives off less than 400 grams per liter.

Since the reduced levels have become effective, we have seen many, many formula changes. They are good for our environment, but unfortunately not for the installers who have to use them on a daily basis. One sealer manufacturer's premium-quality acrylic, once the best on the market, turned into total garbage with the VOC formula change. They made the changes needed to become compliant and the result was poor adhesion quality. This resulted in numerous problems for a lot of consumers who had used the product; after the first winter the stuff started to come right off the surface it was applied to. It did not matter if the new formula was applied to new concrete, previously sealed concrete, manufactured stone or natural stone, the end result was the same: peeling, delaminating and hot tire pickup. Some contractors have even gone to the trouble of ripping out and replacing the entire slab due to bad sealer issues.

We have also seen a different sealer company, which manufactured a lower-grade product in its class, have trouble with their material after the changes to present-day compliance. Their products had turned very thick as a result of becoming VOC-compliant. The thicker-viscosity product, coupled with higher acetone levels, made their product skin over very fast, and as the product set, it would trap thousands of little bubbles in the coating. Also, large bubbles would form as a result of the product being applied in the sun and pooling in low areas of the pattern. If it was hot at the time of installation, this product suffered bonding abilities as well. This made for even more problems to correct.