My husband heard a pitch from a rep at a home show about concrete/deck sealers. They are the silicate based products that penetrate below the surface. The product is Thermoseal and supposedly has a 20 year guarranty. It has only been in the states for 3 years and was in Canada prior. the bid to do our normal sized aggregate driveway and deck was just over $5000 this sounds very expensive to me and I am not sure there claims of a 20 year lifespan are realistic. Any thoughts....

Ricary

 

Why do you feel you nead a "sealer"?

 

Penetrating sealers are not at all like regular film-forming sealers. A regular concrete sealer is basically like a surface coat of clear acrylic paint. As such, it will wear and flake off just like paint will. They are relatively cheap.
Penetrating sealers absorb into the matrix of the concrete and crystallize in the pores and microscopic voids. They fill the voids with crystals, thus making them impenetrable (sp?) by water, because it has nowhere to go. They are more expensive but better at sealing. However, they do not enhance the appearance like an acrylic sealer will. This may be especially relevant on exposed aggregate concrete, where acrylic sealers greatly enhance the appearance by darkening the concrete and giving it a wet look. How large is your driveway? $5,000 sounds a bit steep, but who knows? Your driveway could be several thousand square feet.

Pecos

 

It is very difficult to apply a coating to most silicone products. Usually, you need to have them weather for a few years before you apply a coating (like clear acrylic) over them.

I just use an acrylic on my exposed aggregate since I had a high quality concrete (4500 psi air entrained) installed. I am not concerned about the surface water when there is a great deal on moisture in the soil underneath the concrete anyway.

Dick

 

Sodium silicate is what you use to cure a slab before you seal it. It penetrates, crystalizes and hardens the concrete, but it is not a sealer in the true sense of the word. It will not darken your concrete to a wet look; you won't be able to tell it is there other than a bit more water shedding and less dusting.

I searched for "Thermoseal" and "concrete sealer", and the only one that showed up was a "water based thermoplastic acrylic coating".

 

P.S. Sodium Silicate is dirt cheap, but not so effective on old concrete.

 

Our driveway is about 1200 sf. The proposal includes power washing and stripping of old coating and also includes doing 2 decks with the same penetrating product. I miss quoted the product name it is called "IntegraSeal". Our concrete is about 5 years old. I guess I question the necessity of a penetrating sealer if we are still going to have to do a top coat every couple of years. The same goes for the deck.

Thanks, Ricary

 

Sorry, but it sounds like a scam to me. Any reputable manufacturer will have both a spec data and MSDS of their product available on site. Sodium silicates are dirt cheap.

Amongst the other misspellings and lack of real information, there is this gem:

"IntegraSeal PetraWood is a nontoxic, nonflammable, penetrating alkali activated silica aero gel."


Umm, OK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel

 

All penetrating sealers are not sodium silicates. There are silanes, siloxanes, and other combinations of silicone. They are not all dirt cheap, at least to the contractor. They may be cheap to produce... who knows? But the contractor still has to pay for them.
With that said, Tscarborough may be onto something. I can see the sealer working on concrete because it has the alkalais necessary to "activate" the sealer. Does wood have alkalinity? I don't know as I'm no carpenter. But if it doesn't, how does the sealer react with it? It sounds like the company who markets it is trying to use big words and terminology to confuse.
In my opinion, pressure washing and sealing a 1200 sq ft driveway should cost a lot less than 5 grand, but the contractor will try to get as much $ as he is able. Ask him a lot of questions and see what he really knows about the product. How many times has he used it? Look at some of the jobs where he did use it. If it has a 20 year warranty and goes bad in 19, will he still be around to fix it? I doubt it. A warranty is only as good as the person or organization who gives it. Good luck.

Pecos

 

From the descrption, it sounds like a sodium silicate. Even with the most expensive one I sell, ($350.00 for a 5 gallon can), materials for the deck and driveway would be less than a grand.

 

Does anyone know of an inexpensive brand of sealer that has sodium silicate? Thanks

 

you can get a quart bottle of sodium silicate from your pharmacy, it may have to be ordered but usually runs around $15. I just ordered it for a customer last week. But I need to ask can Sodium silicate (liquid glass) be used as a tile grout sealer? any thoughts?

 

VERY good information,,, thanks, tscar, dick, & pecos ! always enjoy your responses Beer 4U2