Comparison of Available Concrete Sealants Wax sealers or chemical sealers
Used by contractors as a curing agent for green concrete and to keep surfaces clean during construction. Inexpensive. Meant as temporary only. Leave a film, which has to be removed before painting or installing tiles. Chemical sealers require special precautions due to hazardous fumes. (A "cure & seal" application of RadonSeal also retards water evaporation, but does not emit VOCs and leaves the concrete paintable.) Waterproofing concrete paints, surface sealants, or coatings
Interior or exterior. Crack and peel, particularly where needed because water pressure and efflorescence lift the surface film. (For example, the most popular waterproofing paint sold in stores, which is just a latex-based paint.) Alkalis from the concrete attack all paints or coatings by "saponification.” Susceptible to wear and abrasion. High maintenance costs. Remove the old paint before re-painting or the two layers will trap more vapor, speeding up the peeling. Crystalline sealers
Deposit tiny silicate crystals into the pores in concrete, which then expand on contact with water and thus seal the pores. In the absence of liquid water, they do not seal against gases like water vapor or radon. The crystals get eventually pushed out to the surface and re-application is then required (or sealing with RadonSeal). Cementitious slurry sealers
Well-proven for stopping water seepage through leaking concrete walls. Troweled on the surface. Contain crystals that expand on contact with water. The "cold joint" with the old concrete is vulnerable – efflorescence and water pressure cause separation and cracking. Not designed to stop water vapor or radon. As the crystals get pushed out over time, it loses its waterproofing property. (Then, it can be re-sealed with RadonSeal.) Silane sealers
Leave a thin unpaintable film on the surface, which repels rainwater and "beads." However, the film tends to yellow and soon disintegrates due to UV-rays. Most contain chemical solvents. Annual re-application needed. Siloxane sealers
Form a water-repellant elastomeric membrane, which usually "beads" water but is unpaintable and slippery when wet. Susceptible to UV-rays, regular re-application needed. Expensive raw materials. Silicate sealers
Penetrate deep into the concrete and seal it internally by reacting with lime and alkalis. The silicate mineral seals the capillaries permanently. No re-application needed. Bond, strengthen, preserve, and waterproof concrete. Stop efflorescence. Polyester sealers
Penetrate deep into the pores in concrete or masonry, cure and fill them with a hard plastic. Not dependant on a chemical reaction – seal a wide range of porous materials permanently. Waterproof and reduce efflorescence. Our starting line-up of state-of-the-art sealers RadonSeal Deep-Penetrating Concrete Sealer is a silicate-based reactive sealer. Compared to other silicate sealers, RadonSeal is heavier, penetrates much deeper, and seals tighter – not only against water but also against vapor and even radon gas. More about RadonSeal Concrete Sealers … LastiSeal Concrete & Brick Sealer and LastiSeal Masonry Color Sealer are polyester-based sealers that waterproof a wide range of materials – concrete, blocks, bricks, stones, and masonry. About LastiSeal Concrete & Brick Sealer or LastiSeal Masonry Color Sealer … Unlike other siloxane-based sealers, our subsurface elastomeric sealers penetrate much deeper into the substrate and form a water-repellent membrane well below the surface, hidden from UV-rays. About Subsurface Membrane Concrete Sealers or Ion-Bond Armor Concrete Sealer … For a review of our concrete and masonry sealers and how to select the best sealer for your application, visit Cutting-Edge Penetrating Sealers for Concrete, Brick, and Masonry … The long track record of silicate sealers The history of penetrating silicate concrete sealers goes back to Germany in World War II, when they were used to strengthen quickly poured military runways. After the war, the Army Corps of Engineers started using the sealers for the preservation of concrete dams and bridges. As the technology evolved, the use of silicate concrete sealers expanded from strengthening structural concrete to waterproofing concrete. During the last couple of decades, penetrating silicate concrete sealers have become widely used in the US and abroad, be it the Disney World or Sydney Opera House. Many architects specify them for major buildings. The sealers have been successfully used on thousands of concrete structures and buildings. Special sealers have been developed for bricks and stones, as well as new types of silicon-based sealers for concrete. Penetrating sealers now protect many historical monuments against deterioration and acid rain.
Any questions? Please contact us by e-mail,
telephone (203) 225-0366 or toll-free 1-800-472-0603
MADE IN USA
Products not sold through retail stores. Available exclusively from:
Radon Mitigation & Waterproofing Concrete Sealer Co.
Novion Inc., 18 L'Hermitage Drive, Shelton, CT 06484 USA
RadonSeal™ is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
|
