Factors to Consider When Choosing a Concrete Floor Sealer
When selecting a concrete floor sealer, it’s important to keep various factors in mind to ensure the best results for your specific needs:
Durability & Maintenance
Consider the level of durability required for your concrete floor. High-traffic areas may require sealers with superior abrasion resistance such as twin pack epoxy and polyurethane coatings.
It is important that the chosen sealer aligns with your maintenance routine. For example, when sealing the concrete floor of a busy commercial space, such as a shopping mall or a restaurant, you would want to choose a sealer that can withstand heavy foot traffic, frequent cleaning, and potential spills. In such cases, a high performance sealer such as Flortex PU Twin Pack has excellent abrasion resistance and would be ideal. On the other hand, if you are sealing the concrete floor of a vehicle garage, you may opt for a sealer such as OT Garage Floor Primer will withstand hot tyres and chemical resistance against oils and salts as well as having the ability to adhere to contaminated substrates.
Aesthetics & Finish
Consider the desired appearance of your concrete floor. Glossy finishes can provide a sleek and modern look, while matte finishes offer a more subtle appeal. Consider also, the overall design and ambiance of the space to ensure the sealer complements the existing aesthetics.
For example: if you are renovating a chic art gallery with a contemporary design, you may decide on a glossy sealer such as Flortex Professional, which would enhance the floor and create an ultra-modern and sophisticated look. On the other hand, if you are sealing the concrete floor of a rustic farmhouse kitchen, a matt sealer such as Flortex PU Twin Pack Matt blends well with the natural atmosphere.
However when using clear floor sealers, please remember that any existing blemishes, stains and marks on the floor will not only remain visible but can often be accentuated by the sealer. Should you have such blemishes, it may be advisable to seal the floor with a coloured (pigmented) sealer to obliterate such marks.
Cost
When considering your need of a sealer, please try not to be governed by ‘cost’! Whilst we realise that this is often a major factor in the final decision, you need to be very clear as to why you are considering a sealer in the first place. After over 30 years in the trade and supplying coatings all over the world, Polycote UK would like to confirm a few points to help prevent you from making a wrong decision:
- If you choose a sealer because it has the greatest coverage, please realise that you will be applying it so thinly that a) the product will have very little surface build so will therefore wear off quickly and b) the product will have pretty much zero penetration into the substrate, no matter what it says on the tin! You will have applied it so thinly, there is little to no volume there to be able to penetrate!
- As and when the dust re-appears or the water or oil, starts to re-penetrate the surface, you will then decide to re-seal the surface.
- When you re-seal the surface you may decide to use the same product OR, you may decide to use something better. At some point you will almost certainly make the decision to do it ‘properly’. So you then decide to spend a lot more money on a top quality, all singing all dancing, twin pack epoxy.
Well, please know right now that you may well be wasting your time!
- Why, you might well ask?!
Well, the answer is very simple. We don’t mean to be rude in any way shape or form, but just to cut the ‘blab’ and tell the facts for what they are:
- You apply a cheap ‘fag-paper thin’ product over the surface
- When it begins to fail, and in many cases after a very short period of time, this ‘first’ coat creates a barrier and prevents any further coat from adhering directly onto the actual concrete itself.
- The new coating can now only adhere to ‘the cheap sealer’ coat.
- Yes, epoxy resin is one of the world’s strongest forms of adhesive and is one of the best sellers that money can buy BUT, what good is it when all it can do is to adhere to a cheap floor paint/sealer?
- So how do I get over this problem?
Whilst this answer is very simple, unfortunately it’s a lot easier said than done! You need to remove the cheap sealer from the floor and that mostly means floor grinders, dust, aggravation, downtime and ultimately, cost.
We already know this is not what you want to hear, but please make no mistake that unless you remove the existing sealer or paint or whatever it was you used, please don’t waste any money putting good over bad. No matter how much you pay for the next coating, unless you get rid of the ‘rubbish’, you will achieve little more that a waste of time, effort and money.
In Conclusion
So, in conclusion, please consider your requirements wisely!
Firstly, get the right product and secondly, we respectfully suggest that you forget what the coverage says on the tin or data sheet. If the substrate is porous, weak or dusty, apply as much as the floor needs. And lastly, if the floor looks patchy, due to some areas being more porous and consequently where the sealer has ‘disappeared’, coat it again And if necessary, again and again!
Yes, we know it is not ‘cheap’, but the porosity of your floor is what it is and if you want to seal it properly, what I am saying to you is what you need to do.
Related Articles
Understanding the Different Requirements of a Concrete Floor Sealer
A Comprehensive Guide to Different Types of Concrete Floor Sealers
How to Apply Concrete Floor Sealers
Some helpful sayings:
Investing in a high-quality sealer may save you money in the long run by reducing the need for frequent resealing or repairs. Here are a few ‘sayings that we hope may encourage and help you to make a right decision:
“It is always cheaper to do the job right, the first time” Philip B. Crosby
“Cost is more important than quality, but quality is the best way to reduce cost.” Genichi Taguchi
“It’s hard enough to do it the first time, so do it once and do it right!” S. Britchford
Thank You
Polycote UK would like to take the opportunity to thank you for taking an interest in these product and application articles and hope they have been some help to you.
We would of course be pleased to answer any specific questions should you wish to contact us directly on 01234 846400 or email: help@polycote.com
