Greetings!
Countertop protected by a
solvent-based sealer  | What is the key element of a concrete countertop that affects its aesthetics, performance, and your reputation as the fabricator more often than the concrete
itself? The answer is the sealer, according to Jeff Girard, president of The Concrete Countertop Institute and a frequent contributor to The Concrete Network. He says that nearly every characteristic that draws people to
concrete countertops can be traced back to
the sealer. Although its primary role is to protect the concrete from stains and etching, the sealer also affects the concrete's color vibrancy, sheen, tactile feel, and
texture. So much depends upon the sealer, yet too often concrete countertop
makers spend little effort in selecting the right sealer for the job. The only way to fully understand the capabilities and limitations of a sealer -- and to determine how it will perform in a client's home -- is to test it, says Girard. Here, he offers easy procedures for testing a sealer under "real-world" conditions.
Jim Peterson,
The Concrete Network
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The 14 Top Staining Agents to Test For
There are 14 substances you should evaluate in your stain testing because they represent a
range of commonly encountered materials. They include harsh staining agents,
solvents, acids, and cleaners
that can potentially change the color or shade
of the concrete or dissolve and damage the sealer.
See this list.
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How to Conduct the Test
The testing procedure should simulate spills left on the sealer for various lengths of time. This
is important, because not all spills are cleaned up immediately and sometimes
they're not noticed for a long time after the spill occurs. Because sealers
react differently to different substances left on for different exposure times, Girard has come up with a way to objectively evaluate the sealer's performance, score
the results, and make the scores from different sealers directly comparable. Learn how.
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How to Score the Results
If you plan on testing a variety of different sealers to see how they
perform, here's a scoring method that objectively evaluates the results
and allows you to compare the performance of different sealers. The scores are calculated just like grades in school. A sealer that resists all
14 substances for 24 hours and shows no damage or staining gets a
perfect score of 100%. A sealer that is severely affected by
everything at all exposure times scores very low on the scale.
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