Making Your Concrete Home Last Longer with Concrete Sealer

Concrete is the most widely used man-made building material anywhere on earth, Nearly all buildings, structures like dams, bridges, roads, flyovers and highways are made of concrete or pre-stressed concrete. Concrete is made from a blend of cement together with a coarse aggregate of gravel, granite, limestone and sand mixed in water with some other chemical admixtures. After getting the right consistency in the mix and being poured into a mold covering steel trusses or frames, concrete hardens and solidifies into a durable and lasting structure.

Treating Concrete

But concrete can be vulnerable. Its weakness comes from the fact that it is porous and acts like a sponge to absorb moisture from the atmosphere or allow seepage from the ground up. If the moisture comes from evaporating solvents and caustic chemicals, concrete can literally wear away over time from the inside.

Similarly, water that seeps inside, when frozen in the winter, expands to push against the concrete from within. This can result in cracks on the concrete plaster outside that are not only unsightly but eventually weaken the concrete wall.

Seasoned contractors and homebuilders regularly solve this weakness with a concrete sealer. The sealant chemical is used to treat concrete surfaces which, as the name suggest, seals it off from moisture and other liquid evaporates. While a concrete home can last for decades, a sealant applied can double its lifespan.

Concrete walls with one side exposed to the elements are best treated to reduce the risk of moisture damage and weathering. If your home has a basement below ground level, it is best to treat the concrete boundaries with a basement concrete sealer to prevent ground moisture from seeping in and eroding your basement’s concrete structures.

There are various sealant products. Most water-based sealants are considered as environment friendly compared with epoxy-based traditional sealants like polyurethane or polysulfide sealants which are more appropriate in urban centers. Many house paints designed for external use have chemicals that act as water sealants while others need to be applied before coating with any appropriate external paint.

As a homebuilder, you have a number of options when considering concrete sealant products. You can check with your corner hardware or builder shop for a recommended sealant or you can check online with just a simple Google search. You get pages of online merchants offering various products with many providing concrete sealer reviews from noted architects and contractors.