Sealing concrete is the need of the hour.
Because concrete is highly porous and can welcome moisture and chemicals
inside, it needs extra care and protection. Basically, a concrete sealer forms a protective layer on the surface of the
concrete area to keep all sorts of harmful substances out.
Now, the process of concrete sealing
seems pretty simple but if you do it wrong, it could lead to formation of
bubbles and blisters on the surface. The main aspect you need to keep in mind
is the weather conditions when you’re applying a concrete sealer - too high or too low temperatures affect the
evaporation process. Also, you should know what to avoid and be completely well
thorough with the process in order to avoid the bubbles and blisters.
Concrete sealers that are not 100% solid
use evaporation technology to cure. It is the water part of the sealer that
helps make application of the concrete
sealer possible. After you apply the sealer, the water evaporates leaving
behind a plastic layer to form on the concrete surface. Once the evaporation
process is done, the plastic gets hard. The air and gases need to escape during
this time and hence, if the sealer dries too quickly or too slowly, it can trap
the gases and moisture outside.
When the temperature is cold, the sealer dries too slowly, if it’s too low, it
dries fast and if the climate is windy, the top dries before the bottom. Thus,
there is a lot of care to be taken when applying the sealer. Firstly, concrete
sealers should never be applied when there is moisture on the surface. Freshly
poured concrete is never sealed for the same reason that it has moisture which
needs to evaporate. Secondly, thick coats of sealers don’t let the gases break
out and bubbles are formed inside – the top dries while the bottom sits and
wait, forming blisters and bubbles.
Removing
Sealer Bubbles and Blisters
So, the blisters and bubbles have showed up
– you can’t leave it like that. You need to fix the concrete surface by taking
care of these sealer bubbles and blisters. Getting rid of the blisters and
bubbles in the concrete could be as easy as reapplying the concrete sealer or as tough as stripping it all and resealing it.
How you should go about it depends on the type of sealer you have used and how
deep the blisters and bubbles are.
All in all, there are three common remedies for different sealers and different
situations. For a solvent based sealer, the defects can be removed by giving
the affected area a solvent bath with acetone or xylene. If it was water-based
sealer, try the solvent on a sample before giving it a bath or you can also
remove the simple surface bubbles and blisters by giving another coating of the
sealer. But the tough part comes when the bubbles are deep. Then you need to
strip the sealer, clean the area and reapply the sealer.
In case you are having troubles figuring
out the best alternative for your surface, the best thing to do would be
calling up the manufacturer of the concrete
sealer and asking the technician.
