I accidentally applied a water based penetrating sealer to a customer’s stamped concrete. It resulted in small white patches left on the concrete.
I tried using an Efflorescence Remover - nothing. I tried using Muriatic Acid - nothing. Anyone know how I can remove the old sealer?
I would then need to put on an acrylic based low sheen sealer I imagine.
Anyone able to help?!
The sealer should be fine if it’s made for the surface (which it likely is). The white patches are probably over application, since it’s not a super-porous substrate. You have to remove the excess. Best method we’ve found is a good ol’ turbo tip, and if that doesn’t cut it, a decent sealer stripper should take care of it. These are the methods prescribed to us by our Trident rep, not just trial and error BTW.
He said it’s stamped concrete so it’s probably colored I would guess. I would be nervous about the color coming out with the turbo nozzle. Would that be a concern for you?
Once again people, w/o pics we’re guessing.
That is the sealer I used. I also included a picture of the white patches on the surface of the concrete.
Would a turbo nozzle damage this stamped concrete. It has a yellow/tan appearance.
usually stained coloring is integral, but yes that would definitely need to be figured out. If it’s post-stained/colored…definitely a no-go on the turbo (and probably on the stripping chems as well…)
It’s not efflorescence or anything. Listen to @JAtkinson he’s right
The first time I cleaned a colored stamped concrete pool deck I learned the hard way about “integral mix. The client told me (because I asked her about it) that she was the one who purchased the pool deck and she watched them mix the color in before they poured it. We did a test area with the surface cleaner prior to going to town on it and it looked like it was coming clean just fine with no loss of color, but we did not wait until it dried. I left my tech on site to finish the job and he called me about 3/4 of the way through telling me that he noticed that where it was drying that there wasn’t very much color anymore. Basically the pressure washed out most of the color that was there. This is when I found (my now good friend Tim) stone restoration specialist (who used to be a tile contractor) but these days specializes in sealing. He explained to me that typically they do mix color in with the concrete, but that the most of the color is added as part of the cream top and there is a lot more of it there than in the rest of it. That’s not to say that it’s always like that but ever since that experience I refuse to use high pressure on color, cream top or stamped concrete. Again this is not guaranteed to be pertinent to every situation, but it is an expensive problem to have and I am not in a position to pay for it if I can avoid it easily to begin with.
