Answer
Jul 06, 2023 - 12:17 PM
There are two reasons why you get white stains on stamped concrete:
1. One is that the person that sealed and washed it did not let it dry well (we recommend letting it dry for 48 hours before sealing). He then applied the sealer probably same day, what happens is that the concrete doesn't get the full opportunity to dry inside, and once you put the sealer on top of it encloses the floor 100% and it doesn't let the concrete breath and that creates the sealer to break down quickly or entrap efflorescence between the concrete and the sealer, and then it looks like a white stain.
2. Another reason why your concrete gets white stains is because sealers have a certain age and after a couple of years of exposure to the sun, rain, maybe snow or whatever they tend to breakdown and they tend to create white stains, that means that the sealer is now old and needs to be regenerated by applying sealer on top of it (if applying sealer does not correct the problem then old sealer needs to be removed), or it has to be removed so you can reapply new sealer to the concrete.
3. Stamped Concrete should be sealed every two years to avoid the sealer from breaking down. Once the sealer breaks down it is when it becomes more difficult to get it to restore to its original good-looking color and shine.
4. If you decide to strip the old coating Do Not used Xylene because it will only thin the existing sealer and white stains will return quickly wasting all the time/labor invested.
5. Here are the products that you may need for restoring your stamped concrete:
a. SealGreen E15 Epoxy Sealer Test kit – to determine if sealer can be generated.
b. SealGreen SCR 1600 Coating Remover - for stripping old sealer.
c. SealGreen Color Stain Primer - wash only
d. SealGreen Color Stains – to restore color if faded.
e. SealGreen E15 Epoxy sealer for Stamped Concrete.
Please call us or email us at 800-997-3873 or Info@sealgreen.comSource: SealGreen Website
