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About Concrete Paving And Sealing

About Concrete Paving

Concrete Pavers are made by pouring a mixture of concrete and some type of coloring agent into a mold of some shape and allowing it to set. Concrete pavers are a popular outdoor flooring surface. With modern technology, rough grey concrete pavers are a thing of the past, and many are produced with a sophisticated look similar to come types of natural stone.

Sealing Concrete Paving

Concrete paving is very porous, and stains easily. It's high porosity makes it particularly prone to salt efflorescence. All concrete paving should be sealed to keep it looking good for a long period of time.

To maintain the look, breathe-ability and slip resistance of the surface, it is important to use a high quality, invisible impregnating sealer. Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are safe and suitable for outdoor and indoor surfaces, and for residential or high traffic commercial surfaces

About Brick

Brick is a man-made building material made from baked clay that has been used for over 5000 years. Bricks are also made from a mixture of lime and very fine sand that are hardened in stream at a high pressure.

Sealing Brick

Brick is hard and dense, but quite porous and easily penetrated by water oil, although the amount of porosity varies depending on the particular type of clay, baking methods etc.
To maintain the look and protect brick paving from oil staining, water ingress and salt attack, it is important to use a high quality, invisible impregnating sealer. This is especially so for brick paving in entertaining areas or where there is a problem with salt efflorescence.
Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are safe and suitable for outdoor and indoor surfaces, and for residential or high traffic commercial surfaces.

About Bluestone

American bluestone is a high quality, dense sandstone, quarried around New York and Pennsylvania, and commercially known as Pennsylvania bluestone. It is very popular as a building and architectural stone.

Australian bluestone or basalt is a dense, hard wearing stone, generally a deep blue grey, and is a grand and popular paving stone. Bluestone was used in the interior of the new Melbourne Cricket Ground, and sealed with Dry-Treat's ENHANCE-PLUS and STAIN PROOF.

British dolerite is mainly used to make jewelry and small knickknacks. About 80 of the stones at Stonehenge are dolerite.

Sealing Bluestone

Bluestone may be a dense stone, but it is still porous - you only need to leave a tablespoon of water on a floor tile for 30 minutes or so to find a deep stain. It is important to seal bluestone if you want it to continue to look good for a long period of time.

To maintain the look and slip resistance of the bluestone, it is important to use a high quality, invisible impregnating sealer. Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are safe and suitable to seal bluestone surfaces of all types - from wall cladding to floors, outdoors and in, residential and high traffic commercial.

About Granite

Granite is an igneous rock formed by the slow cooling of molten liquid rock. It is made up of crystals of quartz and feldspar, and sometimes mica and hornblende. Granite is a tough, hard wearing and versatile stone, available in a wide array of mottled colors, from whites to blacks and just about every other color.

Finished to a high polish it is the most popular stone for kitchen bench tops, and with a honed or even rough hewn finish is popular for wall cladding and flooring - both residential and commercial.

Sealing Granite

Granite is dense, but quite porous - you only need to leave a tablespoon of water on a floor tile for 30 minutes or so to find a deep stain. It is important to seal granite to keep it looking good for a long period of time.

To maintain the look and slip resistance of the granite, it is important to use a high quality, invisible impregnating sealer. Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are safe and suitable to seal granite surfaces of all types - from wall cladding to floors, outdoors and in, residential and high traffic commercial.

About Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary soft rock that consists of mainly calcium carbonate. In its pure state it is white but it may be colored by other materials. Limestone is formed either from accumulation of animal shells in a calcium carbonate cementing matrix or by crystallization from solution.

Sealing Limestone

All limestone is highly porous - a tablespoon of water on a limestone surface will be absorbed in seconds, although it does vary in porosity from piece to piece. Porosity is also affected by its finish - highly polished limestone is a little harder to penetrate than limestone with a honed (matt) finish.
Due to its high porosity it is particularly important for limestone to be sealed with a high quality impregnating sealer which will not affect its slip resistance or look. Limestone is used both outdoors and indoors, and Dry-Treat's premium impregnating sealers will seal limestone equally well in either.

About Marble

Marble is a limestone that has been changed under intense heat and pressure and is composed of calcium carbonate. The most common mineral of this composition is calcite.

Sealing Marble

Although marble is a dense stone, water and oil will penetrate marble given sufficient time. Porosity is also affected by its finish - highly polished marble is a little harder to penetrate than marble with a honed (matt) finish.
To preserve its looks, breathe-ability and slip resistance, it is important for marble to be sealed with a high quality, high penetration, invisible impregnating sealer. Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are suitable for all marble surfaces, indoors and out, from kitchen counter tops to marble floor tiles or wall cladding.

About Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock formed from debris deposited of silica granules by wind or water and consolidated with amorphous silica or calcium carbonate cementing matrix, often in conjunction with aluminum or iron oxide, which contributes yellow, orange or brown coloration.

Sealing Sandstone

Sandstone is very porous and one of the softest types of stone. Water and oil absorb into sandstone within seconds and, over a longer period, water and especially water with salt can do severe damage to the surface. All sandstone must be sealed to help keep it intact, free of salt efflorescence and looking good.

To maintain the look, breathe-ability and slip resistance of the sandstone, it is important to use a high quality, invisible impregnating sealer. Topical sealers will trap moisture in the stone which can damage it in time. Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are safe and suitable to seal sandstone surfaces of all types - from wall cladding to floors, outdoors and in, residential and high traffic commercial.

About Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low grade regional metamorphism. Slate is mainly composed of quartz and muscovite or illite, often along with biotite, chlorite, hematite, and pyrite along with, less frequently, apatite, graphite, kaolin, magnetite, tourmaline, or zircon.

Sealing Slate

Slate is quite dense, but it is still highly porous - a tablespoon of water left on the slate for about 30 minutes will leave a deep mark. Slate should be sealed to keep it looking good for a long period of time.

Topical sealers (glossy plastic coating over the top of the slate) are still used on slate, but these older style sealers can trap moisture in the stone and make the surface very slippery when wet. Plus, when a topical sealer wears in higher traffic areas, the entire surface has to be stripped and re-sealed,

To provide premium protection from oil and water-based stains, maintain the look and slip resistance of the slate and prevent damaging moisture from being trapped within the stone, it is important to seal slate with a high quality, invisible, fully breathe-able impregnating sealer.

About Terracotta / Saltillo

From the Italian for 'baked earth", refined clay is partially dried and cast, molded, or hand worked into a desired shape, then fired for hardness. When unglazed, the material is very porous. Glazed terracotta can vary from relatively water proof to partially porous. Terracotta / Saltillo is a good value surface material and quite hard wearing though not as dense or tough as most types of stone.
The unglazed color after firing can vary widely depending on the amount of and type of mineral/metal particles in the clay, from orange, orangish red, to brownish orange color and even yellows, grays and pinks.

Sealing Terracotta / Saltillo

Terracotta is usually quite porous and very prone to staining and to water ingress. All terracotta should be sealed for protection.
To maintain the look, breath ability and slip resistance of terracotta, it is important to use a high quality, invisible impregnating sealer. Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are safe and suitable for outdoor and indoor surfaces, and for residential or high traffic commercial surfaces.

About Travertine

Travertine is a sedimentary rock. When pure, travertine is quite white, but usually it at least partially patterned and colored in shades from light yellows to browns, from impurities in the stone. Travertine is also full of pits. These can be left or filled with a suitable color-matched putty.

Travertine is typically formed from mineral deposits (usually calcite) in mineral springs or hot springs, or streams saturated with calcium carbonate. When it is very porous, Travertine is known as calcareous 'tuff'.

Sealing Travertine

All travertine is highly porous - a tablespoon of water on a travertine surface will be absorbed in seconds, although it does vary in porosity from piece to piece. Porosity is also affected by its finish - highly polished travertine with all the holes filled is less porous than travertine with a honed (matt) finish.

Due to its high porosity it is particularly important for travertine to be sealed with a high quality impregnating sealer which will not affect its slip resistance or look. It is very difficult to seal travertine against acid attack. Travertine is used both outdoors and indoors, and Dry-Treat's premium impregnating sealers will seal travertine equally well in either.

About Polished Porcelain

Porcelain is pressed dust i.e. the raw materials are ground, mixed and moistened and literally pressed into the desired shape using tremendous force, creating a ceramic tile with a very low absorption level and high mechanical strength and chemical resistance. Vitrified / vitreous tiles are usually very hard for liquids to penetrate, but polished porcelain usually stains and absorbs water quite easily.

Even with dense vitrified tiles, it is always a good idea to seal tile grout, as this is usually the easiest pathway for water to get in and cause damage - in the shower for example. Once water gets underneath tiles, it is often free to move through concrete floors, brick and mortar walls and to rot wooden structures.

Sealing Polished Porcelain

Polished Porcelain is usually prone to staining and to water ingress. All polished porcelain should be sealed for protection. Polished porcelain tiles usually arrive with some type of wax coating (which protects it during shipping) - this wax coating must be thoroughly cleaned off prior to sealing.

To maintain the look, breath ability and slip resistance of polished porcelain, it is important to use a high quality, invisible impregnating sealer. Dry-Treat impregnating sealers are safe and suitable for outdoor and indoor surfaces, and for residential or high traffic commercial surfaces.

The Dry-Treat Difference

Dry-Treat's impregnating sealers are technologically different from commonly available silicone, teflon and siloxane impregnators. Our specially engineered molecules penetrate deeper into porous materials and bond permanently inside the pores, without blocking them.

Dry-Treat impregnating sealers stand up to cleaning chemicals, traffic, sunlight, and even commercial cleaning techniques such as high pressure hosing. We back our technology with written performance warranties of up to 20 years, when the sealers are applied by a Dry-Treat Accredited Applicator.

About the Author

Stone Works Canada is a well established Canadian company which offers a variety of professional services to home owners in the Greater Metropolitan Toronto area. We have developed a specialized system to assist homeowners with all landscaping, outdoor maintenance and construction needs.

http://www.stoneworkscanada.com

With our own network of Landscape, Construction Specialists, Tile Setters and Masons who are skilled and well trained, and ready to work side-by-side with you, to ensure that you receive a high level of personalized service and expert advice, to assure your complete satisfaction.