[kellychris76]

Hello, all. We are having trouble getting our four year old terracotta red, textured patio to a place where we can seal it. It has never been sealed (hindsight is 20/20), and it is covered in a chalky substance which won't go away. At first I thought this was a hard water problem. We live in Las Vegas; the water is extremely hard, and the temperatures are high! I tried cleaning it with Zep Driveway and Concrete Pressure Wash Concentrate. That didn't seem to help at all.
I did some more research and decided that it was probably efflorescence; the white coat wasn't spotty. I was warned that using muriatic acid might sap some color from the concrete, so I tried straight vinegar followed by a rinse with hose water and another with distilled water. This seemed to lessen some of the red spotting (the white coating was more consistent) but didn't do anything to remove the haze. I then read that I should have applied the vinegar to a wet patio to avoid making the efflorescence worse, so I tried again with more vinegar and distilled water. I don't really see a difference, though. I am willing to try the acid wash if it won't damage the color, but I wanted to see what others thought before I risked it.
I have put several days of work into this already and am pretty frustrated. Any ideas would be really appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Kelly

 

[kellychris76]

Here are a few pictures of the patio following the initial wash with Zep. It looks pretty similar following the two vinegar washes.

 

[stadry]

vinegar IS an acid albeit very mild,,, you might have to shop somewhere beside the apron/vest stores,,, look for prosoco products - they should do the trick - vapor-permeable sealer will allow the moisture to escape

btw, 1 NEVER wants to use soft water for hard concrete,,, you OR anyone else who walks on it will sink down to your/their ankles :surprise:

it MAY be you need to seek local advice of a decorative conc artisan,,, pay him but don't o'lay the driveway just because 1 guy says so

 

[kellychris76]

Wow! Instantaneous and helpful. I was actually just reading your reply to another post and went looking for a local construction supply store. I found one and noticed that they carry the Prosoco products you recommended. I'll start there and proceed to the pro if it doesn't work out. Thank you so much for your advice.

 

[stadry]

great, now go back to bed,,, i work the e coast graveyard shift - another 2 hrs & i go to my day job :wink2:

 

[kellychris76]

Ugh! Then I wish you good rest when you finally make it to bed. Thanks again for taking the time.

 

[Tscarborough]

You should test a small area with the sealer, I think most of the color issue will go away. That doesn't look like efflorescence so much as general color fade/wear.

 

[jomama45]

You should test a small area with the sealer, I think most of the color issue will go away. That doesn't look like efflorescence so much as general color fade/wear.

I agree, it looks like it had sealer on it and it's worn away.

If it looks good/acceptable wet, it should look even better with a good quality acrylic enhancing sealer over it.