An untreated garage floor is vulnerable to road salts, oil stains and leaked fluids. Salt and excess water exposure leads to damage such as spalling and pitting. Besides, untreated floors generate a ton of dust, which you track into the house.
I recommend Lithi-Tek 4500 because it merges the qualities of both a densifier and sealer in one easy to apply product. It also doesn’t change the look of your garage floor and leaves the floor as paintable as it was before you started.
If left untreated your garage floor is vulnerable to road salts and staining from oils and fluids. Some concerns are primarily cosmetic but constant exposure to road salts and excess water can lead to damage like spalling. Also, untreated floors generate dust which starts to cover your car and other belongings and which you wind up tracking into your house.
Why Use a Densifying Sealer Instead of Just a Penetrating Sealer?
Penetrating sealers do not strengthen your floor and the manufacturers generally recommend that you use a densifier first to prevent the sealer from going in too deeply, forcing you to use more product to be effective.
How Does a Densifying Sealer Work?
Lithi-Tek 4500 works by penetrating the concrete. It is a water-based product which allows it to be absorbed by the concrete where the lithium in the product bonds with the calcium hydroxide to create something called CSH (calcium silicate hydrate) which is what makes concrete strong.
The CSH fills in the pores of your concrete floor making it denser and harder. It also does a good job at repelling road salts and deicers and protects against the damage of freeze thaw cycles. That is how the densifier portion of Lithi-Tek 4500 works.
Lithi-Tek 4500 also contains siliconate which acts as a sealer just below the surface. It is important to note that this is not a surface sealer which would bond on top of the floor. It will do a very good job of repelling stains but it does not create an impervious barrier. If you keep after stains and don’t let them sit for a long time you will be fine, however. It also repels water and protects against moisture, and prevents mold and mildew.
Why Not Use a Surface Sealer?
If you absolutely, positively need to have a garage floor that will be impervious to stains from oils and other chemicals then a good quality surface sealer is what you need. but before you say yes to that consider that applying a surface sealer requires a lot more prep work and is much more labor intensive to apply. And keep in mind that a surface sealer will prevent you from painting or staining your garage floor in the future as that sealer will need to be removed.
Ghostshield has a line of garage floor protection products. The densifier sealer does the most work for the lowest price, and doesn't require that much prep. Buy Lithi-Tek 4500 at Amazon.
