I’ve shied away from talking about our fiasco that was our Ardex Feather Finished Countertops… if you want to read more about what I have already wrote on that, I suggest looking back through the blog… and here you go here (that’s the post where I burst everyone’s bubble and whine a lot.. but there’s also some progress shots elsewhere in the blog).
I thought I’d share what sealants we used and that didn’t work.
Sikagard 1 Gal. Natural Look Sealer
First off, we tried Sika Sikaguard Professional Natural Look Clear Sealer from Home Depot. We did NOT try to wax this. It did not work at all for us. We put coats and coats and coat after coat of this stuff on and the water would still soak through. We put some MIO in water to make the water colored, and it stained the crap out of it. I thought I had pictures of these stains, but apparently I didn’t take any while in my blind rage?
Side note – this was the ONLY concrete sealer I could find at my local Home Depot. I thought that was odd. The sales associates looked at me like I was nuts when I told them what I was looking for.
Sakrete Gallon Cure’n Seal Concrete Repair
Next, I tried a sealant I got at Lowe’s instead. This time I picked up Sakrete Concrete Cure N’ Seal. I flipped over my ‘test’ concrete (As previously mentioned, I applied some to an old MDF shelf), applied more feather finish and then again coated until I thought for sure anymore would be overkill. Around eight coats if I remember correctly. THEN I waxed it..twice. I spilled everything all over the tester and it didn’t soak in. Everything was great.
As for the wax, I just bought kit carnuba wax from Amazon.
So what went wrong with the main installation?
I have no idea. We did exactly to the countertops that we did to the tester shelf. The only thing I can think is that these countertops were actually used, not “tested.” We prepped meals on them. We sat dishes down on them. No matter what we did, we had to do whatever the equivalent is in this situation as “walk on eggshells” with them. Don’t let your glass sit too long. Don’t let your raw veggies touch them lest it comes off on the veggies. Do not let grease splash on them because it’ll stain before you can even exhale.
I’ll post some aftermath photos asap to show the damage.
In the interim, does anybody know where we went wrong? Or did we do everything we were supposed to and these were just an absolute disaster in the making no matter what we did?
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Hello! I’m wandering around the internet doing some research before Ardex-ing my kitchen counter and -gasp- bathroom floors. :X
I had been pretty encouraged by everything out there so far but omg I could not afford for it to go this wrong (I rent). I so feel for you! D:
I was wondering, did you let each layer of concrete dry for 24+ hrs between coats, and each layer of sealant?
Thanks in advance!
Sure did! In fact, some of it set/dried for longer because life got in the way. Let me know how it goes for you, if you decide it. We are still not sure if we did something wrong or if this is just a case of bloggers glossing over failures and never reporting back? I hate to think that or say that, but nobody can tell me what I did wrong when I followed the directions to a T!