Removing selant on interior flags - Powdery flags

[Lins]

Can anyone help?? I have a Bradstone flag floor which is sealed with a Rustins water based sealant. Some of the larger flags 900 X 600 look awfaul, basically the sealant lifts in small patches because the surface is powdery. The only way I can seem to resolve this is to remove the sealant ( which is easier said than done) and retreat. To get any sort of finish I have to obviously remove the sealant from the whole of the flag. Currently I have been steaming it off with a damp cloth and an iron!!!! Anyway I have decided this is the only way to go. I have read all the reports and have contacted Resiblock as their products is recommended so highly, but I cannot apply Resiblock on top of any other sealant. Has anyone out there got any suggestions besides changing the whole floor??

Lins

[Tony McC]

I wouldn't recommend Resiblock for a wet-cast flagstone internal floor. Wrong type of concrete in the wrong location to be compatible with the Resiblock stuff.

I think you need to get on to Rustins and find out what they recommend to remove their sealant. From memory, the Rustins' product is less than ideal for newly-laid wet-cast.

[Lins]

Thanks Tony, Rustins only suggested I used paint stripper/varnish remover, which is alot messier than my 'steaming' method. Any suggestions of what I can put on when I have eventually removed the sealant and will it go on top of Rustins??

Lins

[Tony McC]

If you do go with the 'Nitromors' method, test a small, discreet corner first. There's a small risk that the concrete dyes could be affected.

Anyway, once you have the flags stripped back to concrete, I'd consider using Covergard from Universal Sealants. I've been playing with it on various surfaces for a few months now and the more I play, the more impressed I become.

Universal Sealants/Nufins - 0191 416 8360 - http://www.usluk.com/nufins/nufins_index.htm