On Oct 22, 10:46*pm, Puddin' Man wrote:
On Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:02:26 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:



I'm not sure why you'd want to seal a sidewalk to begin
with.

To achieve what the OP asked about-- matching the color of aged
concrete?

Correct, and thanks.

Unfortunately, I don't see a clear sealer doing that, which
apparently was what Puddin found out.

It toned it down fine when first applied. But it didn't last.



In northern climes you might also help yourself out on a few frosty
mornings--

Help yourself do what? * Slip and fall because with the
frost on the sealer it's slick?

I didn't brush it, but it's not slick. I don't think slipping
is an issue.









*and, less likely, IMO , help the new concrete resist the
effects of rock salt.

That might be true.

*...

*A
broom finish will take a whole lot of sealer to bridge those ridges.

Jim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes, having the underlying finish be rougher will help, but
any concrete with a typical sealer is going to be more
slippery that one without.

And the point is, what's the point? * New concrete is almost
always going to look different than adjacent sections that
are old and aged.

True.

I don't see a clear sealer fixing that.'

It can help a bunch. The stuff was near white when it set. Stuck out
like a sore thumb.

It seems rather odd that a Thompson type clear sealer would
turn concrete near white. That sounds more like some
kind of product that's gone bad.





If he wants to go with a concrete stain, then maybe, but
I'd think unless it's a solid type, the differences in the two
sections are still going to show up. *And with a solid stain,
it looks like it's been painted. * The usual solution is to
just let it age and after a few years, the differences will
diminish.

I've seen sealer that toned it down to near what the old,
weathered stuff looked like. But I don't even know what
kind of sealer had been used. I asked the guy, but he was
too busy ...

* P


A related question is what is the end game? If you put
sealer on it, how long will it last before you have to do it
again? And I would think sealer would just keep delaying
the natural weathering process that will eventually bring
the two closer, probably to the point that it's no longer an
issue.