Masonry Sealer Advice

I used four layers of aluminum foil that I superglued to the chimney crown plus I primed and oil-base pained (red) whole chimney. Working so far - second day of downpours and it ain't leakin' no drop into attic ...

When I had the top of my chimney done I used Sure Klean masonry sealer. I put it on after about a month of allowing the concrete to cure and a week of dry weather. I think this stuff was about $35 a gal but I was told its one of the best you can get. I couldnt find it in any size smaller than a gallon.

Jimmie

Its such a miracle the chemical companies saved us again, before sealers were advertised 20 yrs ago everyones chimneys would just fall down. Thompsons got it right.

A "Stock" mixture of 1 lb Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) and 5 lbs of Hydrated Aluminum Potassium Sulphate (common ALUM) mixed with 2 gallons of pure water.

One PINT of this mixture is added to 10 lbs of either common or portland cement and thinned to brushing consistancy with water. This is brushed onto fresh concrete (within 3 to 4 days) with a whitewash brush. It will foam when applied, and forms an "impervious" finish on the concrete making it resistant to damage from salts etc and prevents water from migrating through the concrete.

You could likely scale down the batch size of both the "stock mixture" and the final mix.

The Sure Klean was bought at a contractors specialty supply house, not found at HD or the othere place. Im sure google can supply this info. Ive heard of people using aluminum paint to seal concrete, never tried it though. Ive heard a lot of claims to this effect over the years but never seen it tested.

Jimmie