Technical · exposed aggregate concrete
The science of sealing exposed aggregate.
The specifier-facing version. What MineralProtect actually is, why concrete is the substrate our sol-gel chemistry bonds to best, the four resistances that decide real-world life, and an honest head-to-head against the impregnator and the film. This is the same coating we call the one and only next-generation sol-gel surface protective coating in Australia, and here is exactly why.
At a glance
MineralProtect on concrete, specified.
A thin, water-based, colourless, inorganic sol-gel that engineers the surface rather than the pores. The figures below describe the class and the application, not a hardness rating we are not going to invent.
Water-based, colourless, non-pigmenting. Engineers surface energy, not pore geometry.
A conformal layer keyed into the surface, roughly a ten-thousandth of a millimetre thick.
Covalent condensation to the cement paste and quartz aggregate, plus mechanical keying into the pore structure.
Leaves the pore network open, so the slab keeps drying. No film capping the pore mouths.
Same colour, texture and finish. The only change is contact angle up, contaminant adhesion down.
Oil resistance from surface-energy control, not fluoropolymer chemistry.
Degrades by slow nano-abrasion with no cliff-edge. Future top-ups go on clean.
On the coating's repellency function, registered to the job. Coating rated up to 5 years high-traffic.
The bond
Why concrete is the easy case.
The shared mechanism is the same everywhere: our water-based sol condenses into a cross-linked Si-O-Si network that grafts covalently to any surface offering reactive silanol sites. We set that out in full in how sealing actually works and stone and sealer chemistry. What is specific to exposed aggregate is that it offers two of those anchors at once.
Two siliceous anchors, one surface
Hydrated cement is a calcium-silicate-hydrate matrix, and its surface carries the reactive silanol groups our sol condenses with to form genuine covalent Si-O-Si bonds continuous with the surface. Exposed aggregate then adds quartz-rich stone standing proud, a second siliceous face the network grafts to directly. This is chemical integration into the surface, not adhesion sitting on top of it.
The open texture is an advantage, not a hindrance
Before the covalent bond forms on cure, the water-based sol wicks into the exposed matrix and condenses in situ into a rigid network keyed into pore mouths and grain contacts. The generous porosity of exposed aggregate improves that mechanical key. So here you get both anchors together: covalent grafting plus mechanical interlock. It stays thin, colourless and vapour-permeable, and we make no claim that it strengthens or consolidates the slab. It is a surface treatment, not a consolidant packed into the concrete.
The four resistances
The loads a driveway actually takes.
A west-facing Perth driveway is scrubbed, pressure-washed, driven on and dripped with oil, and every one of those loads acts in the top sub-millimetre, where MineralProtect sits and where a pore sealer does not reach. Cleaning and abrasion, chemical, UV and oil each carry an honest bound. We set all four out in full, with the limit on each, in the four real-world resistances.
The one that matters most on a driveway is oil. A standard silane repels water only, so it leaves the surface open to the exact car oil and grease that marks it, while surface-energy control lets that oil sit on top and lift in cleaning. Oil is an outcome here, never a number, and it is delivered PFAS-free by design, without the fluoropolymer chemistry now exiting under regulation.
Head to head
Against the impregnator, and against the film.
Two other classes get used on exposed aggregate, and neither is the right tool for the surface of a Perth driveway. A penetrating silane builds its repellency millimetres down the pore, below the wear zone, and repels water only, so the beading fades first while the buried resin persists out of reach. A topical cure-and-seal film sits on top, caps the pore mouths, traps moisture and salt, and chalks, blushes and peels under sun and hot tyres, then has to be stripped to recoat. MineralProtect bonds at the surface, stays vapour-permeable and renews with a top-up on clean, no strip. The full three-way comparison, film against impregnator against bonded coating, is in sealer types compared.
A note on fairness. A penetrating silane is genuinely the right tool for protecting the inside of structural concrete against chloride ingress, a subsurface, decade-plus job. It is only mismatched for a surface outcome: appearance, cleaning and staining. And the concreter who applied that cure-and-seal did their job well. The film they were given was just never built to survive outdoors.
Honest limits
What it does not do.
Stated plainly, because a coating you can trust is one whose edges you know.
- Not permanent, not waterproof, not maintenance-free. It is a long-lasting treatment that degrades slowly and needs periodic reapplication.
- Beading is the first thing to fade and the least reliable thing to judge by. Loss of beading is a prompt to re-test, not proof of failure. Judge it on whether water still soaks in slower and marks still wipe off.
- It will not resurface, strengthen or consolidate the concrete, and it will not hide existing stains. It protects the surface from the point it goes on.
- New concrete must fully cure first, around 28 days. Sealing green concrete traps moisture and floats a weak skin that ruins the bond of any coating.
- A failing film already on the surface has to be stripped and the surface prepared before sealing. The no-strip benefit applies to future top-ups of our coating, not to going over someone else's failed film.
The evidence
Tested, not just told.
Durability in this class is measured as contact-angle retention across recognised abrasion and wet-scrub standards, at independent testing houses. We cite the standards and the family evidence honestly, and we do not invent a cycle count or a hardness figure for MineralProtect that does not exist.
- Recognised standards. Abrasion and scrub durability is assessed by contact-angle retention across methods such as Taber abrasion, ASTM D2486 and ISO 11998 wet-scrub.
- Independent houses. The JUMBOGUARD stack is tested and compliant at independent laboratories including TÜV Rheinland, SGS, Intertek and REACH.
- Registered per job. Every seal is documented and backed by a 10-year JUMBOGUARD guarantee on its repellency function, and the coating is rated up to 5 years in high-traffic use.
Go deeper
The shared science, in the pillars.
The mechanism
How sealing actually works
The sol-gel bond, the third class of sealer, and why it bonds at the surface itself. Read the pillar
The four resistances
Protection where it matters
Cleaning, chemical, UV and oil, each with its honest bound, and why a pore sealer buries its protection out of reach. Read the pillar
The comparison
Sealer types compared
Film against impregnator against bonded coating, the three ways to seal a surface, compared honestly. Read the pillar
The chemistry
Stone and sealer chemistry
The covalent Si-O-Si bond on siliceous and cementitious surfaces, in depth. Read the pillar
The overview
Sealing exposed aggregate
Back to plain English: what goes wrong, how the coating protects it and what to expect. Read the overview
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The Sealing Library
Every common surface in WA, matched to how well our coating protects it. Find your surface
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Specified it. Now seal it once.
We will prepare and seal your exposed aggregate with MineralProtect, registered under a 10-year guarantee. One published price, confirmed before you book.