The Sealing Library · The science
How surface sealing actually works.
For decades there were only two ways to seal a surface, and in Perth's sun and salt both wear out. We work a third way. JUMBOGUARD is the one and only next-generation sol-gel surface protective coating in Australia: it builds a dense, colourless, breathable network at the surface itself. Nothing else works like this. Here is exactly what that means, in plain English.
Two old ways to seal
Every sealer you have been sold is one of two kinds.
And each has a built-in flaw that quietly puts you on a repeat cycle. It helps to know which one you have had, because it explains why the surface you paid to protect keeps needing doing again.
The old way · 1
A film on top
Acrylics and other film-forming coatings lay a continuous skin over the surface and cap the pores. It looks good on day one. Then it takes the full weight of the sun, the cleaning and the hot tyres, and it chalks, blushes, peels and lifts. Worse, it blocks the surface from breathing, so moisture and salt get trapped underneath and can flake the material off from behind. And when a film fails, it cannot be recoated. It has to be stripped back to bare surface first, so every round costs more than the last.
The old way · 2
A sealer in the pore
Penetrating silane and siloxane sealers soak down into the pores and repel from below. Better, and breathable, but the protection is built in the wrong place for how a surface is actually used. The beading and easy-clean you can see live in the top sub-millimetre, and that is exactly what the sun, scrubbing and alkaline cleaners strip first. The chemistry can still be down in the stone while the surface has stopped repelling, with no visual cue that it has gone. On trafficked, high-UV Perth hardscape that surface life is short, often a year or two.
The catch most people never notice: the sealers in common use are typically redone every year or two in WA conditions. The saving on a cheap seal is the most expensive thing about it. For the full breakdown of each kind, see sealer types compared.
The third class
It doesn't sit on top, and it doesn't hide in the pore. It bonds at the surface.
A sol-gel arrives as a thin, water-based liquid and cures in place into a network of Si-O-Si bonds, the same class of bond that holds glass and stone together. On stone and concrete it anchors into the mineral and pore structure. On glass it bonds to the glassy surface itself. Either way the protection ends up where it counts, right at the face, roughly 90 to 100 nanometres thin and colourless.
Bonds in, not on
It cures as an inorganic network anchored into the surface, not a film that can peel and not a liquid stranded down the pore. There is nothing sitting on top to fail, and nothing buried out of reach of the wear.
Protects where the use happens
A surface in service is scrubbed, pressure washed, walked on, splashed with cleaner, baked under UV and fouled with oil. Every one of those loads acts at the surface. That is exactly where the network sits, so it meets them together, at the face.
And it still breathes
Because it works at the surface instead of capping the pores, moisture can still escape. That is decisive in WA, where a vapour-blocking film traps salt and lets it crystallise underneath and lift the surface from behind. This bonds the surface and lets the material breathe.
What that buys you
Protection at the surface holds up where the others wear off.
This is the whole payoff. Because the network sits where the surface is actually used, it stands up to the four things that wear real sealers out, together, at the face. None of it is immunity. It is architecture.
Cleaning and abrasion
It survives the scrubbing, pressure washing and traffic that grind other sealers off, and it renews with a top-up rather than a strip. A sealer stranded down the pore cannot come back up to renew an abraded face.
Chemical
The inorganic backbone stays stable through the routine alkaline cleaners and pool chemistry of real maintenance, the same exposure that breaks a pore sealer down from inside. More resistant, not immune.
UV
There is no organic chain for the sun to cleave, so it does not yellow or chalk the way an acrylic, epoxy or polyurethane film does. Far more UV-resistant, not UV-proof.
Oil
Oil and grease sit on the surface and lift in cleaning instead of soaking in, so barbecue, sunscreen and traffic marks wipe away instead of setting. Standard silane repels water only.
This is our biggest wedge, and it has its own deep dive. Read how a sealed surface resists real-world use for the full picture, or go into the chemistry in stone and sealer chemistry and glass protection explained.
Where this works
One principle, matched to the material.
The bonding is the same idea everywhere. The formulation is tuned to the surface: MineralProtect for porous stone and concrete, GlassProtect for glass and glazed surfaces. A few good places to see it in action:
Exposed aggregate & concrete
Concrete presents silanols and quartz, so the sol-gel bonds into the surface and stays breathable. No film to blush, peel or strip. Read the guide →
Travertine
Porous carbonate paving, our sweet spot. It anchors into the mineral and pore structure, colourless, and lets the stone breathe in a coastal, salty setting. Read the guide →
Liquid limestone
Cement-bound, so it anchors concrete-class into the surface. Poured pool surrounds and alfresco that stay breathable and colourless. Read the guide →
Frameless glass
Bonds to the glassy surface and lowers its energy, 3x more durable than uncoated glass, and protects glass against the permanent etching that ruins bare screens. Read the guide →
Not sure where your surface fits, or how the years actually play out? Browse the full Sealing Library, or read how a sealed surface is looked after over time.
Common questions
The honest answers.
What makes a sol-gel different from a normal sealer?
A normal sealer is one of two things: a film laid on top, or a liquid that soaks down into the pores. A sol-gel is neither. It builds a dense, colourless network of Si-O-Si bonds right at the surface, anchored into the mineral and pore structure, where wear and cleaning actually happen. That is why it is a genuine third class, not a better version of the old two.
Does it sit on top of my surface like a coating?
No. It is not a film you can peel and not one that can yellow. It cures as a nano-thin inorganic network anchored into the surface itself, roughly 90 to 100 nanometres thin, so there is nothing sitting on top to lift, chalk or blush, and nothing to strip when it is eventually due for a top-up.
Will it change how my surface looks?
No. It is colourless and does not build a sheen. Same colour, same finish, same feel. The only thing that changes is the surface energy, so water and oil no longer grip. Because it leaves the pores open, the material can still breathe and release moisture, which matters a lot on Perth stone.
Does bonding at the surface mean it lasts forever?
No, and any sealer that promises that is not being straight with you. It is a long-lasting treatment that fades slowly and predictably rather than failing all at once, and it renews with a top-up rather than a strip. Every Extera seal is registered under a 10-year guarantee, so it is on the record.
Does the same technology work on stone, concrete and glass?
Yes, in two forms. On porous minerals like stone and concrete it anchors into the mineral and pore structure and stays breathable. On glass and glazed surfaces it bonds to the glassy surface and lowers its energy so water, soap scum and lime can no longer grip, and it is 3x more durable than uncoated glass. The bonding principle is the same. The formulation is matched to the material.
Is it safe, and is it PFAS-free?
Yes. The oil-repelling sealers that used to work on stone were fluoropolymer, a PFAS chemistry now being regulated out. Australia has already banned PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS. Our coating is PFAS-free by design, not by reformulation, because the inorganic mechanism never needed fluorine to perform.
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Sealed with the third class.
We'll prepare and seal your surfaces with the right JUMBOGUARD coating for the material, registered under a 10-year guarantee. Confirmed price before you book.