Sealer on non-porous materials.

[Luky]

I do not intend to apply sealer on ceramic tiles, LVT, or laminate, and I advise against it.
I refused to take on a job to remove the flaking sealer from said materials until yesterday when my customer of 10 years asked me to help him with his floor in the Bar/ grill he's bound to open tomorrow. He applied a water-based sealer (Zep) to the epoxy floor in the hope of bringing up the luster and covering up minor imperfections.
Have you been in similar situations, and what did you learn from it?
Do you educate your existing customers on how to clean non-porous materials and preventative care?

 

[Kenny Hayes]

One thing about it, it might’ve shined it up a bit but it won’t for long. It (Zep) probably won’t last a week in that bar unless he has no traffic.

 

[BIG WOOD]

If he just slapped on one coat of Zep, it should come off easily with just a normal higher ph butyl based chemical

The thing I'd worry about is weakening the epoxy if it sits too long on it. Maybe keep your ph around 10 at the highest.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Zep is not gonna weaken the epoxy, that’s for sure! It’ll just start to dull and look like shiate! Especially when they start mopping with whatever they’re gonna use. At least a neutral cleaner I hope.

 

[BIG WOOD]

I didn't think Zep would weaken it. I was referring to the chemical that strips the Zep off of the epoxy

 

[Luky]

One thing about it, it might’ve shined it up a bit but it won’t for long. It (Zep) probably won’t last a week in

If you zoom in , you'll see flaking off already in the progress. I wanted to spark curiosity and responses, so I didn't mention that I took care of the problem for old time's sake. To make matters worse, they applied sealer with a mop head ( I'm not even sure it was a clean one) , and didn't let it cure before the subsequent coats.
Hopefully, they learned a lesson.

 

[Luky]

If he just slapped on one coat of Zep, it should come off easily with just a normal higher ph butyl based chemical

The thing I'd worry about is weakening the epoxy if it sits too long on it. Maybe keep your ph around 10 at the highest.

Too many things went wrong. I was hoping for one coat only , but I was wrong. Scorching hot water mixed with ZEP stripper, and a lot of TLC did it. I suspect that the epoxy floor wasn't done right to begin with,

 

[Kenny Hayes]

That’s a big possibility about the epoxy. But, you can treat it like vct. You can’t hurt it. The Zep is just a cheap (not so cheap now) product that is not durable at all. It won’t hurt anything, you’ll either have to add more sooner, or strip it off and start over.