13,000 SF of Precast — Cleaned, Sealed, and Actually Breathing — Louisville, KY
August 2025
Rust staining running down precast panels isn't cosmetic. It means water is getting into the concrete and finding steel. Clean it off without fixing why it's there and it comes back. The cleaning: walls wet down first — never hit dry concrete with cleaner — then Sure Klean Heavy Duty Concrete Cleaner cut 1:4 and applied at about 125 SF per mixed gallon, brush wheels on the stains, then a full rinse. Balconies got pressure cleaned in the same pass. Then the part that matters: Protectosil CHEM-TRETE PB 100, sprayed on with a solvent sprayer, and only after the panels were bone dry. This is a silane penetrating water repellent, not a coating. It soaks into the concrete and lines the pores so the wall sheds water — but it stays vapor permeable, which means moisture already inside the panels can still dry outward. That distinction is the whole job. A film-forming sealer on a wall that already has moisture in it traps that water behind a membrane, and in a Kentucky freeze-thaw cycle trapped water is how you get spalling and blown panel faces. Breathable is not a marketing word on precast — it's the difference between protecting the wall and destroying it. Three-man crew, 80' straight boom lift, about three weeks, building fully occupied the whole time. Poly over every balcony railing before the sprayer came out. If your precast is streaking rust, the stain is the symptom. Performance Waterproofing LLC · TN, KY, AL, GA · contact@performancewaterproofingllc.com
PROTECTOSIL® CHEM-TRETE® BSM 400, Sure Klean Heavy Duty Concrete Cleaner, Silane Sealing, Pressure Washing
13,000 SF of Precast — Cleaned, Sealed, and Actually Breathing — Louisville, KY
Rust staining running down precast panels isn't cosmetic. It means water is getting into the concrete and finding steel. Clean it off without fixing why it's there and it comes back. The cleaning: walls wet down first — never hit dry concrete with cleaner — then Sure Klean Heavy Duty Concrete Cleaner cut 1:4 and applied at about 125 SF per mixed gallon, brush wheels on the stains, then a full rinse. Balconies got pressure cleaned in the same pass. Then the part that matters: Protectosil CHEM-TRETE PB 100, sprayed on with a solvent sprayer, and only after the panels were bone dry. This is a silane penetrating water repellent, not a coating. It soaks into the concrete and lines the pores so the wall sheds water — but it stays vapor permeable, which means moisture already inside the panels can still dry outward. That distinction is the whole job. A film-forming sealer on a wall that already has moisture in it traps that water behind a membrane, and in a Kentucky freeze-thaw cycle trapped water is how you get spalling and blown panel faces. Breathable is not a marketing word on precast — it's the difference between protecting the wall and destroying it. Three-man crew, 80' straight boom lift, about three weeks, building fully occupied the whole time. Poly over every balcony railing before the sprayer came out. If your precast is streaking rust, the stain is the symptom. Performance Waterproofing LLC · TN, KY, AL, GA · contact@performancewaterproofingllc.com