Thanks for all the kind messages about Teddy’s arrival last week. We’re home now and slowly settling into life with a newborn again (seriously — any tips for getting one to sleep between 10pm and 4am?), so our posting schedule will be lighter for a bit. One project we squeezed in about 48 hours before Teddy was born was finally sealing our kitchen’s recently Ardexed concrete countertops.
We’ve posted other sealing tutorials before — de-hazing and sealing tile, sealing grout, and sealing cork — so here’s the approach we chose for protecting our Ardex counters.
After reading a lot of “this sealing step could make-or-break it” posts about Ardex, we resisted rushing the process and used reader suggestions from our earlier post to narrow down sealers to test. Ultimately we used two coats of a penetrating 511 Impregnator sealer to protect the concrete from stains and moisture, followed by three coats of Safecoat Acrylacq as a food-safe topcoat. The impregnator soaks into the concrete to block absorption while the Acrylacq creates a durable, non-toxic surface that beads liquids and resists wear.
The impregnator was very easy to apply thanks to its watery consistency. I poured a little into a bowl and brushed it liberally across the clean concrete. The instructions recommend wiping off excess after a few minutes; most of what we applied absorbed quickly, but I wiped anyway to be thorough. During application it looks darker and blotchy, but once it soaks in it returns close to the original color.
We applied two coats of the impregnator 24 hours apart and allowed the last coat to cure for 24 hours before starting the topcoat. For the finish, we used Safecoat Acrylacq because it’s non-toxic and food-safe — ideal for kitchen surfaces. Acrylacq also repels liquids so they bead up instead of soaking in and forming rings, and it adds a polished, protective finish that helps guard against chips and scratches. I poured small puddles of Acrylacq on the surface and spread them thinly with a brush.
The wet Acrylacq has a slight bluish tint when applied, which we’re used to from past projects. We laid down three coats total, letting about 12 hours dry time between coats, and then allowed the counters to cure for three full days before putting anything on them. Although the product is labeled satin, the finished surface is noticeably glossier than the chalky Ardex look — in a good way. The gloss makes the counters feel more like polished stone and much less like a DIY surface.
The shiny finish not only looks better, it also performs better: spills now bead up and wipe away cleanly instead of darkening the concrete like water soaking into an outdoor walkway. We haven’t noticed any scratch issues yet, even after cooking large family meals and sliding heavy dishes across the counters. So far this combination of impregnator plus multiple Acrylacq topcoats seems to deliver a food-safe, stone-like surface that resists moisture, stains, and everyday wear.
My only minor gripe is that the glossier finish makes surface imperfections more visible — spots I should have sanded smoother during the Ardex application now show up a bit more. Sherry is quick to shrug those imperfections off as part of the concrete-counter aesthetic, but I can see where extra sanding would have reduced those blemishes. Either way, we’re thrilled to have our counters back in service and it’s a big upgrade from the old yellow laminate that used to dominate this kitchen.
We may decide to paint the lower cabinets at some point now that the counters are finished, but right now we’re more distracted by the faux-brick linoleum flooring, which is near the top of our to-do list.
There are still refinements I want to make to my Ardex technique — smoother sanding being the main one — but generally I’m very happy with the result, especially how the sealing step made the entire surface feel finished and more durable.
We haven’t put the counters through heavy daily use yet aside from a few family meals with visitors, so we’ll keep you posted on long-term wear. Whether stains sneak through or the finish holds up perfectly, we’ll share an update with detail shots after a few months.
Update: we posted an update showing how the counters are holding up.
Have you used this sealant combination or had success with another system? Share your experiences below — they’ll be helpful to anyone tackling Ardex counters. In the meantime, here’s a requested comparison photo: Teddy at four days old.
For comparison, here’s Clara at about three weeks in the same pose. They share long fingers and toes, faint blonde brows, and a tiny chin — Clara just had less hair. In person they look related but not quite like twins.
Now seriously — any tips for getting a newborn to sleep between 10pm and 4am? We’re all ears.