X55 Hi-Seal
The Specifiers’ preferred exterior paint.

Need to specify or use a long-life, fire retardant, watertight, white or coloured, semi smooth, non-textured flat (matte) paint of a high performance, highly enduring premium quality? Perhaps for waterproofing, protecting and decorating exterior walls made of steel reinforced concrete, applied rendering mortar, plaster, blockwork, brickwork, fibre cement sheets and planks, for roofing materials and similar surfaces - or perhaps a durable coating in the colour of your choice having high wear resistance for heavily trafficked concrete and asphalt pavement situations?

A complete, ceramic-like yet flexible, smooth, matte coating giving the natural cementitious ‘look’ similar to Ability’s famous the Paint, (which is a proven, highly successful long-life subtly textured exterior coating product having been ‘on the market’ for over 23 years) is available from Ability. It’s called X55 Hi-Seal.

This product is applied just like, but is very different to, normal paints. It has like the Paint so many advanced features such as its fire retardancy, chemical resistance, innate vitreous toughness and high flexibility as well as the facility of ambient temperature setting and hardening - therefore avoiding the need for a high baking temperature to achieve the chemical cross linking normally required by some other (thermosetting) coatings to result in the high degree of robustness demonstrated by both products.

X55 Hi-Seal offers some outstanding features and benefits.

For a standard two (2) coat coating system on exterior concrete and asphalt pavements, concrete walls and roofs, concrete structures, concrete products, masonry walls and wooden or metal surfaces, some of these benefit giving features we think may be applicable to you include:

• the strength and resistance properties of applied X55 Hi-Seal increases with the adoption by the applicator of the procedure of intermittent water spray curing for two (2) days, natural weathering and time. In exterior situations after setting or touch drying in about 45 minutes to one hour, it later hardens completely on exposure to water from water spray curing and/or rain water from natural weathering - to become a hard, vitreous-like coating. It has been formulated to have after intermittent (6 x 10 minute hosings with fresh tap water over 1-2 days) water spray curing and/or weathering, a very long life - providing highly protective properties.
For instance it effectively protects against the ravages of salt laden atmospheres in marine environments. This applies to residences and other structures within 4 kilometres from the sea, as well as lighthouses, oilrigs, sea walls, caissons, dry docks, piers, harbours, marinas, boathouses and boat ramps.

• ultra high resistance to degradation by UV radiation so that X55 Hi-Seal will last considerably longer than normal paints applied with the same number of coats at an equal coating thickness.

• affordable and cost efficient. X55 Hi-Seal costs only a little more than normal paints of the higher quality type. So you are buying extra quality and extra durability for a little over the same price.

• applied as recommended to a properly prepared surface (removal of laitance - a weak surface on concrete, all contaminants and large holes suitably filled) to concrete / asphalt pavements such as driveways, paths, patios, exterior floors and pool surrounds, this coating will provide an extremely high degree of hardness, abrasion and impact resistance - in fact better wear resistance than some baked clay pavers and two pack epoxy coatings on the market. This means that it won't quickly wear, flake or peel off and will ‘stay put’ for decades - having high resistance to abrasion for the long term.

• on properly prepared, sound, firm, smooth and clean concrete or asphalt paving it will provide a surface with high slip and skid resistance and have a superior degree of adhesion compared with most normal paints. This means it's unlikely to lift off!

• as X55 Hi-Seal is largely chemically inorganic and therefore it’s not thermoplastic. Unlike most normal coatings which are thermoplastic resin bound and therefore chemically organic, automotive vehicle tyres tend not to stick to it and pull it off the surface of floors and pavements on hot days - so it’s ideal for long term service use on footpaths, roads, traffic islands, special colour functional traffic lanes on highways as well as for car parks and service stations. At the recommended coverage rates the dry coating thickness of each coat of X55 Hi-Seal is over twice that of most normal coatings.

• superior weathering resistance - the recommended two (2) coats are likely to perform as well as (and the higher cost of) five (5) coats of most normal paints in all tough, rugged exterior conditions and locations where normal paints are likely to weather and abrade away - all too quickly. A much earlier similar formula to X55 Hi-Seal coating has actually lasted for over 30 years!

• no separate primer or first coat masonry sealer is required for X55 Hi-Seal coating on relatively smooth, ‘bug’ hole free concrete and similar surfaces (an exception applies for un-coated metals and wood) so you save by not having to pay for these and for the cost of labour to apply them.

• because it contains tiny E-Spheres® which are strong hollow ceramic microspheres, X55 Hi-Seal is thermally and acoustically insulative. This feature is not available in most normal paints.

• X55 Hi-Seal’s resistance to petrol (gasoline), diesel fuel and virtually all other chemical solvents has been found to be very high (see AMDEL Limited’s test results). It could probably therefore be successfully used on floors and walls subject to spillage of these solvents and potentially from any of those classed as aggressive to normal coatings such as white spirit, xylene, toluene etc. used to remove graffiti from the surface of X55 Hi-Seal applied to walls which should be able to be done in most cases - without damage to the X55 Hi-Seal coating.

• the long-term integrity and exterior weathering resistance of X55 Hi-Seal coating is extremely high and is considered to have few equals.

• this easy-to-mix and easy-to-use, long-life porcelain-like but matte, fire retardant waterproof coating is, with two (2) coats applied and water spray cured as recommended, likely to last for around 30 years and upwards in most vertical exterior environments before a maintenance re-coat is required. The product may also be evaluated as a watertight coating for use on the walls and bottom of below ground swimming pools using chlorinated or salt water, for concrete pool surrounds as well as for the finish coating of concrete structures recently repaired and rehabilitated due to the effects of cracking and concrete ‘cancer’ (corrosion of the reinforcing steel in concrete). However, X55 Hi-Seal is permeable to water vapour (gas) and allows the substrate to which it is applied to ‘breathe’ - thus preventing its adhesion failure from hydrostatic water pressure.

• after having been subjected to the procedure of intermittent water spray curing and/or some exterior rain water ‘washing’ and weathering and as a result becoming fully hardened , two (2) coats of X55 Hi-Seal becomes absolutely watertight to wind driven rain and water ingress.

• as a result it becomes non-porous so that from a long lasting and non-porosity point of view, there is absolutely no need for a clear overcoat or sealer - unless a glossy, semi-glossy or satin finish effect is required (X55 Hi-Seal produces a matte and semi smooth finish). If a clear coating is applied over an X55 Hi-Seal coated surface it should be carried out preferably after 12 months of natural weathering.

• X55 Hi-Seal is available (on firm prior order) in a range of colours including those obtained with Ability’s absolutely permanent, UV resistant, inorganic abilox® muted 'ochre' tone mineral oxide colouring pigments or for interior use only, the duro® range of high chroma, bright and semi-bright organic or organic and inorganic blended colouring pigments from Ability.

• provided that it’s only applied as recommended to properly prepared surfaces to make them sound, firm, clean and lightly dampened with water X55 Hi-Seal will not peel and flake off! It is a high integrity, excellent high 'cover' (opaque) coloured concrete ‘sealer’ or paving, wall or roof paint but it is not available as a clear, transparent product

• X55 Hi-Seal contains no noxious chemical solvents or added VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) so it’s safe-to-use, and safe for the world’s environment as well as being 100% solids. This means that the health of applicators and the environment of this planet are not compromised by its use and that the wet film thickness is essentially the same as the dry film thickness, ie there are no chemical solvent(s) to evaporate to pollute the air and reduce protective film thicknesses after application.

This highly durable paint is available for sale direct from Ability Building Chemicals Co on a firm advance order basis with a delay of approximately 4 working days after the intended user has applied, tested and evaluated a free sample of it in the required colour.

For most uses this coating may be considered to be a potential replacement for the following types of paint:

• premium, single pack, flat acrylic (white or coloured) - water wash-up exterior

• premium, single pack, flat acrylic (white or coloured) - water wash-up interior

• advanced, single pack, acrylic ‘Cerama-Kote’ type low sheen - water wash-up interior (white or coloured).

• premium flat, two (2) pack epoxy (white and colours) interior and exterior

• premium flat, single pack epoxidised alkyd (flat enamel) white or coloured

• premium flat single pack white or coloured polyurethane

• premium flat, two (2) pack polyurethane (white or coloured)

• all flat white or coloured paving paints (rapid and normal dry time) used for driveways, car parking areas, footpaths, pool surrounds, steps etc.

• all flat coloured concrete pavement ‘sealers’ (not clear)

• many single pack, ‘Colour Wash’ and ‘Render Effect’ paints

• virtually all single pack, flat coloured or white roofing paints

• two (2) pack flat 100% solids acrylic road line marking such as 'Degadur' from Degussa, Germany and white or coloured noise wall panel coatings for roads, highways and freeways.

• virtually all other types of flat highway lane line marking or special broad area coloured paving paints.

For further information please download the X55 Hi-Seal application booklet.

Please also note that:

Ability’s X55 Hi-Seal (previously called ‘X55 Special Coating’ and earlier ‘Experimental Formula 9E’) coating is supplied as a powder. The powder is simply but thoroughly power mixed on site - just prior to use into the specified amount of clean, drinkable water and then at typically average temperatures of 19°C to 23°C allowed to stand and activate for about 20-30 minutes prior to a short re-mixing time.

After proper preparation of the surface-typically by means of a minimum 3000 psi pressure water blasting machine - such as a ‘Gerni’machine having a water throughput of 18 litres per minute - prepared X55 Hi-Seal liquid is as easy to apply as a good quality, single pack, water wash-up acrylic latex paint but hardens and ‘weathers’ to what may be found to be after testing a much tougher (but flexible), more adhesive, weather, wear and impact resistant, fire retardant, long-life non-fading coloured coating giving the ‘cementitious’ (cement bound mortar ‘look’).

It is typically applied uniformly - using only one type of application implement to a uniformly dampened surface.