A parking structure fights two related enemies. Water gets into the concrete, freezes, and pops the surface one winter at a time; and the deicing salt that water carries rides deeper every season toward the reinforcing steel, where chloride-driven corrosion eventually cracks the cover from the inside. Bone Dry addresses both from the surface of a standing structure, without demolition. Bone Dry Structural Sealer is a single-application, VOC-free penetrating sealer that keeps water and salt out of decks, ramps, columns, and barriers for good. Bone Dry Corrosion Stop is a migrating corrosion inhibitor that is sprayed onto the concrete and travels through the cover to the rebar, forming a protective film on the bar before corrosion starts. For new construction and repair concrete, Bone Dry Corrosion Inhibitor goes into the mix at the batch plant.
How do you protect a parking garage from deicing salt and rebar corrosion?
What deicing salt does to a parking structure
Freeze-thaw damage runs a loop. Rain and melt soak into surface pores; trapped water freezes and expands about 9% as ice; the expansion pressure cracks and spalls the surface; and every new crack drinks in more water than the last. Each winter runs the loop again — unless water never gets in.
Chlorides are the slower poison. Dissolved deicing salt rides water into the slab and attacks the embedded steel in a chain reaction: chloride ingress through the concrete, breakdown of the protective oxide layer on the bar, rust expansion, then cracking and spalling of the cover. Once cracking starts the cycle accelerates, and the repair threshold — spalls, closures, structural work — arrives on a curve, not a schedule. The only economical place to stop it is before it starts, which is why the cheapest year to treat a structure is always this one.
Which product for which condition
| Situation | Use | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Existing deck, ramps, columns, walls, barriers — keep water and salt out | Bone Dry Structural Sealer | One application penetrates and becomes part of the concrete; water beads and deicing salt stays on top instead of entering the slab; traction unchanged; nothing to strip or recoat |
| Existing structure — protect the reinforcing steel | Bone Dry Corrosion Stop | Sprayed, rolled, or brushed on any horizontal or vertical face; migrates through the cover to the rebar; shuts down both halves of the corrosion cell; 2–3 coats at 100 sq ft per gallon; clear, nitrite-free, VOC-free |
| New deck, ramp, or repair concrete — protect the steel from day one | Bone Dry Corrosion Inhibitor in the mix | 28 fl oz per cubic yard at the batch plant; chloride-free; no change to slump, set time, air, density, or permeability; compressive strength up to 20% higher; ASTM C1582 compliant |
| New exposed flatwork — cure and seal in one pass | Bone Dry Structural Sealer at placement | Functions as the curing compound on fresh flatwork, so there is no second mobilization |
| Oil-stained bays and drive lanes before sealing | Bone Dry Concrete Degreaser | Low-VOC concentrate that lifts oil, grease, tar, and rubber marks so the sealer can penetrate |
| Elements already spalling or delaminated | Engineered concrete repair first | Corrosion Stop is preventative maintenance; advanced deterioration still needs engineered repair, then treat the whole element |
Most structures need more than one of these. When an element gets both Corrosion Stop and Structural Sealer, Corrosion Stop goes on first, then Structural Sealer. Send us the element list — decks, columns, walls, barriers — with square footage and exposure, and we will spec the combination and size the order as one system. Not sure where your project lands? See the Bone Dry product selector.
Treat now or repair later
| Treat now — Corrosion Stop | Repair later | |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Before damage shows | After spalls appear |
| Disruption | Spray-applied, non-destructive | Demolition, patching, closures |
| Coverage | The whole element — every bar | Only the spots that already failed |
| Cost profile | A maintenance-budget line item | Escalating repair cycles |
Reinforced concrete fails on a curve: a long, quiet initiation phase while chlorides work toward the bar, then an accelerating propagation phase once they arrive. Corrosion Stop extends the quiet phase. It does not rebuild concrete that has already let go — elements with advanced deterioration need engineered repair, and Corrosion Stop then protects the rest of the element from following.
When it is not the right product — or not yet
- Spalled or delaminated elements. Repair first. Corrosion Stop and Structural Sealer are protection, not patching.
- Specifications that call for a membrane-forming curing compound by name. ASTM C-309 covers liquid membrane-forming compounds; Structural Sealer penetrates instead of forming a membrane, so the standard does not apply to it. Where a spec requires C-309 by name, pair it with Bone Dry Dissipating Sealer, the membrane-forming half of the system.
- Asphalt-topped decks. Bone Dry sealers are for concrete; they break down asphalt’s petroleum base.
- Freezing weather. Corrosion Stop needs surface temperatures above freezing for at least 12 hours; Structural Sealer goes on clean, dry concrete.
- Coated surfaces. Old coatings and traffic membranes have to come off before either product can penetrate.
How to apply
Structural Sealer. On existing concrete, clean and dry the surface — degrease oil stains first. Spray one application; it penetrates, cures, and seals, and there is no recoat cycle. On fresh flatwork it functions as the curing compound. Shield adjacent finished surfaces, glass, and vegetation from overspray.
Corrosion Stop. Power wash if needed; the substrate must be dry with old coatings removed, and temperatures above freezing for at least 12 hours. Spray, roll, or brush 2–3 coats, fully wet with no runoff, letting each coat absorb 20–30 minutes before the next — an airless, battery-powered, or pump sprayer all work, on decks horizontally and columns and walls vertically. Total spread rate is 100 sq ft per gallon. Protect glass, wood, brick, and finished metals from overspray. If concrete repairs are planned over treated areas, allow 24 hours of absorption, then remove surface residue with Bone Dry Concrete Degreaser before patching.
Corrosion Inhibitor. Dose 28 fl oz per cubic yard at the batch plant or into the ready-mix truck and allow about 70 drum revolutions. Add to fresh concrete only, never to dry cement, and do not let it freeze in storage. At the standard dose a 5-gallon pail treats roughly 22 cubic yards, a 55-gallon drum about 250, and a 275-gallon tote about 1,250.
Using both on one element. Apply Corrosion Stop first — all 2–3 coats, fully absorbed — then apply Structural Sealer.
Yes, if you get there before the damage shows. Bone Dry Corrosion Stop is sprayed, rolled, or brushed onto the existing concrete and migrates through the cover to the embedded steel, forming a film that shuts down both the anodic and cathodic halves of the corrosion cell so chloride ingress cannot start rusting. It is preventative maintenance for the whole element; concrete that has already spalled or delaminated needs engineered repair first.
No. Bone Dry Structural Sealer penetrates the slab instead of leaving a film, so traction is unchanged, there is no hot-tire pickup, and the concrete keeps its natural appearance. Film-forming cure-and-seal products can be slippery when wet and wear in traffic lanes; a penetrating sealer has nothing on top to wear.
It doesn’t. One application is permanent because the treatment becomes part of the concrete rather than a coating on it. Film-forming acrylic cure-and-seals are typically stripped and recoated every one to three years; Structural Sealer has nothing to strip and nothing to recoat.
Timing. Corrosion Stop is for structures that are already standing: a surface-applied migrating inhibitor that travels through the concrete to the steel. Corrosion Inhibitor is an admixture for concrete that has not been poured yet: 28 fl oz per cubic yard at the batch plant, so the reinforcement is protected from the day the pour goes in. New construction and repair concrete take the admixture; everything already built takes Corrosion Stop.
No. In testing, slump, set time, air content, density, and permeability are unchanged, and compressive strength increases by up to 20%. It is a flat 28 fl oz per cubic yard regardless of chloride exposure, it is chloride-free, and it does not accelerate set the way calcium nitrite inhibitors typically do, so no retarder is needed. It is ASTM C1582 compliant.
Surface temperatures need to stay above freezing for at least 12 hours, and the substrate must be dry with old coatings removed. Plan the application for a window that stays above freezing rather than a single mild afternoon.
They protect against different things: Structural Sealer keeps water and chlorides out of the concrete surface and breaks the freeze-thaw cycle, while Corrosion Stop protects the steel that chlorides may already have reached. Many structures use both, and the order matters: Corrosion Stop goes on first, then Structural Sealer. Send us the element list and exposure and we will spec the combination for your structure.
