Patio sealer disaster - how to remove?

[onionsa]

Hi all, someone put a patio sealer on our former concrete flags and it’s not taken. It comes up all white when it’s wet, almost like a plasticy pva look.
The guy never told us what it was, never honoured the warranty, beat his wife and then shut down his online accounts, so getting information is effectively impossible.

Does anyone have an idea as to what might have been used that would react like this, and what I could try to get it off?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Wayners]

Sounds like PVA.
Does it go sticky as well as turning white?

 

[onionsa]

No it’s like a plastic on rubber when you run a trainer against it. Doesn’t go sticky at all.

 

[Wayners]

They put too much on then i think.
Second coat you have to get timing right or it's goes white.
I just stuck with one coat on my patio because it started showing white patches.

Time may fix it, that's is all you can do. Wait for it to wear in

 

[onionsa]

It’s been down nearly a year. He tried telling me it was due to potentially damp slabs but even in the height of summer when the slabs get above ambient temps it was still the same when they got wet.
Any ideas if I could try to disolve it with something so it can be scrubbed and washed away?

 

[Wayners]

You can buy sealer remover but I don't know anything about it..
I think you should find out what you need and phone the technical department for advice.
Do you know if it was solvent or waterbased?
The meths test might find the answer as meths will remove waterbased but not solvent.
Some stripers will remove solvent sealers while others remove waterbased sealers.
Then you will need to reseal to protect.

 

[onionsa]

Can’t get hold of the guy who did it. He failed to turn up half a dozen times when promising to come and address it. Wouldn’t even give me the product name when I asked so I could do exactly that, find out how to remove it, so I’m left with a guessing game of ‘what’s the sealer’.
I don’t think the slabs should have been sealed if I’m honest.

 

[jj4091]

Has your wife got any acetone naile varnish remover. If so try a litlle in a small area and see if it removes it. That may tell you which type you have or what you need to remove it with.

 

[onionsa]

She doesn’t but I do used it for rinsing resin 3D prints, nothing fruity. It’s high strength too so will give that a go.
I had wondered about a wire brush but worried that might damage the slabs, or could it help agitate the sealer?

 

[Mottie]

Pressure washer on full power?

 

[onionsa]

Did that at the weekend and a couple times before.