SILOX Water Repellents
All invoicing and payments are only done through Zelle or PayPal; if you choose payment through PayPal, I don’t see your credit card information and all your personal, private identifiers are kept safe and confidential. Zelle is the preferred method of payment because Zelle, unlike PayPal, does not charge expensive fees.
Formulated for all types of adobe and rammed earth
Call now to order! (520) 331-4004
SILOX Adobe/Rammed Earth Water Repellents are formulated specifically for adobe and rammed earth. An “Adobe Master” approved product. Regular price for the Silox Original is $165.00 per five-gallon bucket and $189.00 per five gallon bucket for the Silox Xtra. Call 520-331-4004 for ordering information or click the button below:
Adobe and rammed earth are earthen building materials at substantial risk from the damaging effects of water. Many adobe/rammed earth homeowners are unaware that these materials must be treated with a quality water repellent to protect them from deterioration.
Click here for instructions on applying the Silox Adobe Water Repellent to your home and a more thorough discussion of the product. Click here for “do-it-yourself” videos and professional tips for applying the Silox Adobe Water Repellent to your home.
Shipping information: Shipping costs are, unfortunately, ridiculously expensive unless shipped in bulk (pallets of at least 24 five gallon buckets). Each five gallon bucket of the Silox is approximately 45 pounds. UPS and FedEx, in general, charge around $40-$55 per bucket to ship to California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. For the least expensive rates with both companies, I have to put each five gallon bucket in a box (previously, I shipped them without placing them in a box; the price was much higher. Now, the cost of the box, the tape to secure it inside the box, and the time it takes to package each and every five gallon bucket means it costs me additional to ship, but I save by getting a lower price).
If you live in the boondocks where UPS or FedEx have a difficult time finding your place, the rates can skyrocket. Any reason these shipping companies can dream up that allegedly make any delivery more difficult is an excuse for them to jack up the rates.
Since I realize I would not sell much Silox if each customer had to pay approximately $40-$50 more for each bucket, I usually split this cost with you: I pay $20-$25 and you pay $20-$25. Most customers appreciate this sharing of the shipping costs and I have yet to have any one grumble. If you purchase just one five gallon bucket, you will need to pay the total shipping price (this “total shipping price” includes insurance) on your own. If you purchase two or more five gallon buckets, I will then split the cost of the shipping 50/50 with you on each and every bucket you order after the first one.
Put another way, if you purchase one bucket, you pay all the shipping/insurance costs. Any order of two buckets or more, I split with you all the shipping/insurance costs on all the buckets except the first one.
I used to split the costs of the shipping regardless of the amount customers purchased, even if they purchased only one five gallon bucket. But now, with the cost of everything going up, it is no longer worth it for me to ship one bucket and split the shipping costs. I have to make a living the same as everyone else, and with inflation causing prices to surge on everything, I either dramatically raise my prices or have customers who order one bucket pay the total of the shipping/insurance costs. For now, instead of raising my prices again, I will see how this current practice pans out.
If the price per bucket is over $40-$55, I never ask the customer for more money but pay the extra myself; it has frequently happened. Neither UPS or FedEx will honor their shipping estimates (though UPS is getting better) when, after they quote me a price and I send out the order, they have some issue with the delivery and usually I end up paying more than the quote. Since I have an account with both, I have to pay whatever they say it cost them to finally reach the customer. Typically, I never know exactly how much they are going to charge me until after they deliver the buckets to your home and I get billed.
Sometimes the price is less than the approximate $40-$55 they charge me. Unless it is significantly less, since I don’t usually charge for the box, tape or travel time and gas to package each order and take them to the UPS or FedEx store or drop off location, I will put this extra money to those costs and expenses.
All invoicing and payments are only done through either Zelle or PayPal; this way, I don’t see your credit card information and all your personal, private identifiers are kept safe and confidential.
For large orders, say 24 buckets at a time and more, I use other shipping companies that gives me a better pallet rate; then, the rates are drastically reduced. It helps if the customer, on these larger orders, have a forklift or loading dock to receive the pallet. If you have neither, that’s okay…you will have to pay extra for a “lift truck” (remember, any excuse to charge the customer additional money).
I take the time to explain all of this to let you know of the extra cost to ship product to you from Tucson, AZ. Thank you for understanding the many challenges of living in a post-Covid economy. Shipping and all the costs, headaches, and nonsense dealing with these shipping companies is one of the worst aspects of this business.
Phone testimonial from Sheila on her success with the Silox (Original) Adobe and Rammed Earth Water Repellent:
Below is a test video of a burnt adobe brick where half of it was treated with a water repellent that was formulated specifically for adobe. The name of the product is “Silox Adobe Water Repellent”:
Adobe “sealers” are liquid products applied to the surface of adobe bricks to make them “waterproof.” You will notice I have sealers and waterproof in quotes. This is to highlight the fact that these words are used incorrectly when used for liquid products applied to adobes to protect them from moisture.
My readers will notice, if they have spent any length of time on my site, that adobes must “breathe.” This means that moisture that comes into an adobe structure must be able to permeate back out. If not, the trapped moisture inside of the adobe could cause deterioration and damage to the adobe.
Raving fan phone testimonial from Craig S. on his experience with the Silox (Original) Adobe and Rammed Earth Water Repellent:
Water comes into a home from many different ways: cracks in bricks, from around openings in windows and doors because of failing or poorly executed caulk joints, leaks from pipes, etc. Moisture is created inside of our homes due to showering (steam), cooking, or boiling water. As I pointed out in the paragraph above, this moisture needs to find a way to exit the home. No matter how “weatherproof” a home might be, moisture is going to get in somehow or another and it is important that no product is put on the adobes that will prevent the adobes from drying out or not being able to breathe.
This is particularly true for unstabilized mud adobe homes. The ability of this material to breathe is more critical than a burnt adobe. A burnt adobe has been fired in a kiln and this process itself imparts some water repellency to the brick. But an unstabilized mud adobe is at the mercy of any water coming in contact with it, and because an adobe homeowner must plan on their adobes coming in contact with water at some point, deciding on what type of a water repellent, if any, is critical to the longterm health of this unique building material.
For almost 40 years in my contracting career repairing and preserving adobe homes, I have used a water repellent called “Silox Adobe Water Repellent” for use on my customer’s burnt adobe homes. This product is excellent, being the only one I use.
Testimonials:
“I recently sealed my entire house and large adobe wall ( over 9000 sq ft) using Adobe Masters’ product, Silox. I am very pleased with the results. Roy was very helpful and informative. He gave me excellent advice, and the seal is performing as advertised. I will definitely use this product again. He gladly refunded me for any unused buckets of Silox, and was very easy to deal with. Five stars for this service.”
John Bush, Tucson, AZ
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“I got the Silox and read your info in the email, also watched all the videos…I must say your customer service is amazing, Roy, thank you!!”
Jeff, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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“Very cool. Thanks. Silox is amazing–water is bouncing off the walls…”
Larry, St. Anthony Earthworks, Tucson, AZ. Larry makes cement-stabilized mud adobes and uses the Silox to treat them. He loves the product! Call him at (520)-780-0209 for more information.
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Here is Charlene’s (Char) testimonial in an audio format:
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“It worked great.”
Glenn W. Miller, G.W. Miller Custom Painting, Phoenix, AZ
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Hi Roy,
Thank you so much for your advice and instructions for applying the Silox to the mud adobe walls around my yard. I had five different walls that required the application. I used a two gallon deck sprayer to apply to product. (I would have loved to have used a five gallon sprayer had I thought it wouldn’t affect my back.)
I calculated an application of one gallon per 60 sq. ft., per your advice, and then measured out 120 sq. ft. on each wall…(click here for the rest of Kathy’s testimonial).
*****
For additional testimonials, click here.
There is much misinformation on the Internet when it comes to companies advertising for their sealers or water repellents. Some make incredible claims. For example, it is common for companies to claim that once you use their products on their brick or concrete that you will never have to treat that surface again; you will have permanently waterproofed that area and you will never have to worry about it again.
These claims go so far to say that even basements can be waterproofed by using their water-based products. This is absurd; I have not found a water-based product that someone can spray on their basement floors and walls that will permanently stop water from penetrating into the surfaces. These are marketing claims that cannot, to my knowledge, be backed up with convincing proofs.
If a homeowner has a basement where water is coming in, no water-based sealer, regardless of the claims of the manufacturer, will permanently stop moisture from coming in; such spectacular claims are beyond the scope of any water-based product.
In the over three decades that I have been involved in this business, I find these claims to be impossible, particularly when the product they are claiming to be this effective is water-based. A homeowner needs to be aware of these false claims, and when it comes to adobe, the need to have accurate information is all the more critical.
I would be suspicious of purchasing any product claimed to permanently stop moisture from penetrating the surface of your brick or adobe. Nor would I be fooled by their seeming persuasive arguments that their product is one that deeply penetrates into the surface of the material and creates a permanent barrier for water. Again, this claims cannot be substantiated in my opinion and flies in the face of the decades of personal experience I have in dealing with water-repellent products made particularly for adobe.
The Silox Adobe Water Repellent is also a product that penetrates into and below the surface of the adobe, leaving a slight sheen on the surface. It does comes with a limited guarantee of three years, but I would be disingenuous to make a claim that the Silox, as excellent of a product that it is, is a one-time, never to be reapplied, miracle product.
One of the reasons for some of these outrageous claims is that the manufacturers are based in non-desert areas. When they test their products, they are not testing them in the harsh desert environments like what we have in Tucson, Phoenix, or Yuma. The intense heat and sun, lack of shade and humidity that are common in the summer months of a desert environment, are true game changers for the manufacturing claims of most of these companies that only test their products in climates that are not subjected to the severe environmental challenges we face here.
Please read more about this in the pages of the drop down list (or click here) under this heading. For ordering information, please call or text me at (520) 331-4004. Or, you may email me at: adobemastr@gmail.com