Do It Yourself Concrete Stain
admin on January 27th, 2008 | File Under Concrete -Do it yourself concrete stain applications are fairly easy when you know what to do and what not to do.
Applying stain to concrete slabs is nothing more than spraying the concrete stains on the floor and letting them react for 4-6 hours. Then you wash the floor to remove the residue which also stops the reaction process the stains have with the concrete.
The way stains work is that the acid in acid stain (about 9% acid) opens the pores in concrete allowing stain to react with lime in concrete. I particularly like staining concrete overlays but lets look at a few issues with concrete slab first.
1.Concrete Density - If the concrete surface is really tight the stain will not be able to get to the lime. What I mean by tight is that the concrete may have been power troweled or hand troweled to the extent that the surface has limited porosity. When this happens the stain sits on surface and doesn’t have anything to color. You can tell by putting some water on the slab. If it juts sits there and beads up you’ll have to open the pores. The best solution is application of a mild gelled acid rolled on the surface and removed within 5-15 minutes.
2. Blemishes - Stained concrete can be beautiful and very affordable. Under $1.00 per square foot with all the tools and product. However if there are blemishes they will show. Frequently you don’t see the blemishes until the stain has been applied. A thorough cleaning will determine whether the slab is blemish free or not.
3. Layering color - Concrete stains come in earth tones of brown and green. The browns range from amber which is light to dark browns and ebony which is dark brown and frequently black. The dark browns are richer with more depth. The greens also include bluish green. Be careful with the greens, moisture can turn them black. You can apply layers starting with the lighter browns, followed by dark browns for addition variation. Applying stain to concrete is achieved with a hand held pump sprayer and sprayed on the surface. You can use a medium bristle broom to even out avoiding pooling followed by another spray. The process is spray, broom, spray. Leave on for 4-6 hours.
4. Cleaning Residue - Acid stains will leave residue which needs to be cleaned off surface. The residue will prevent sealers from properly adhering to floor. The amount of residue can vary depending on the manufacturer. Some leave a lot of residue requiring a lot of work to remove, others very little. Cleaning is best achieved with lukewarm or cool water with a little ammonia and for heavy residues add some baking soda. Use a mop, foam squeegee and wet vac to remove. When floor is clean use wipe a white rag on surface. If it shows color of stain keep cleaning.
5. Sealers - Wait a day before applying sealers. You want the slab to be completely dry. There are numerous types of sealers. For interior applications acrylic water based sealers with wax coats work great. For additional toughness apply water based clear epoxy with a wax coat. Most water based epoxy sealers have an amber tint so only apply over brown stained floors. There are also solvent based sealers and Urethanes. These are tough but have a heavy solvent smell. I like to stay away from any solvents.
6. Concrete Overlays - Concrete overlays provide a new clean surface. Overlays are great solution because concrete is rarely blemish free. Overlays are much more predictable and provide superior color options and control than gray concrete slab. Overlays are available in white or gray concrete. White produces more vibrant results than gray. You can mix in colors to overlays then topically stain and/or dye them. Because you get right to the lime, when applying stain to concrete the stain should be diluted with water. As a result concrete stains are very inexpensive when applied to an overlay. Concrete stains are only left on an overlay for 1-2 hours as opposed to 4-6 hours on concrete slab. Frequently acid stains produce too much variation on an overlay. The solution is application of Concrete water based dyes. They are sprayed then mopped on evening out the variation caused by the acid stains. Because they are translucent the acid stain comes bleeds through. Waterbased dyes provide additional depth of color.
7. Price - Concrete stains with sprayers, mops and sealers are about 50-75 cents per square foot. With an overlay figure about $1.50 - $2.00 per square foot depending on the size including tools.
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