Tips For Staining Your Concrete Floor
If you’re looking for a beautiful and trendy coffeehouse look and feel in your family room or master bath or other Orlando Real Estate, turning your concrete slab into a stained concrete floor is a bold way to realize it. The problem is that it is a professional technique that few people have done themselves, so it’s very difficult to get good assistance on how to stain a concrete floor correctly.
Once you find an example of a stained concrete floor you really like, use your camera phone to snap a picture of it and bring it to your nearby hardware store or paint store. This will provide a good start. There are various kinds of staining systems, but this guide will cover the acid stain technique.
Step one is to pull off any old carpet and make sure you are happy with the condition the concrete is in. Building contractors often make markings on concrete floors assuming they will be hidden, and carpet installers frequently nail down tack strips or glue down padding that can leave marks that are difficult to remove. It is possible to eliminate most of these blemishes, but there will likely be flaws showing through the finished floor. Don’t forget that the beauty of stained concrete is that the variegated texture blends well with imperfections, so don’t think that because your Portland Real Estate floor has problems, you can’t stain it.
Next, remove markings and adhesive by scraping or with laquer thinner. This can be difficult, depending on the adhesive, but is worth putting out the hard work. Please remember that any solvent-based products will have to be scrubbed off using a degreasing solution (like TSP) which can be found at a good home improvement store. Acid solution stains will have to be applied to oil- and solvent-free surfaces, or they won’t react with the concrete.
Now fill all holes or chips in the concrete with a quick hardening concrete patch. Level the patched area with a putty knife and smooth the patch with a wet cloth or sponge. If required, sand the fixed area lightly after it sets to remove any residue and blend the fixed floor with the surrounding area.
You will probably want to mask wall surfaces from overspray next. If you’ve utilized any solvent-based cleaning products, scrub the concrete with a degreasing solution and rinse completely. Use a sponge mop to clear away extra water if necessary
You’re finally ready to apply your acid stain solution on your Idaho Real Estate. Read the guidelines of the manufacturer, but typically this consists of transferring the stain into a plastic pressure sprayer. Dampen the floor lightly and start spraying the product over the concrete, starting in the far corner so you never have to walk on finished areas. It’s okay to allow the stain to pool into the low points of the floor; you’re guaranteed to get an elegant leather-like appearance.
The stain’s acidity will react with the concrete and you should see some bubbling as you spray on the acid stain. You can normally let the acid dry for up to 24 hours to let it have the greatest affect, then clean it off with a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid. Wash the surface totally, removing the water with a wet-vac or sponge mop as necessary.
You may see that the floor looked a lot better wet. After the floor is totally dried out, which can take a day or two with fans blowing on it, you want to use a sealer to regain the “wet-look” of the floor. Water-based sealer is less expensive and works great if you don’t desire a high-gloss finish. If you want high gloss, pay the extra money for a solvent-based sealer. Note: Don’t, under any circumstance, use the water-based sealer first, then change your mind and turn to a solvent-based sealer. Even if the first application is totally dry, the solvent-based product won’t stick as well to the floor and you’ll have issues with durability.
In our opinion, the solvent-based sealer looks considerably more stylish and is well worth the additional cost to do it right. This type of sealer gets applied with a brush around the edges and a roller over the rest of the floor. You might want to apply a second coat, then you are done. You should have a beautiful stained concrete floor!
This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 4:34 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.