How to Acid Stain Old Concrete: Troubleshooting and Solutions
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Concrete Acid Stain is easier than it sounds. Justin at Direct Colors is here to show you just how simple coloring your concrete can be. Learn how to stain, seal, and maintain your concrete surfaces with ease.
If you like what you see, visit us at www.directcolors.com
This is a great video. Justin did a nice job of showing what DIY'ers can do to treat imperfections in the concrete so that the acid stain still turns out as desired. Really appreciate this!
Many thanks for the kind words. I will certainly pass along your comments to Justin. We're so glad to hear that the video has been useful to you. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Good luck with your project!
As it turns, out, I do have a question. I the dining area and kitchen in our house adjoin; they have a concrete slab on grade that was originally covered by engineered wood. However, it was damaged last fall by a water leak. I decided to acid-stain it with a medium-brown color. Before I applied the stain, I prepared the surface by grinding the mastic off and degreasing the concrete with an organic degreaser to remove all other contaminants. I then followed the application instructions you provide and applied the stain. It turned out great after the first application, and then I added another coat. It appeared very dark when dried, but I knew that would change after I neutralized and removed the residue. Now, it appears the color has thinned slightly -- it's lighter, albeit just a bit. I would like to touch it up, but I'm not sure if I should accent what's there with a darker stain, or spot-color with a dye, as Justin did here. What would you recommend? Thanks!
Are you looking at the acid stained floor when it is wet? The wet floor will be a closer approximation to a sealed surface and give you a much better idea of the final color. If you still find it a bit light in areas, I would consider using the Concrete Dye, www.directcolors.com/product/concrete-dye/, to add in some accents. I used the concrete dye to compliment an acid stain application in my own home and was very happy with the results. The Liquid Colored Antique, the product Justin applied to the porch, can also be used indoors but the surface should be a bit porous for the product to work well. Here are the pictures from my project, www.directcolors.com/projects/creating-acid-stain-floors-of-art/. Thank you and please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
Thanks for your quick and detailed response. The floor looked great when it was wet, but as I cleaned it and it started to dry, that's when I noticed some of the color fading (not the typical lightening that occurs when it dries, but fading so that I can see the old squares from the linoleum that were there 30-40 years ago). None of that was visible prior to neutralizing and cleaning the concrete. I was leaning toward the dyes because I felt they do a better job of covering up imperfections than another acid treatment. Your pictures look really nice. They give me some ideas of what I can do to my floor before I seal it. Thanks!
Great job, & great video guys. Very informational! 👍
Thanks for your post. Glad the video was of use to you. Please let us know if you have any questions in future.
Thank you so much...doing entire house just like that..
Great! Good luck with your project and please let us know if we can be of assistance. We have some helpful how to guides and blog posts on our website, directcolors.com, that might provide some insight. Happy New Year!
Great video, though I’d love to see the progress from the vary beginning. I’ve got a 50 yr old covered concrete porch (12’x12’) which has been painted. I’ve been told that I can use a power washer to remove the paint or rent a sander. Being such a small area and that they’re aren’t cracks, knicks or patches, how would you recommend preparing the concrete for either an asid stain or using 2-3 colors in various tones then sealing it well. I’m pretty handy and quite creative so I’m confident about taking this on, though want to ensure I’ll be taking the necessary steps in regards to preparation to achieve the best results. Thanks and I look forward to your reply, hopefully😊
It’s likely I’ll be doing this alone
Thank you for your feedback! Yes, the paint will need to be removed entirely. This can be sanded or use a coatings remover, such as our Soy Gel Stripper. When using a stripper, it's very important to ensure all residue is thoroughly cleaned and scrubbed from the surface. Once this is finished, we highly recommend starting with a trial kit of the product you choose to use before starting your project. This will allow you to test the product and sample a few colors to ensure you get the desired outcome, and if using acid stain, this will also ensure your concrete will chemically react with the stain. We recommend our EasySeal for exterior projects, which is our solvent-based acrylic sealer. Please let us know if we can further assist; we're happy to help.
Beautiful stain job! Please let me know if you could help me.
I have an acid-stained concrete kitchen countertop and the surface coating has chipped here and there. I didn't want further damages so I put some water based polyurethane on and around the areas. Now those spots are much darker and stand out much more when the surface is dry. Do you think it's fixable? I'm thinking about getting a small amount of acid stain to put over the exposed darker areas and reseal them. Would this work?
I want to stain a 40 year old slab without grinding it first. Will it still work ?
If your slab is bare concrete, you can skip grinding by performing a simple water absorption test. Pour some water on the surface, and if it absorbs within 3-5 minutes, you're good to go without grinding. Just make sure to clean the surface thoroughly before staining for the best results! Check out this video on how to do the test: th-cam.com/video/l9koNLGY5eo/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
pretty profesional I'm sorpirise there's no coments yet - question can you tell diference betwen regular stain and acid stain
Thank you. We just got it the video uploaded today so we hope others will also find it beneficial. The main difference between a concrete stain and an acid stain is the fact that an acid stain is chemically reactive and permanently alters the color of the concrete. Unless you grind the acid stain off, it's going to be there. It may fade over time if not properly sealed but the color will remain. that's not really true with other concrete stains. It's a great option for indoor or outdoor concrete and of course, it has a unique look that's hard to achieve with any other product. I hope this information responds to your question and thanks again for viewing our video.
thank you for the video, how do you feel about repairing the cracks before staining, will it take? better of leaving it? i have 1 year old cement in good shape besides the 2 cracks about quarter inch thick. also what stain is that?
Thanks for your question. As a general rule, I don't tend to fill cracks I can't fit a coin into. If you do have cracks as wide as you suggest, keep in mind that the crack will need to be prepared in a v-shape using a cone bit and cleaned very well so the patch can properly adhere. After curing, it will need to be sanded flush with the concrete. Cracks like you've described are likely still active which will eventually cause the patch to crack as well. Having said that, it will still be an improvement from a freeze-thaw point of view reducing future damage during the winter. As for the acid stain, it will take a little differently on the patch compared to the rest of the slab. In the video, Justin has applied the acid stain first and then after neutralizing and cleaning, applied our Liquid Colored Antique Concrete Stain to even out the tones and add a bit more color. You could do the same application with your concrete and seal just as Justin has. You'll find the acid stain at www.directcolors.com/product/concrete-acid-stain/, the antique concrete stain at www.directcolors.com/product/liquid-colored-antique-concrete-stain/ and the sealer at www.directcolors.com/product/sprayable-satin-finish-concrete-sealer/. Please let us know if you there's anything else we can do to assist you. Good luck with your project!
I have some questions about the technique - on getting mottling in the color, I previously thought the main technique was to wet the concrete, spray the darkest color in a pattern or perhaps sort of a random pattern, then go over the whole thing again by diluting the same color stain with water and apply a more uniform application with a lighter stain. But with this video it appears you got a similar effect by putting on a very uniform application of your acid stain, (full strength) then added second color effects with a non-acid antiquing agent. Have I accurately described the two techniques? Are there other techniques you could describe? If there are additional ways of getting the decorative mottling in the color, can you talk about that a little? I am also thinking about the indoor project with Azure blue where the ladies that applied it got some really dramatic dark mottling when the concrete wicked water up from the ground, which was apparently a total surprise that jus happened.
The technique you see used in this video is very much determined by the age and condition of this concrete slab. Because it has been profiled so many times and is over 30 years old, we wanted to show what could still be done with even the poorest quality concrete. The technique you've described is perfectly acceptable to achieve a marbled look on a higher quality slab. You can use different dilution rates to achieve variation or you can use different colors whatever you prefer. I prefer to apply my darkest color accents first and while still wet, spray out the rest of the floor with my contrasting color. As for the azure blue acid stain project you mentioned, please have a look at our post on this project for the complete details, www.directcolors.com/projects/extraordinary-marbled-acid-stained-floors/. It was a surprise to the homeowners but they had special circumstances that produced that final color which included water vapor still passes through the slab after application and a breathable sealer that allowed the vapor to pass without damaging the coating. It is certainly a beautiful finish but might be a bit difficult to successfully duplicate. Thanks for your comment.
you guys are incredible - thanks so much for taking the time to educate everyone, and answer questions!
Also, were there any other distinct techniques you have used for new concrete besides the one mentioned?
The only other suggestion I could make is to make sure to carefully determine whether the slab is a good candidate for staining before beginning the project. New concrete can often be too smooth to successfully acid stain as it is or might have been poured with a high percentage of fly ash that makes staining very difficult or impossible to do. The first page of our how to goes over these details and I would give that a thorough read through for sure. Thank you.