2011
Staining and Sealing Your Concrete Floor
If you are searching for a beautiful and trendy coffeehouse look in your kitchen, living room, or even a bedroom or other Orlando Real Estate, staining and sealing your concrete floor is a bold way to realize it. The primary difficulty is that it is a specialized operation that not many people have done themselves, so it’s tough to get high-quality help and advice on the best way to stain a concrete floor correctly.
Once you find an example of a stained concrete floor you really like, snap a photo of it and bring it to your local hardware store or pro paint store. That way you can get some personal advice. There are different types of staining systems, but this article will cover the acid stain technique.
The initial step is to get rid of any old carpet and confirm that you are comfortable with the condition the concrete is in. Contractors often make marks on slabs, and carpet installers routinely nail or glue down tack strips that can mar your finished floor. It is possible to clean up most of these blemishes, but there will likely be defects showing through the finished surface. Consider that the attractiveness of stained concrete is that the variegated surface blends well with blemishes, so don’t think that simply because your Portland Real Estate floor has issues, you can’t stain it.
Now, take off marks and glue by scraping or with a commercial graffiti remover like Glu-Gone. It’s true that this may take some time to clean it adequately, but is well worth the effort. Please remember that any solvent-based removers will have to be cleaned off using a degreasing solution (like TSP) that you can purchase at a good home improvement store. Acid solution stains will need to be used on oil- and solvent-free flooring surfaces, or they will not react with the concrete.
Now fill up all of the holes or chips in the concrete with a fast setting patching compound. Level it with a trowel and smooth the patch with a wet sponge or cloth. If necessary, sand the filled area evenly after it hardens to dispose of any residue and blend the patched area with the surrounding area.
You probably need to mask the wall surfaces from overspray next. If you’ve used any solvent-based products, clean up the area with a degreasing solution and rinse completely. Use a wet or dry vacuum or sponge mop to remove extra water if required
You’re at last ready to apply your acid stain solution on your Idaho Real Estate. Pay attention to the instructions from the company that manufactured it, but ordinarily this involves transferring the liquid into a plastic pump sprayer. Wet the concrete floor slightly and commence applying the stain over the concrete, working your way to the door so you don’t have to walk onto completed spots. It’s okay to allow the stain to pool into the low spots of the concrete; this is how you get a wonderful leather-like look and feel.
The acidity of the stain reacts with the lime in the concrete and you will see some bubbling while you apply the product. You can typically let the stain dry for up to 24 hours to let it have the greatest affect, then scrub it off with a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid. Wash the surface thoroughly, clearing away the water with a shop vacuum or mop as needed.
You will probably discover that the floor looked a lot better when it was wet. When the floor is entirely dried out, which may take a day or two with blowers on it, you have to use a sealer to bring back the “wet-look” of the floor. Water-based sealer is less pricey and will be adequate if you don’t want a high-gloss finish. If, however, you want a glossy finish, go ahead and pay a little extra for a solvent-based concrete floor sealer. Do not, under any circumstance, apply the water-based product first, then change your mind and move to a solvent-based product. Even if the water-based product is completely dried out, the solvent-based product won’t adhere well and you’ll have challenges with it pealing up.
In our view, the solvent-based glossy sealer looks significantly better and is worth the additional cost to do it right. The sealer can be rolled on, using a brush to cut in around walls and obstructions. You may apply a second coat if you wish, then you are done. You should now be the proud owner of a beautiful acid-stained concrete floor!