I’m having a house built and decided to acid stain some of the concrete. This was done approx 3 mons ago by a company. What ever was put on the concrete was there overnight. I cannot say what they did afterwards, except they put two coats of a water based sealer on the floor (so they say). Here’s the problem. It seems that the stain is not very durable with lots of wear marks. Also, when the painter removed some tape that he used to put plastic down, the sealer and stain came up, leaving behind your typical gray concrete. The company say that was BS, but once he saw that, he couldn’t deny it, and offer no explaination on why it did that. I was under the impression that the stain would penetrate the concrete, reacting with the limestone and that the stain would not peel, crack or wouldn’t scrape off. What is your opinion on what’s going on with my floors.?
Since durability is an issue, how do I protect the floors? I want a gloss, wet looking shine and has been recommended to use a no buff wax. Another recommendation is to use a marine polyurethane (spar varnish) which has a great hardness factor, but my concerns with that are will it bind well with a water based sealer that’s already on the floor and will it “dissolve” the sealer and stain? I know that the sealer and stain can be removed with paint thinner (painter cleaning up). Would the spar varnish cause the same problem? I did put two coats of spar varnish down of a small section in the pantry to see what would happen. It seems OK, no orange peeling, but there is one problem…it slightly peeled next to the shoe moulding. So what do I need to do?
Thanks for the help.
Replies
I have stain floors too, all your answer is at http://www.acid-stain.com
what i have been using on acid stained concrete is the same commercial floor finish you'll see used on the concrete floors of most big box stores and on the VCT at most supermarkets... it's some type cross link poly something I had a few pallets of 5gal boxes of the stuff... it's whiteish and dries clear takes a high speed buffer to get a deep gloss... and i've done that but for the most part i mop it on and let it dry... i put on the first coat before drywall or any trades and so far nothing has messed it up... check out a janitorial supply house there are tons of floor sealers and renewers and polishes ect... none of em cheap but once my stock runs out I'm sure i'd anti up and buy some retail... well maybe
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I chickened out on the spar varnish and decided to go with what was recommended, which was a no buff wax from Johnson. After two coats I did get the "wet" look that I was looking for. How durable remains to be seen. But at least this is safer than experimenting with the varnish.
Thanks for your reply
J
I'm no expert, but that certainly does NOT sound like an acid stain, but rather just some sort of surface coat.
I agree. My understanding is that it penetrates and reacts with the limestone in the concrete. But I also am no expert. I later found out that there is another product on the market for "staining" the concrete. It's some sort of dyeing process which supposively gives a more controlled, uniform colors. I don't think that was used, seeing how mottled the floor is.
As to the other problem, I decided to use a no buff wax. I can't afford to experiment with my floors to see if the spar varnish will work or not.
Thanks for the reply
J