Staining Your Concrete Floor

To get a beautiful and trendy coffeehouse look and feel in your family room or master bath or other Orlando Real Estate, staining and clear-sealing your concrete floor is a hip way to realize it. The challenge is that it is a professional procedure that very few homeowners have done themselves, so it’s difficult to get useful tips and advice on the way to stain a concrete floor correctly.

If you’ve seen a stained concrete floor you like, take a photo of it and bring it to your community home improvement center or pro paint store. That way you can get some personal advice. There are various kinds of staining procedures, but this post will cover the acid stain process.

The initial step is to strip off any old carpet and ensure you’re satisfied with the condition the concrete is in. Builders often make markings on concrete floors assuming they will be hidden, and carpet installers often nail down tack strips or glue down padding that can leave marks that are difficult to remove. It is possible to clear up most of these blemishes, but there will likely be flaws showing through the finished surface. Consider that the natural beauty of stained concrete is that the variegated surface blends well with blemishes, so don’t think that because your Portland Real Estate floor has problems, you can’t stain it.

Second, eliminate markings and adhesive by scraping or with lacquer thinner or a commercial graffiti remover. It’s true that this may take some time to clean it adequately, but is worth putting out the effort. Realize that any solvent-based removers will have to be cleaned off by means of a degreasing solution (like TSP) that you can find at a hardware store. Acid solution stains ought to be applied to oil- and solvent-free surfaces, or they won’t adequately react with the concrete.

Now fill up all of the cracks or pits in the concrete with a fast setting concrete patch. Level with a putty knife and smooth the patch with a wet cloth or sponge. If needed, sand the patched area evenly right after it sets to dispose of any residue and blend the patched floor with the surrounding area.

You will probably need to mask the wall surfaces from overspray next. If you’ve used any solvent-based cleaning products, wash the floor with a degreasing solution and rinse completely. Use a sponge mop to get rid of extra water if required

You’re finally ready to apply your acid stain treatment on your Idaho Real Estate. Stick with the directions from the company that manufactured it, but normally this calls for pouring the liquid into a plastic pressurized sprayer. Dampen the floor slightly and start applying the product over the concrete, starting in the far corner so you won’t have to walk on completed sections. It’s okay to allow the stain to pool into the low spots of the floor; you’ll get an incredible leather-like appearance.

The stain’s acid component will react with the lime in the concrete and you should see some bubbling while you spray on the stain. You can typically let the acid dry for 8 to 24 hours so it gets a deep coloration, then clean it off with a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid. Rinse off the concrete totally, getting rid of the water with a wet vacuum or sponge mop as necessary.

You will probably see that the floor looked a lot more attractive when it was wet. Once the floor is thoroughly dried out, which takes a day or two with blowers on it, you will want to apply a sealer to recreate the “wet-look” of the floor. Water-based sealer is more affordable and will be adequate if you don’t desire a high-gloss finish. However, if you want gloss, pay the extra money for a solvent-based concrete sealer. Do not, under any circumstance, put on the water-based product first, then change your mind and move to a solvent-based product. Even if the first application is completely dry, the solvent-based sealer won’t stick as well to the floor and you’ll have problems with durability.

In our view, the solvent-based glossy sealer looks significantly better and is worth the extra cost to do it right. The sealer can be rolled on, using a brush to cut in around walls and obstructions. You might want to apply a second coat, then you are finished. You should have a beautiful stained concrete floor!