acid stain project in trouble

[idahodancer]

I'm staining the garage floor in a new home. The concrete was poured
about 90 days ago and is not sealed. I'm using the Quikrete etching stain.
I preped the floor scrubbing with TSP. Absorption tests with water did
not bead and showed no indication that the surface had problems.

I've applied at least three coats. The initial coat fizzed as expected.
Between each coat I waited the recommended 24 hours.

Wet the floor looks great. I scrubbed the residue in a 4x4 area multiple
times with a stiff bristle broom, water and baking soda solution and wet
vacuming in between. I spent 2 hours repeating this cycle but each time
the test showed trace amounts of residue. FInally I got down on my knees
and scrubbed with a hand brush.

When I get agressive with my scrubbing however, the stain seems to be coming off, exposing concrete.

Am I scrubbing too much? Early in the cleaning process the wet finish
looked great. Like marble or leather. I'm tempted to seal at that stage,
but am nervous about the trace residue. It seems the only way to remove
all residue also removes my stain.

Please Help

 

[idahodancer]

Does no one have any advise? Is it safe to clear coat with minimal-normalized residue left behind?

Im a bit desperate, I don't want to through any more good money after bad, and I'm running out of 50+ degree days.

Thanks,
Don

 

[idahodancer]

shamless bump

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Have you powerwashed it?

I found when I acid-etched, I needed to do a really aggressive powerwashing of the floor to get it really clean -- keeping the tip of the wand only a few inches above the concrete.

From what you describe, I suspect a powerwasher would do the trick.

Can you post a few pictures?

 

[idahodancer]

I'll take some pics when I go back over this afternoon.

I powerwashed an area yesterday in an attempt to remove the residue. All this did was to expose the concrete, but maybe, as you advised, it has also preped the floor for an application that will take.

I'll try another application over the power scrubed section.

Thanks for the recommendation. I've got a mess at this point. 3 applications of gunk on the top of the floor. It's going to take many hours just to get back to where I started.

 

[idahodancer]

...also, I guess it would not be smart to seal over the 'marginally' clean section?

 

[idahodancer]

image links

http://s743.photobucket.com/albums/xx73/idahodancer/acid_stain/

thanks

 

[snorky18]

despite the directions for our acid stain suggesting that 2 - 3 rinses would be acceptable, I insisted to keep going till the shop vac water was almost clear.... my wife wanted to kill me.

I bet that was 10 rinses, and we were using a heavy 17" floor buffer with the black pad. (I highly suggest you rent one, they're not that expensive and really save your body from a beating)

You'll never get it completely operating-room-table clean, but I would strive for perfection and be content at 98%.

As far as sealing over it, if you have too much residue it can wreak some havoc on the bonding of the sealer to the floor, but how bad that would be really depends on how much residue is left, and what type of sealer you're using.

As I understand it, solvent based sealers generally tend to last longer and be a lot more tolerant of minor amounts of surface contamination. Water based not so much, so go with solvent sealer if possible. Make sure you wear a respirator or you may not make it through the whole job

 

[Jaguar Fan]

First of all, I'm not a pro, just a DIYer, so my comments should be taken as such.

I think you need to aggressively powerwash. Let it dry to spec (my guess is you'll need to let it dry at least a week unless the vendor of the clear coat says otherwise). Then you'll be fine to coat it.