Clear exopy over stained concrete?

[Hmbre97]

I love the look of stained concrete but have heard it's not that great for a garage as it may not do well with spills. My garage sees light duty working on my car so a spill or 2 will occur. I'm thinking what may work is grinding the floor, staining it, then doing a topcoat of something like Endurashield from Wolverine. It would offer the protection of epoxy and because it dried crystal clear and shiny, it would give the look of sealed and polished concrete which is just the look I'm after. Anyone see issues doing something like this?

 

[JakeD]

<----not a pro, but...

The issue that I could forsee would be the topcoat may not bond well to the stained concrete. I thought that's the idea of grinding is to get that kind of stuff off so the primer or basecoat can make a strong chemical and physical bond to the bare concrete. My guess is that it could start to come up with hot tires etc. But, that's just my 2 cents.

 

[thegarageguy]

Its something that is hard to determine without looking at it. But acid staining is basically the same as acid washing just with a reactive stain. For a garage it may not etch it enough for epoxy to penetrate well enough.

We have done them in basements and retail floors but I hesitate to do it in a garage. Anyone acid washing their garage floor is gambling.

 

[AlphaGarage]

EnduraShield 2254 has been applied over Acid Stained concrete. Keep in mind that it does a good job of protecting the stained floor, but it will not be as durable a system as a high build epoxy system.

One weakness will be impact resistance. The acid wash has essentially zero depth, and a coat of EnduraShield can be as thin as 3.2 mil, compared to a complete 3 coat depth of 22 mils, with the 12 mil body coat of LiquaTile 1184 specifically formulated for impact and shock absorption, it's not going to handle dropped tools and such as well. A couple of extra layers of EnduraShield will help, but again, it won't be equal. Then again for some floors that might not be an issue.

Be careful with grinding before an acid stain. The acid will react with the top layer of concrete - the "cream." Many people have made this mistake, grinding the concrete, and then they're were perplexed when the acid stain does not color the concrete. When this happens, the only option is to use and acrylic stain applied with a mop and flop it around to get the mottled look.

 

[thegarageguy]

Don't forget the swirl marks grinders leave as well. If you want a mottled look, maybe go with a marbleized mettalic epoxy.

 

[menz300]

I would stay away from grinding if you are going to acid stain the concrete. Just like Alpha said visually it will look good and just not be as durable for someone that uses garage to turn wrenches. If you are more or less looking for the visual then I say do it just buy quality products or hire a pro. Not sure where you live but some places you might have a hard time getting acid stains because of stricter laws.

 

[Dreamindiesel]

FWIW, you could clean/scrub the floor with TSP or another PH neutral cleaner then acid stain and let dry atleast 24 hours. After this, my choice would be using a quality high % polyaspartic top coat for durability and chemical resistance. This is only my .02

Thanks.