I think I ruined my floor

[MNMike]

I wanted to stain my new floor so I went with DeltaDye Red oak stain. The floor was poured in May of last year and nothing has been on it. I told the contractor that I was going to finish the floor so he put some sort of sealer on it and told me when I was ready to just acid etch it.
I started with the rustolium acid etch and mixed it to their specifications, nothing happened, mixed it a little stronger still nothing. I then picked up some muriatic acid and mixed it 50/50 with very little reation. SI Wet the floor and poured it straight out, brushed it around really well and rinsed and neutralized it and then power washed it. I still didn't get the required surface so I rented a grinder.
I thought it was ready for staining.
I started applying the stain as directed, it went down ok. Took a little more time than I anticipated but it is down. I then started to apply the sealer HD6525MMA, here is where it gets ugly.

I applied the first coat Sunday, it soaked in well but dried to a Matte finish not the gloss I was expecting. I also noticed at this time that I had burned my floor with the acid. I have pitting in areas of the floor. I put on a second coat of sealer and it dried better with some gloss but I can still see some pitting. Am I screwed here, or do I just need to put on a couple more coats of sealer? I know the sealer is not designed to fill in pitting but the second coat is looking better.
This is just a personal/storage/hang out garage but I wanted it to look nice.

What are my options at this point??

 

[Armorpoxy]

Contact Legacy, they give excellent customer service and will walk you through this.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Yes, it looks very porous from the prep.

For other users... only need to get it porous for these products, not trying to etch more than that. If a cup of water immediately turns it dark and is absorbed then you are pretty well there.

Regarding the sealer, yes you can add multiple coats. A dull first coat is not surprising, but a
splotchy 2nd coat would mean more is needed (due to over-prep). Just don't let it pool.

The MMA sealers will bond to previous coats without any further prep, they are unique in this way.

 

[MNMike]

Thanks Scotty, I was hoping you would say that.
I'll order up some more MMA.

Mike

 

[Shea]

The pitting isn't visible in the picture, but I gotta say that the floor color looks sharp.

 

[MNMike]

The picture is before any sealant, I can get one later tonight. The color is a little deceiving, i was going for more of a red but when I started it turned more of an orange/brown when it dried, so i just kept putting layers on. It is really dark brown/red.

I think once I get the sealer on it will be ok.

Mike

 

[jd70dl]

I am thinking of doing a similar floor. I think your floor looks great. But, I am thinking you may do things differently if you could redo your project? If so, what would you do - or not do? Just looking at other's experience. Thanks.

 

[MNMike]

I think I obviously wouldn't have acid etched it so much. I would have used less stain although I didn't use all of the stain that I ordered.

I put silver stain down first but because the floor was so porous it soaked in too deep. When I put the first coating of sealer down I back rolled it so it wouldn't pool up. When I did that some of the silver appeared, looks kind of cool. I think at this point I wouldn't have put down so much Red Oak the sealer really does wake up the color as scotty has stated.

Good Luck,
Mike

 

[MNMike]

This is with two coats of sealer, I ordered some more and will probably end up with 4-5 coats,

 

[jd70dl]

Thanks for the info!!

 

[bigjon]

The sealer your concreter applied hindered your acid from working. If you have sealer you need to remove it via either grinding or a sealer stripper.

By the way, your floor has come up great.

 

[Eggman]

Looks mighty fine to me

 

[MNMike]

Scotty,

I put another coat of sealer on the floor and it is looking better. I have a question, specs say that it should dry to the touch in 4-6 hours. It stays sticky until the next morning, from the first coat to the current third?? I did put some on my attached garage with no prep to dry out the roller and it dried in an hour and actually looks nice. That being said how long will HD6525MMA last once the 5 gallon container is opened. I would like to do the attached garage but I won't be able to get to it for a while.

I also saw your video staining and coating with DeltaDye and SEC. I see that the SEC goes on whitish and dries clear. I thought the HD6525MMA was supposed to do the same but mine goes on clear.


Thanks, Mike

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

SEC is water-borne hence the white appearance.
HD6525MMA is solvent, no white.

If you cap it, it will last a year or more.

How bout some updated pics?

 

[MNMike]

I should be able to get it done in 12 months.

I'll take some pics before the next coat tonight. I will coat it and then off to the lake so pics on Monday.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Just have to say that is one sharp color!

 

[MNMike]

Updated Pics, these are Friday after another coat of sealer. I put the can there to try and show the color of the floor better. I'm still having an issue with the floor drying to a dull gloss vs shiny.

 

[MNMike]

These are from yesterday after another coat.
you can see in the first picture how it dries dull. The top square is still wet and the one next to it is almost dry. I was hoping for a nice gloss finish but I am going to settle for what it is. I will have 10 gallons of sealer on this floor after today, I have other things to accomplish so as far as I'm concerned, it is what it is. I'm done.

 

[jd70dl]

I like the gloss of it! Kind of a lower sheen. It looks really nice.

Just for info, though.....has it gotten more of a gloss finish with each coat?

 

[MNMike]

jd,
These are pictures of the semi dry / wet sealer, I'll take a picture of it tonight when it has dried for 36 hrs. The gloss has gotten better with each coat but after 10 gallons I was expecting more.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Mike:
A customer recently send me a pic of his floor after only (1) coat of the same sealer, very glossy. Your aggressive preparation is sucking the material in.

Check this pic: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjzksq5ghqs/?taken-by=legacyindustrial

 

[MNMike]

Yes, I figured I ruined my floor and just have to live with it.

 

[tre873]

I don't think you ruined it and it looks good to me. I'm not a flooring guy, but I wonder if there's any way you could use a floor buffer to add the shine you want.

 

[MNMike]

It does have a shine to it just not like the others I have seen. I'm more disappointed in myself for the prep. You can see where I burnt it with acid, no amount of sealer is going to fix that.
It will be ok, with the amount of stuff I'm going to put in there you will never see the floor anyway.