New concrete and acid etching

[Subisti]

Hi, I recently acquired my wife’s old horse barn and have been given the ok to start making it into a garage/man cave. Yesterday I talked to my first concrete contractor and am now feeling I maybe in over my head. I mentioned wanting a vapor barrier and insulation under the slab. I also showed him the picture I hopefully attached and said i would like it to eventually look like it. He said it was acid etched and a quick rundown on how it was done. The pole building is 30x40 he said he would get exact numbers in a day or so but that he thought $8000-8500. He also mentioned the acid etching cost 3-4$ a square foot. At first that didn’t seem to bad but later realized that would be up to 4800$ extra. Do these seem like realistic numbers? Is there anything else that needs to be done after the etching?
Thanks
Matt

 

[BigGarage]

Hi, I recently acquired my wife’s old horse barn and have been given the ok to start making it into a garage/man cave. Yesterday I talked to my first concrete contractor and am now feeling I maybe in over my head. I mentioned wanting a vapor barrier and insulation under the slab. I also showed him the picture I hopefully attached and said i would like it to eventually look like it. He said it was acid etched and a quick rundown on how it was done. The pole building is 30x40 he said he would get exact numbers in a day or so but that he thought $8000-8500. He also mentioned the acid etching cost 3-4$ a square foot. At first that didn’t seem to bad but later realized that would be up to 4800$ extra. Do these seem like realistic numbers? Is there anything else that needs to be done after the etching?
Thanks
Matt

My garage floor is about 20'x30' so only 600 square feet. I used a few gallons of acid when I cleaned and painted the floor 7 or 8 years ago. The acid is less than $10 per gallon right now at Lowes. $4800 would be highway robbery in my opinion. Your floor is twice as large as mine and let's say you even used 3 times the acid I used. You would still only pay for maybe 15 gallons of acid. That's $150 if you used it all. $4800 is crazy.

P.S. Why do you think it needs acid etching?

Dennis

 

[Subisti]

If you look at the picture I posted he said acid etching is how to get that look. After some searching this morning. It maybe called acid staining instead.

 

[BigGarage]

If you look at the picture I posted he said acid etching is how to get that look. After some searching this morning. It maybe called acid staining instead.

I have no experience with "acid staining".

Dennis

 

[Toolfool]

Look up Kemiko acid stains. I've done a bunch of them. Fairly easy , just follow the instructions to the 'T'. It's a water based acid stain. They have a neutral wash, stain, and clear coat. Do not treat or clean the floor with anything until it has cured and you're ready to stain.
The pic you posted looks splotchy because it might have been acid etched first before staining.
PM me if you need more info.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Acid staining is one option.
However, more colors are available with (more colorful results) WB stain. Totally DIY.

Our offering:

https://www.legacyindustrial.net/products/concrete-stain-and-dye/deltadye-concrete-stain.html

Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Ralf11]

you can DIY it

also, embed tubing for hydronic heat into the pour - you can thank me later for that...

 

[Subisti]

Is acid staining much more than cement stain? After watching legacies videos that doesn't seem too bad.

 

[rnixon]

All Garage Floors, posted an article on how I did my acid stain floor ,might be of interest to you. My floor is over a year old now, I've done a lot of dirty work on it and it looks as good as day one Here's The linkhttp://allgaragefloors.com/diy-acid-stained.garage-floor/

 

[Subisti]

That was a fantastic article. May I ask why you chose acid stain instead of concrete stain?

 

[RPH]

Go to my profile, I posted pics of my acid stain floor. I used 4 different colors. One thing with acid stain is that it reacts with the minerals in the concrete. That will cause variability in the colors. The green I used didn’t react well in some areas but comes through in others. Doesn’t bother me as I wanted some color other than gray. Also mine is a working shop. Spills are going to happen and the random pattern breaks it up. I didn’t know about water based at the time but would be more than willing to try water based. I won’t have gray concrete again. Staining is to easy to do.

 

[rnixon]

That was a fantastic article. May I ask why you chose acid stain instead of concrete stain?

A conventional stain lays down color with a pigment. Stain that's used on a wooden deck or siding is usually water based , concrete stains are water or acetone based and work the same way, by depositing a colored pigment.

Acid stain actually changes the color of concrete thru a chemical reaction. Metallic salts in the acid react with the lime in concrete and cause the color to change. Copper sulfate creates the blues an greens, Iron creates the reds an browns , other metals an mixtures create the golds, tans, ebony and turquoise colors.

The color of an acid stain is permanent, it won't wear off , it can't be scrubbed off, the only way to remove it is to grind it off

My floor is sealed with, one coat of a one part, Polyurea [SPGX] polyurea is resistant to almost all chemicals and acids , spills just wipe off and there is no hot tire pickup .

Here's a few, more recent pictures of my floor , it's over a year old and I have yet to wash it , just wipe off the spills an sweep up

 

[snorky18]

When we acid stained our basement floor (800SF?) w/ Kemiko it ran ~$0.61/ SF for materials. Labor was pretty intense to get it sufficiently clean, plus the learning curve since it was my first time, but it turned out beautiful.

 

[Subisti]

Did you guys have any concern working with the acid? Seems dangerous

 

[RPH]

None, follow the directions and use some common sense.

 

[BigGarage]

Did you guys have any concern working with the acid? Seems dangerous

Not related to the topic anymore but when I was using the acid on my floor I had just rinsed the floor with water. I started in the rear right corner and poured a bunch of acid out. A nice big cloud formed and caused me to go outside just to breathe. I did have the roll-up door opened partway but had no idea the cloud would form and choke me. After that I was O.K..

Live and learn.

Dennis