Stain and sealed concrete

[Average Joe]

I am finally getting around to doing my floor finish...almost 4 years of having bare concrete. My floor is not bad but it does have a few oil spots and other things on it, mostly tire marks. I have always been pretty careful about spraying tire dressing on tires or doing anything that could stain the floor. I knew this day would finally come, finally! I have recently added a Bridgeport mill to my shop and it has pushed me to go ahead and do this knowing that cutting oils and cleaners will seriously jack up a floor and I would never be able to seal it or anything else it.

I an working with a local concrete stain and sealer manufacture. As it is now I plan on getting all of my supplies for staining and sealing on hand and the starting on grinding all the edges and then renting a big grinder and doing the larger open area. once I get the floor smoothed and clean...really clean, I will acid etch it and apply the dye (medium gray). once that is done I will seal it with 3 coats of sealer a primer coat, a primary coat which the grit will be added to for a non-slip surface, then the finish coat.

This is my plan anyways, I hope anyone who wants to will chime in and offer any advise they can. I am totally new at this but I am never afraid to tackle something new.

Thanks in advance for any input that I get.

Joe

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Joe:

If your stain is acid based, do not acid etch prior.
I have never seen a gray "stain" is this really paint labeled as a stain??

There have been a few nightmares on this site with these products, be careful.

 

[Average Joe]

The stain is not a paint it is acytone based. pleasw feel free to let me know if this is a good thing or a bad thing as I have not bought anything yet. when I went to the factory they had bottles of the liquid stain (diferent colors) and then was instructed to cut it with acytone to apply.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

The stain is not a paint it is acytone based. pleasw feel free to let me know if this is a good thing or a bad thing as I have not bought anything yet. when I went to the factory they had bottles of the liquid stain (diferent colors) and then was instructed to cut it with acytone to apply.

Ok, you have an acetone dye. This is a good way to go, just be very careful as acetone is highly flammable/combustible. It adds color instantly.

It may help to do a little practice on a piece of cardboard prior to hitting the floor.

 

[Average Joe]

10-4... glad to hear good things about this, they did give me some samples of several gray colors. I did try some on the floor in a somewhat hidden area. thanks for the cardboard idea, is there anything else in my initial intro that you can see needs critiquing any?

once again, I really appreciate the words of wisdom.

Joe

 

[Average Joe]

Been a very busy time here of late, seems that time just slips away. Its been nearly a year since I was planning on doing my floor. Finally I am knee deep into it and I have a , hopefully small? problem.

At this point I have:
1) cleaned and degrease the floor
2) used a diamond grinder to grind a thin layer off the top to be sure it is as clean as possible, the floor has been down for around 4-5 years.
3) acid etched the floor with acid

I still have a few spots like Hydraulic fluid or oil has penetrated the concrete deep. When the floor is wet and darkened by the water these spots stay light colored? My concern is that my dye wont take to it in these spots, or worse my sealer wont adhere good in these spots and will start to peel up?

I have cleaned and degrease again and acid etched again... still the same thing.

Looking for any ideas, advice or sugestions...

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Garage Logix]

Hey Joe!

Quite the task you are undertaking. Unfortunately, I have seen many improper stain jobs in the last 10 years- It's all in the prep and mixing the material properly.

You mentioned a gray finish: Is this the look you are going for?

 

[Average Joe]

Hey Joe!

Quite the task you are undertaking. Unfortunately, I have seen many improper stain jobs in the last 10 years- It's all in the prep and mixing the material properly.

You mentioned a gray finish: Is this the look you are going for?

yes, very much so. I am wanting to go for a variegated color to hopefully hide some of the reminiscent imperfection on the floor.

 

[Average Joe]

Finally got this seemingly monumental job done, all in all I am pretty happy with the final outcome. The grit I used is a little larger than I wish I had used, the whole 20/20 hind sight thing you know. My only problem now is it looks good enough I don't want to mess it up I have always prided myself on having a "working garage", do whatever I want and not worry about it. I still fell that way but at the moment the floor seems to have put the final touch on the finished surfaces and maybe pushed it over the "do anything" garage....just a little bit though, the new will wear off.

 

[Nighttrain]

That looks great, I am hoping to do the same route as you this spring. I think I will go with out the grit in the sealer though.

 

[Theo911]

Looks fantastic how slippery is it when wet? Why the slight dissatisfaction on the grit size?

 

[Average Joe]

I did a test piece and it seemed like it would be the better way to go. The idea of running my motorcycle inside with even slightly wet tires seemed like the larger grit would be better. Looking back now the large grit is so coarse that if you broadcast it too heavy it leaves the floor with white granules everywhere instead of blending in like I had hoped. Also the larger grit is coarse enough that as you walk on it or drive on it they will come loose. Kinda reminds me of new carpet, when it is new and you vacuum it the threads will come out for a bit until all the loose stuff is gone. Not like there is any fear of pulling all the color out of the carpet, just the loose threads. I can see over time the larger / loose pieces of grit will come loose and be gone leaving enough even still. I just think the smaller grit probably would have held to the top coat better and I could have been able to possibly broadcast a little heavier and it still blended in.

 

[battles]

Hey Joe, I love the color of your garage floor. Any chance you remember the Company Name / Color? I'm looking to stain my floor as well. Thanks!

 

[Average Joe]

Hey Joe, I love the color of your garage floor. Any chance you remember the Company Name / Color? I'm looking to stain my floor as well. Thanks!

The company's name is SurfKote (Surface Koatings) located in Portland Ten the product I used was medium gray Color Dye mixed at ½ strength. If you want, call up there and ask for Dustin. He knows the products super good and is super helpful! He will also know exactly what I used in my shop, he helped me and advised me the whole way thru my entire process. After the customer support and product support I received from SurfKote, I would not hesitate to recommend them as a company and Dustin at the company as a contact to anyone.

Good luck,
Joe

 

[battles]

Excellent, thanks Joe. I'll give them a buzz early next week. Do you remember the name of the sealant you used?

 

[battles]

Oh, and did you use a medium or high gloss?

 

[Average Joe]

Company web site: http://www.surfkoat.com/home

The sealer was Surfkoats 60% Aliphatic Urethane, product info: http://k.b5z.net/i/u/6017887/f/60_Aliphatic_Urethane.pdf

The dye was Surfcoats Kolor Dye, http://k.b5z.net/i/u/6017887/f/Kolour_Dye.pdf

 

[Average Joe]

Oh, and did you use a medium or high gloss?

it was a high gloss, Like I said Dustin will know all of the specifics about my floor. He acctually came to my house several time due to the close prox. to him. Just tell him my name "Joe Corley in White House TN" and he will be able to tell you exactly what I used....colors, sealer, grit... the whole deal.

Once again, Good luck! keep us informed on your decission and progress.
Joe