stained concrete floor

[hh76]

Like many projects, this one started as a quick one, then the snowball began rolling. I've never been a huge fan of solid color flooring, and I kind of liked the age that my old slab showed through it's stains and cracks. Figured I'd throw it out there as a possible alternative to other popular floor treatments.

Decided to put up a wall to section off a 400sf area of the shop off for heating purposes, and to establish a "clean room" where I didn't have to worry about covering up the shiny projects when welding or grinding. I was just going to power wash prior to putting up the wall, then decided it'd be a good time to take care of some of the uneven spots on the floor, and then why not grind the whole floor, then why not re-seal, and what the hell, while I'm at it I might as well add some color.

1. power washed
2. ground the hell out of it
3. power washed
4. filled cracks and holes
5. ground a little on a couple spots
6. power washed
7. stained- I used a transparent, water based, penetrating stain that I got from a concrete place I deal with for work. I tried a small sample of acid stain, but wouldn't penetrate the ground concrete.
8. lite cleaning
9. sealed with clear epoxy

Pictures have a tough time showing it, but it's blue, with a lot of variation. By no means a perfect floor, but no amount of polish could make that 50+ year old turd of a slab look new.

I'm not even close to a professional, so don't take this as pro advise. All the pros and product reps, don't feel like you have to pull any punches when critiquing my floor. I can take the critisizm, and your advise may help the next guy from making any mistakes I may have made.

 

[Full Size 66]

What kind of grinder did you use? How big? I have a 28x32 that needs Grind & Polish.

 

[hh76]

What kind of grinder did you use? How big? I have a 28x32 that needs Grind & Polish.

7in cup wheel from H.F., and a 9in abrasive wheel that I used in the areas that had old anchors in the floor.

Other than the dust, it wasn't too bad of a job. If you have a good flat surface, I would think you could knock out about 100-200sq.ft. an hour. Just keep the grinder moving, and even pressure on it. If you let it sit in one spot, or rock it a little, it will dig in.

The dust is horrible! I didn't have any collection system, so I could only grind for about 15min before I couldn't see any more. Let the dust clear out, then go again.

Get a paper painter's suit, good goggles, and a good respirator made for hazardous dust.

 

[Edger]

That must have been a damn nasty floor, color is a little dark for me, but good job. You have turned it into something that will stay reasonably clean. Next time invest in a good dust shroud.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Looks pretty cools, and it works well with the exposed brick etc -- very rustic and natural, I like it. Great job!

You did discover one of the problems with acid stain tinting, it often doesn't result too little color saturation. In fact it's difficult to predict exactly what the finished floor will look like. Water based stains do seem to offer more intense coloring.

 

[hh76]

That must have been a damn nasty floor, color is a little dark for me, but good job. You have turned it into something that will stay reasonably clean. Next time invest in a good dust shroud.

yeah, a little darker than what I was picturing before starting, but a lot lighter than what I started with.

 

[hh76]

Looks pretty cools, and it works well with the exposed brick etc -- very rustic and natural, I like it. Great job!

You did discover one of the problems with acid stain tinting, it often doesn't result too little color saturation. In fact it's difficult to predict exactly what the finished floor will look like. Water based stains do seem to offer more intense coloring.

the stain I used was mixed per the directions to give me one gallon. I was a little nervous about having enough, so I decided to go over the entire slab with a very dilluted coat ( about 8to1 water to mixed stain). Didn't have to put on the second coat, the dilluted produced what is in the pictures.

 

[dirttracker18]

I think it looks great.

However, I would have rented a large floor grinder. Minimal cost really compared to hunching over with a little grinder. Other then that, the colour is cool!

 

[hh76]

I think it looks great.

However, I would have rented a large floor grinder. Minimal cost really compared to hunching over with a little grinder. Other then that, the colour is cool!

wanted to do that, but there were a lot of old achors still in the floor, and I was afraid I'd ruin a rental.