Surface prep for acid staining

greasyfingers01 · Nov 9, 2015

I am wanting acid stained concrete in the new to us house. I'm really impressed with the quality of the slab in this house. Nice smooth finish with minor imperfections and no cracks. I have spent many years installing various types of typical household flooring (carpet, vinyl, wood, tile) and they all have their problems. So I'm wanting to do stained concrete throughout the house. Our local Wal-Mart thats been open for 7 years has stained concrete instead of the standard vct or epoxy. It still looks great even after being subjected to their tens of thousands of cattle like customers dragging their feet, and their best and brightest personnel trying to do their worst with pallets.

So what kind of surface prep needs to be done?

Will using a diamabrush mastic remover or prep tool (the ones at HD) be sufficient?

Should I have the concrete polished?

What kind of surface finish does the diamabrush leave? Is it smooth or rough like a sidewalk?

I need to patch the creators from ripping up the tack strip. What should I use and will it blend in with the existing concrete enough to be hidden by a medium to dark brown?

What else do I need to know?

Thanks for any info!

LegacyIndustrial · Nov 9, 2015

You are going in 8 different directions at once.
Yes, you can stain the floors, you can also coat with metallic epoxy for a variegated look.

May or may not need diamabrush and polishing is a different direction then stain/seal.
Post some photos if you can.

Garage Flooring · Nov 10, 2015

greasyfingers01 said:
I am wanting acid stained concrete in the new to us house. I'm really impressed with the quality of the slab in this house. Nice smooth finish with minor imperfections and no cracks. I have spent many years installing various types of typical household flooring (carpet, vinyl, wood, tile) and they all have their problems. So I'm wanting to do stained concrete throughout the house. Our local Wal-Mart thats been open for 7 years has stained concrete instead of the standard vct or epoxy. It still looks great even after being subjected to their tens of thousands of cattle like customers dragging their feet, and their best and brightest personnel trying to do their worst with pallets.

So what kind of surface prep needs to be done?

Will using a diamabrush mastic remover or prep tool (the ones at HD) be sufficient?

Should I have the concrete polished?

What kind of surface finish does the diamabrush leave? Is it smooth or rough like a sidewalk?

I need to patch the creators from ripping up the tack strip. What should I use and will it blend in with the existing concrete enough to be hidden by a medium to dark brown?

What else do I need to know?

Thanks for any info!

You can definitely get where you want to go but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Not to be overly simplistic, but lets take a piece of wood for a second.

If you paint a piece of wood, properly, the wood itself becomes irrelevant. You end up with whatever you choose for a coating. Given enough prep and proper application, you would never know what is underneath. Paint is not typically translucent. That is like doing epoxy or metallics. It will hide any flaws -- when prepped and coated properly

When you stain a piece of wood, you see the knots and what some call imperfections and other call in inherent beauty of real wood. A stained concrete floor is similar. It is translucent and hides perhaps blurs a little of what is under it, but you can typically still tell its there. The stain will take differently to different areas in many cases and you will have some variation. If you consider that a flaw, stain is not the right choice. If you consider it natural beauty then stain will be awesome.

As Legacy stated prep depends on condition but typically I would not grind. Youy could stain followed by an acrylic sealer. If you want to go with a good urethane, you may need to grind.

If you do end up grinding you may need to do a couple of stages, but not a full grind and polish. Depends on the sealer or top coat. Generally speaking clear and acid stain does not hide the work of a 25 grit grinder very well

LegacyIndustrial · Nov 10, 2015

Acid stain applied properly does not require a grind.

workhurts · Nov 10, 2015

Can you stain and then apply hd40 and then burnish? I'm seeing these copper colored stains that look cool. No brown or pink to them. Most stains I see look too earthy whereas what I've seen recently look closer to a metallic copper/rust.

greasyfingers01 · Nov 12, 2015

I dont see where I was going in different directions but I guess I need to clarify what I am trying to accomplish. 90% of the slab looks great, smooth, level, and no cracks. There are a few spots that are rough, small ridges no higher than .015"-.020", and some minor pitting. There is also some random splotches of paint. Some of it scrapes up, some doesnt. There is some carpet pad glue residue that won't scrape up. Finally there is the creators from the carpet tack strip. To remove the paint, glue and ridges I was planning on using a diamabrush. Im wanting a smooth finish, I am not looking for a high polish, I'm not worried about the small pits. I dont know what kind of finish the diamabrush mastic remover or surface prep grinder leaves. If it is smooth to the touch, great! If not I need to step up to there polishing grinders if I can find/rent them or a true grinder/polisher.

I am well aware of the differences between a solid/simi-solid coatings (epoxy)and a stain. You could have rough cut wood floors , stain and clear coat. It would have the color and a hloss to it but I dont think many would find that appealing. It would snag your socks, hold dirt, and not a fun surface for kids to play on. Instead one sands it to a smooth finish before staining.

I don't know what to use for filling the creators. As long as the color is close and will take the stain, im not too worried about it.

I think a 64 in. Finish would be sufficient. Somewhere around a smooth honed finish. Here are the picks of what im working with. Thanks for the info!