Concrete staining as a DIY project is interesting and easy, if you know some of the dos and don’ts’. It simply involves spraying of concrete stains on to the floor and giving sometime say, 4-6 hours for the stains to chemically react with the lime content of the concrete. At the end of the prescribed time, you need to remove the residue by washing the stained floor. Take note of the fact that washing puts to an end the chemical reaction that was so far taking place.

Basically, staining is a chemical process. An acid stain contains about nine percent acid that goes to open the pores of the concrete, thus enabling stain to react chemically with lime present in the concrete. Here are some more technicalities of the whole project.

1.Concrete Density –It’s not difficult to understand that an insufficient or improper porosity of the concrete surface will not allow the stain to go deeper and react with the lime present there. As a result, the stain continues to remain or float near the top of the surface and fails to impart any coloring to it. A simple test helps you determine the porosity. Pour a few drops of water on the concrete. If water is not absorbed and forms a bead instead, it means you have to open up the pores. You may achieve that by the application of a mild gelled acid on the surface and removing it within 10-15 minutes.

2. Blemishes – Staining is a very affordable option for getting a beautiful concrete, but blemishes, if present in the concrete, become visible. But, one doesn’t see the blemishes till the stain have been applied and the surface cleaned thoroughly.

3. Layering color – You get concrete stains in earthly shades of brown and green. The browns may vary from amber, which is light to dark brown and ebony that could be dark brown to black. For a better depth, use dark browns. The greens go to include bluish green and need a very careful handling as moisture often tends to give hem a black shade. You may start by applying lighter browns that may be followed by darker shades to get additional variations. A hand-held pump sprayer is used for applying stain to the concrete. A medium bristle broom may be used to even out pooling, followed by another spray. The process is spray- broom- spray. Let it be there for 4-6 hours.

4. Cleaning Residue – As a consequence of staining, there is residue left on the surface and it has to be cleaned. The volume of residue varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Usually, using cool or warm water with a bit of ammonia can clean the surface. However, adding some baking soda may clean heavy residues. Mop the surface and wet vacuum the same to get desired results. Finally, use a white rag for wiping off the surface. If you get the color of stains on the mop, you need to clean it once again.

5. Sealers – Before applying sealers, make sure that the slab is completely dry and that takes about a day after cleaning. There are many types available, but water based sealers with wax give excellent results. Acrylic water based clear epoxy with a wax coat provide additional strength. Generally water based epoxies give an amber tint, thus making them more suitable for floors with brown stains. You also get solvent-based sealers and Urethanes. Though these are quite tough, they have a rather unpleasant smell and are best avoided.

6. Concrete Overlays – Concrete overlays offer a new and clean surface. Concretes are rarely free of any blemishes and overlays offer a perfect solution. These are available in white or gray concrete, with white producing more vibrant colors. Overlays allow you to experiment with colors before you stain or dye them. While applying stain to the concrete, it needs to be diluted enabling it to reach to the lime. Therefore concrete stains are very affordable when applied to an overlay. Concrete stains need just about an hour or two for reacting with the overlay, whereas they need a much longer time of six to eight hours when applied on a concrete slab. Quite often acid stains may cause too much of a variation on an overlay. The same can be avoided by using concrete water based dyes. These are first sprayed and then mopped up to even out the variations caused by acid stains. Being translucent, the acid stains bleed through. Another advantage of using water-based dyes is that they impart depth of color.

7. Price – On an average, concrete staining with sprayers works out to about seventy-five cents per square foot. And, that includes the cost of tools, mops and sealers. Add another $1.5 -$2.00 per square foot for overlays, depending on the size and the cost of tools.

Tags: acid concrete stains, concrete staining, stained concrete