To improve upon the looks of your concrete floor, concrete staining is the most convenient and economical way and is a very interesting DIY project. The other option of tearing down the existing concrete for subsequently being covered with new or decorative overlays, like epoxy paint, is quite expensive and labor intensive that makes it a very difficult DIY project and is better avoided . Some of the things you would do well to know before starting a staining project are mentioned herewith.

There simply are two types of concrete staining namely, acid staining and acrylic staining. Acid stains are a consequence of the chemical reaction with free lime on the surface and the outcome is a natural looking translucent color. As a result of acid staining we get speckled multicolored and multihued surface. Because every concrete reacts differently to acids, the outcome is exclusive in the sense that no two floors can have same type of acid stains. Acrylic stains on the other hand are water borne pigments that seep thru the pores and adhere to the surface of the floor, thus producing a more consistent semi translucent color as if obtained from a dye. Acrylic stains help you to camouflage defects or discolorations of the floor, but acid stains may make them somewhat conspicuous.

Generally, on most of the surfaces either kind of stains would work equally well, and depending your preferred looks you can choose one.

Nevertheless, under certain conditions one may deliver better results than the other. For instance, exterior concrete older than ten to fifteen years may not be to hold acid stains as it has already lost most of the free lime on its surface.Acrylic stains are great for old concrete because of its increased porosity over time. You can’t get this with epoxy paint. Obviously, acid stains would give very satisfying results on a new concrete that has plenty of free lime. A good feature of acrylic stains is that it will be able to conceal minor repairs like patches and scaling on an old floor. Such patches would begin to look apparent on being treated with acid stains. As acid stains do not need much penetration to impart color to concrete, they are recommended for being used on trowel led interior concretes that has less porosity.

Tags: acid, concrete, epoxy, floor, flooring, home, paint, stain