Edit: Anyone stained AN existing concrete slab?

After putting the tinted weatherproofer on my cedar siding, my front porch sticks out like a sore thumb, but the house looks great... I want to stain the concrete a brown color, and if I like it I'll do the A/C pad, and parking pad out back the same...

I've been reading up a little on this, and just wondering if anyone else has had any success with it...

 

I used to work at a place that had stained concrete floors. Looked pretty good, except I noticed that every time I mopped the floor it seemed that the mop bucket was the same color as the floor. That could have been due to the fact that it was freshly stained when I was working there... But I'd imagine that the floor would fade after several years and need to be redone.

 

Never done it myself but have seen it done plenty of times. Do some research on it and maybe talk to some guys at your local Pro paint stores - maybe even the hacks at Homer Depot or Lowe's.

Have you put any thought into getting a grinder w/ a masonry blade and "carving" some designs into the conc.?

 

I'd recommend a professional instead of taking it on as a DIY job. With concrete stains, you only get one chance to get it right. Sort of like a bad tattoo, except you can't hide it with clothing.

 

Eh, this whole house is pretty much a DIY project...

Actually, I would probably start with the A/C pad, and see how that goes, then move on to the front porch... I don't see how you can screw up staining a small concrete pad...

 

Most permanent stains are chemical reaction stains. They don't look as dark as they are going to get when first applied. I guess you could try a small area, that's not going to be noticed, first and let it set up before doing the whole job.

 

My company has done this a fair amount professionally, while never having done the physical work, I was sent to different classes and became pretty familiar with a handfull of select products that we have used.

What are you looking for first off? Are you looking for a solid color that will in effect look like a painted concrete surface, except the paint will not sit on the surface but soak into the concrete.

Are you looking for a stain that when put on it gives a multiple color effect??

If you give me an idea of what you are looking to do I can point you in the right direction. As for getting a professional to do it, screw that for a simple patio or a/c pad. My company does large commercial projects where they would rather pay someone to change a lightbulb rather than do it themselves, never in a million years would I pay to have someone do this on such a small scale. Trust me it is a very simple and easy DIY project, and believe me preperation is the key with floor coatings.

Here are some examples of what I am refering to this is a very easy to use solid color that will soak into the concrete. If you look at the picture the red and yellow are solid color stain, the brownish and greenish are acid stains that will take different colors much more like a tile or natural stone. The bottom picture is acid stained in two colors with scored lines in the concrete to give it a tiled look.

 

might not have been sealed correctly...or at all

 

That was my thoughts, after you acid stain a slab you will have to do some mopping and clean up of the excess that did not soak in. Even after all of the excess is up and the slab is 100% dry, if you run your finger on the slab you will get the color on your finger. Once it is sealed the only way you will ever get it off is to shot blast the floor.

Forgot to mention above before you get set into what type of look you are going for you need to see if your slab has any form of a sealer on it already. Even if you never put it down alot of times when building a house they will pour a curing compound on the wet slab which will act like a sealer once it dries. We always have to specificly tell the concrete guys to not use the curing compound in areas that are to get floor coatings.

To test go to Home Depot and get some Muratic Acid, put a little on the slab, if it fizzes you are good to go. If no fizz the ONLY way you will get any acid stain to take would be to shot blast the floor.

 

Yup. If you do your homework, and have an idea of what products to use. I've seen some nasty looking stain jobs.

 

I stain my concrete all the time, but it's usually not intentional

We just paint our parking slab every couple years with whatever leftovers are out in the garage (my father's a painting contractor). It looks decent for a while, and when it starts to look bad you just hit it with a pressure cleaner and slap a fresh coat of pain on. Also, since it's painted it makes wiping up fluids (i.e. oil or trans fluid) a little easier.

 

I'm looking for something very similar to the larger squares in this pic. The house is cedar sided, and the weatherproofer has "natural cedar" tint to it.

Not looking for a solid color. The more natural or stone it looks the better. I plan on some day adding a sidewalk and steps that are stamped and stained to look like slate. Our kitchen floor tile will be slate, and we are planning on using some local natural slate in parts of the counter top...

The porch and parking slab are about 4 months old, and doubt they added anything to it, but I'll do the little test. The A/C slab is about 2 weeks old and I poured it with Quickcrete bags...



Watch for my next post, "Retaining walls & steps - railroad ties, rock or concrete?"

 

My suggestion is to do the ac pad first and get the hang of it before moving onto the bigger area.


Well if that is the look you are going for not a problem at all to make it a DIY project. First the important part is testing to make sure there is no sealer/curing compound on the area you want to stain by putting the acid on it like I posted above. Here is the link to the acid stains we usually use. The Cola color looks to be about what you want.

http://www.kemiko.com/do_it_yourself.htm

If you figure out your concrete has no sealer on it, get yourself a pressure washer and clean it really good. Test a small area roughly 6"x6" with the stain to see if you are getting the desired effect, as almost every slab will take to the stain differently. Apply the stain, we have had pretty good results using mops to apply it and a squeegie to spread it around. The one thing you do not want to let happen is puddling. If it puddles in an area that area will form a darker colored blotch, you want to put it on and keep it spread evenly. You can put multiple coats if you want it darker than what the first coat leaves.

Here is the part that I am not to sure about. We have never done this to a driveway, we mostly do interiors and a clear sealer is good enough for foot traffic. You might want to e-mail their tech department and see what they would recomend you use as a sealer for your specific application. I know it was discussed but I went to the classes so long ago I don't really remember it enough and I am not going to suggest what I think as I would hate to tell you wrong.

Chain wall, no doubt do it in concrete with atleast some #3 rebar through it, I would run 1 length on the bottom and use small pieces of brick to support it off the ground, then use another length at the top using wire tie to hang it about 3" from the top of the forms. This will keep it all tied together and minimize any cracking in the chain wall.

 

Thanks a bunch! I'll see what I can get done. If the color chart is very accurate, then yes Cola appears to be what I want...