Do It Yourself Concrete Staining: Things to Know Before You Start

Do it yourself concrete staining is the cheapest and easiest way to enhance the look of your concrete surface. The alternatives, tearing out existing concrete and replace with new or decorative overlays are not recommended for the do-it-yourselfers and can be very expensive. But before you begin your staining project there are a few things that you need to know.

There are two types of concrete stains to choose, acid stains and acrylic stains.Acid stain to produce work by chemical reaction with the free lime in the surface of a natural looking, translucent color. They create a mottled, multicolored, multi-color. Each concrete surface will react differently to acids, stains make every job unique. Acrylic stains are water-based pigments that penetrate into the pores and on the concrete, creating a consistent, semi-transparent color as a dye. Acrylic stains helps mask imperfectionsAcid stains and discoloration in fact, they emphasize.

For many surfaces, acid stains and acrylic works just fine, but where you select one, depends on the look you want. However, there are situations in which a species work better than others. For older, external concrete (more than 15-20 years old) with a patch can not work because most of the free lime has leeches. Acrylic stains are for old concrete because of its high porosity, largeTime. Acid stain concrete well with newer, because the availability of free lime. If repairs need to be made, such as patching of pop-out or scaling, then acrylic may be a better choice to conceal the repairs. All patches materials are characterized with acid stains. For a smooth trowelled interior surfaces with less porosity, acid stains are usually better because they do not require as much penetration to the concrete color.

Before beginning, it is also importantto have realistic expectations. The coloring is dull, gray concrete to finish in a beautiful and colorful, but it is impossible to know exactly how the finished product will look like, especially with acid stains. Every concrete surface is different and so spots will be different to accept. The exact same color, it will have two different appearances with two different panels. Even seasoned professionals can not predict the exact outcome of coloring a job. For this reason, it is not a good idea to try toin exactly the color of the concrete to something else such as brick or siding. It is a very good chance that you will not be successful. Instead, choose a complimentary color or shade for your concrete. For example, if you choose light brown siding, then a dark brown stain.

The most important part of the staining is preparation. Take time to decide how you want your look and get the concrete surface ready for the stain. You get a chance to Getting ItRight unless you want to do a major overhaul to the surface. Do it yourself concrete staining is not a difficult process, but an honest effort is needed to keep them happy, the finished product.

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