Acid Stained Concrete disaster!?!?
I have hired a builder to build our new home. We decided in the beginning that we wanted to do stained concrete flooring. Well the problems started after the builder's contractors laid the concrete. They did a very poor job with smoothing out around the perimeter of the house. Also, during framing something was dropped on the foundation and left a nice 3-4" hole/spot. The builder told me that the rough sections would look ok after they sealed and waxed, and that he would do what he could with the hole.
Well fast forward to now...we went to inspect the finished flooring and it is horrible. Huge sections that accepted no stain (so bare concrete)....the rough spots look horrible and don't even look like they are the same finish as the rest of the floor...there are other marks that came out after the stain that we hadn't seen before, like leaf marks, etc that must have gotten in the wet concrete.....and his fix for the hole was to dump tons of sealer in it...so much so that it won't even dry and is tacky to the touch. Even in the sections where there are no issues....the flooring was very poorly done.....i.e. streaky, etc.
It turns out that instead of hiring someone...he let his 20 year old son do the floor. The builder is taking total blame and is willing to fix it out of his pocket. My solution, after talking with a few local flooring guys, was to make him scrub up the sealer, add a new substrate over the floor, and then re-stain. That would fix the shotty stain, the rough sections, and the hole. Oh yeah...and footprints!
However, he has spoken with another contractor and is trying to get me to agree to just sandblasting the entire floor and then re-staining.
My question is whether this would be a feasible solution? Will sandblasting be able to get up all the sealer so that the floor will accept another stain? Or should I just stick to my guns and make him re-substrate? This option would also not fix the holes or the rough areas. Is this common in stained floors or am I just being picky about not wanting the rough spots and leaf marks?
Comments (7)
stuarbc
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Acid Stained Concrete Question --
Comments (2)Those tend to be very porous and probably won't take to the acid stain so well. They're made of concrete, but it's not the same mix, these are dryer, therefore more crumbly. Poured concrete (the fake stones, counters, floors, statues, etc) is a different mix so it has a smoother 'shell'. That shell is etched with the acid and the color adheres. I've not tried to acid wash this type of concrete product but, you could try one and see if you like that. To get an idea just try diluting some water based wood stain, brush it on, then let dry. If you like the effect, try acid stain. Or, you can just leave the wood stain and put a clear sealer on it if you want the color to stay. It's easy to reapply later, tho. I'm the wife of a decorative concrete guy...so I get to see all his experiments with concrete coloring. He's been using this new stain that he mixes with the muriatic acid that looks like rust. It's really cool, and I'm considering trying it out on the stone fence I have in the back yard....See MoreDIY acid etch stain new concrete pour in midwest
Comments (2)I may gave to do that myself. We had so many issuse with our stamped concrete we are thinkiing of stripping it and staining it ourselves. As for your sealer questions: From what I have read 2 coats of good sealer is enough... My blog (though more about the problems we had with our patio) does have some useful link for maintaining and working on concrete patios. Here is a link that might be useful: ConcreteNightmare...See MoreAcid Stained Concrete Floor Photos
Comments (27)The stain I used is Brickform Acid Stain and the sealer is Conspec Sealer. It was all purchased from a concrete supplier, any place that sells concrete will have it. By concrete I mean a big truck not by the bag. As for testing the color, the concrete store will have samples already on concrete for you to look at. If you put it on and dont like it, there is no turning back. You can apply up to 3 coats of the color, so if its not dark enough or you miss a spot you can go back and do it. As far a ease, It was the easiest thing we did. We have a custom built log home, and did every bit of the work ourselves. It took five years. The acid staining was a 2 day project and very easy. The whole house has hard wood floors, and could have done that in the basement, but thought if it every flooded mopping the concrete was an easier fix. Plus I like the look of the stain. Im in Michigan, if anyone is nearby I am willing to help. Daisy...See MoreX-post from flooring/Outdoor Acid Stain Concrete
Comments (13)first u have to prep the concrete, ours was new, so we could skip this step. we sprayed the concrete with the acid, we used 2 colors and sprayed the light one first, then second and brushed the acid into the concrete. let that sit for about 17 hours. then neutralized it with water and baking soda then basically scrubbed the residue off, which took about 4 hours to do. wipe concrete with white towel/pillowcase and if u get any residue on it, you have to keep wiping/scrubbing/hosing off residue. let dry completely then seal it!! all was done over a weekend: sprayed on friday nite, neutralized and residue removal saturday, sealed on sunday...See Moreglennsfc
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