live wire
Thank you so much, I lost my post but so glad i found it.lol
I did the water and sad to say it stayed on top..a few small spots it didn't but most 95% of floor the drops stayed above cement.. So if you don't mind explaining what products i should get to use.
Thanks so much
Aimee

I really need some advice, thanks
aimee

You might contact a company that sells concrete stain. They can tell you what to do to strip the floor. Also, here is a link with information that might be helpful.

There are references to other links on that website also. Good luck. I love stained concrete.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Flooring Lady

Sand it down to bare concrete and start over or cover it with another type of flooring that doesn't use thinset. Whatever is on the floor can compromise the bond of the thinset and the tile. If you are on a tight budget, there really isn't a solution except putting down some thrift store rugs. Everything that will need to be done will cost some money and most isn't DIY.

We recently re stained our concrete floors. We used a semi transparent stain as we did before. We sealed with water based sealer several coats. Now my question is if we were to put a non water based sealer on this will it keep it from lifting the stain as we noticed when something was moved the stain lifted with the sealer like a flecked off..We don't want to have to do this over so wondering if we use a poly type sealer that is not water based will this stop this problem or if we did covered with a clear epoxy would it still lift or will this seal so no more problems?

Hey Karla, did you get any answers regarding your situation? I experienced the same flaking and am looking to reapply the acid stain then resell, but don't want it to flake again. Any thoughts?

marketal: no I did not. we ended up restaining the floor and resealing it and several coats or sealer but again is a water based sealer and then added couple coats of a wax product. We have seen some flaking not bad but still is happening. So if I can keep it from getting worse I will just have to live with it for couple years and then may just go to a connecto type flooring or laminate as tired of doing this over and over and dont want to have to grind all down and do again as we would have to basically move out because of dust

Semi opaque ''stain'' isn't a stain. It's a thinned down paint. That sits on the surface is a binder mix that doesn't adhere well to concrete. Paint will always have adhesion issues on concrete. The cure IS grinding back to fresh concrete. Then use. an acid based stain, which is a chemical reaction that actually changes to color of the concrete.

Thanks Karla. I'm curious if you too are constantly told that your product was not an acid stain on these forums. It seems that people too often associate flaking with a paint not stain. My product was an acid stain and flakes in some areas. I guess I'll rent a floor scrubber and redo the floor. Thanks!

Acid staining changes the actual color of the concrete itself by chemical reaction. It isn't topical to be able to ''flake''. If you are getting ''flaking'', and the ''chips'' show unstained concrete underneath the chip, then you have spalling of the concrete. Spalling is usually caused by overworking the concrete as it's drying, thus weakening the surface to chip and flake.

If you have clearcoat flaking off, then it's the topical sealer failing to adhere, usually de to contaminants or incompatibility with concrete. But if you have actual bits of pigment coming off, then a pigmented stain was used, not a reactive one. Pigmented ''stains'' sit at the surface, and can definitely flake off. Reactive stains, aka acid stains, completely change the color of the concrete deeply. They cannot ''flake'', as they contain no solids to sit on the surface.

A floor scrubber is inadequate as a remedy. The top layer needs to be ground down, with a specialty diamond floor grinder. Not generally something you are going to find at HD. And a pretty grunty beast to deal with that can ruin your floors easily if you aren't used to dealing with him.

The acid stain was purchased from directcolors.com and was, as I mentioned, acid stain. As part of the application process a mixture of baking soda and water was applied after the acid stain to neutralize it before clean up.

Then what is ''flaking''? The concrete itself? The top coat? It's going to be one or the other.

The stain is flaking without any concrete attached to it. I'm as confused as you are. Idk if maybe I didn't let it set long enough or the concrete didn't absorb it. Any ideas?

What was your prep for the slab? Did you etch it properly?

marketal ..mine was a stain not paint and did change the color of the concrete and was really pretty the pattern look we got but it is flaking and I did completely remove down to bare concrete on several areas before this last time redoing and still see it pulling the pigment from the concrete so obviously our concrete has a problem ..That being said I am not doing this again. moving basically every piece of furniture and the dust and mess ..not happening again...if I knew then what I know now I would've saved my money and would've used other flooring,sadly money wasted that could've paid for the other flooring. I also have noticed that the cement is really hard on a person if you spend much time walking around like I do. I worked for over 20 yrs in business that was concrete and that alone hasn't helped my legs but now I find as does my hubby that we have to wear shoes or crocs or something in order to avoid foot or leg issues. I'm not slamming the concrete finished floors I do think they are beautiful and I had wanted that tuscan look on our floors but hindsite has made me very skeptical. We did everything by the book when we did this the first time included the etching of the floor.