Acid Stain Project

6stringmason

Ok..without further ado.... My first overlay and acid stain project.

Here is the before:






Here is the metal lathe after being put down and the start of the scratch coat of thinset.




Then comes the overlay after the thinset is cured.




Then comes the acid staining. Heres the first coat drying up.



Then scrubbing with water until its clean and sucking up with a shopvac.


Then the second coat of acid stain.

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Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
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6stringmason

Then after the second coat is dry we neutralized it with ammonia and water. Then we went through and scrubbed again with plain water to make sure the ammonia wouldnt react with the sealer. Better safe than sorry!


Heres the first coat of sealer put on with a metal pump sprayer. Goes on very thin. This was a solvent based sealer, so we were feeling a little loopy while doing this since we didnt have respirators lol. Amateur hour at the Apollo I know.

Anyway, the sealer dries out in less than an hour, and then is ready for the second coat, which takes about 2-4 hours.









Now for those of you are wondering, this was hand troweled this way on purpose. He didnt want a very tight finish on it, so we kept it a little on the rough side and kept the little swirls and ridges in to give the look of being a large stone. The roughness was because of his kids, he didnt want them slipping on real smooth floor if they came in with wet boots on. If you knew his kids you'd understand lol. The finish is actually smooth and very nice to walk on with your feet. Its got a very nice texture to it, and even with water poured down its not slippery.

The last photos is the way the floor will stay. The sealer dries shiny with a 'wet' look. You can wax after the sealer is cured out, but none is really needed. If it was commercial I'd say otherwise.

Also we got to be sloppy because he is repainting the walls and cutting tile to fit as a border around the kitchen. Otherwise I would have taped plastic up. You can see the stain on the bottom 6-8 inches of wall in some pics.

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Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

DEAD MAN

Looks great 6 I like that! What is the cost of that compared to hardwood? How long will that last? Will dogs hurt the finish like they do wood floors? Thanks for the info!

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DEAD MAN

One more question, can the color be changed or is that the only color? My Betterhalf wants to know! I really like that! Nice job!

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Tscarborough

I like it! I am not a fan of hard troweled stained floors. They NEED a little texture to go with the mottling. S!

AAPaint

Omg!

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

joasis

Beautiful 6, nice work...I am guessing that is a "mocha" shade?

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AAPaint

.......biting my tongue.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

6stringmason

That is actually what is called Burnished Copper. 2 coats straight up. It is able to be diluted at a 1 water to 1 acid ratio, but he wanted dark. We sprayed through all plastic spray bottles.

As far as holding up to wear and tear, its supposed to be durable as all hell. Its a polymer mortified overlay which is very strong, even at the thickness we put on, which is a heavy quarter inch.

__________________
Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

6stringmason

Are you biting your tongue because you see something wrong? If so, please say something. This is my first attempt at this. I dont plan on going pro with it, I have enough on my plate, but if you see something I could fix, incase I ever do it in my house, or another friends, let me know.

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Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

tkle

Six,you get all the fun.How's your knees?

6stringmason

LOL! I little sore after kneeling on the metal lathe, then the dried and scratched thinset. That stuff isnt very forgiving.

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Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

AAPaint

I didn't want to criticize, but it's only fair you hear my opinion. Don't take this harsh, I am not trying to be. I am just going to be blunt.

Lathe, thinset, and an overlay on top of wood is a BAD idea for flooring. Evidenced by the entire overlay being cracked already. Even with tile you need to apply hardi backer to avoid cracking, but this is the first time I've ever seen anyone try an overlay on anything other than concrete.

The troweled finish looks like someone tried to smooth it out and messed up. It doesn't look like stone.

Overlays are meant to fix damaged concrete, not be a flooring system in themselves. Half their purpose in this world is to enable a smooth finish over rough or damaged concrete.

It is incorrect to say that it needed a texture to not be slippery. The correct products make this possible for the most part. Tile is more slippery than a properly done acid stained floor when wet. Heck, even wood floors are. Even a broom finish would have been better IMO.

Anyway....not trying to be the bad guy, but this floor is scary to me. Don't take it wrong, I'm just one fella with his own opinion.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

6stringmason

Fair enough. However I have troweled many pieces of concrete. Its not a mess up.

If you check any decorative concrete forum, you can over lay over wood. It was the sub floor, tongue and groove pine.

There are two methods you can do. Either durarock, or metal lathe. We went with the lathe.

Also he was on a budget, without having to spend more on the products to make it non slip.

Again, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But we got the look we desired and happy with it. I realize that overlay is meant to go over an existing slab, most of the time, but it has been done over wood before, and we thought we'd give it a try. If a little bit of cracking is all we get thats fine. He and wife said they liked it because it added character.

Like someone else said, I dont care for smooth concrete that much either. And he didnt want to spend a couple hundred on stamps, nor did I.

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Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

AAPaint

Yes, wood can be overlayed, but this is not the right way. That's why it cracked immediately. Screwing hardi backer down, taping the joints, then a layer of cement, then an overlay would have been proper. There is no substance to that floor. I hope they don't drop dishes on it.

How much labor did it take to trowel the finish rather than pour a self leveler and put the right coatings on?

Anyway. You live and learn, but this is a perfect example of why we tell homeowners to hire EXPERIENCED professionals with references. Thankfully you aren't out to do it for a profit, and you're happy with the result....so what I say doesn't matter.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

6stringmason

I heard from other pros on boards that metal lathe would be the better way. No one does it the same.

Especially when you have to consider that we didnt want to raise the floor an inch. We had minimal depth to work with, hence the metal lathe.

You obviously have done it perfectly from the start and we're always an EXPERIENCE professional.

And have you seen river stone before. It looks like the trowel job I did. Im not the average DIY'er attempting this. I've done plenty of concrete work. I'll see if I can find some pics of th wavy river stone we were going for.

As far as substance, what do you mean? We put lathe down, didnt nail the **** out of it, then we put a nice coat of thinset, let it cure, then the overlay. Im 250 lbs and can walk across it without sagging or flexing. I think it will be alright. Its just another case of 'I could have done better'.

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Kamps Masonry & Concrete Countertop Design Green Bay, WI
920-680-3195
Visit our website @
http://www.concretecountertopsdesign.com/

joasis

I saw a floor in Branson last summer done the same way (regarding finish, not sub flooring), and I saw no problem with it,...looks like your trowel work was plenty "random" to achieve the effect you were after....and I do love the color.

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DEAD MAN

So I have a concrete slab to go over is this going to work or just stick with hard wood? what are your color options?

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AAPaint

Yes, you can either overlay it, or just clean the existing slab. Overlays don't tend to have as much variation as a full slab on it's own will. They tend to be more uniform. If your slab is in good shape I would just clean or grind it and then stain. There are tons of color options. With the right systems you can get almost any color you want.

If you want an actual acid stain, which I prefer, stick with kemiko acid stains.

If you want a specific color, look, or want more control over the finished product; you'll want a product like Smith's Color Floor.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

DEAD MAN

Thanks AA for the info!

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