Sanding Concrete Floor Before Acid Stain
Then i used a vacuum to remove all of the dust dirt and debris.
Sanding concrete floor before acid stain. However it will reduce the coverage of the stain and sealer. For many years it was a standard method of concrete preparation used by nearly all industrial commercial and institutional floor coating. Sanding the surface if needed is acceptable whether by hand or with larger machines from rental stores such as commercial floor sanders and floor buffing machines with sanding pads. Examine the concrete floor to ensure you have removed any paints stains or other coatings.
Smooth glossy surfaces will prevent all types of stains even acid stains from properly sticking to the floor. Here are 5 basic steps toward preparing your concrete to accept acid stain so you get the rich beautiful floor you re looking for. But acid washing depletes the lime content which is what the minerals in the acid stain react with. What is etching concrete.
If the concrete floors are particularly smooth or have been polished you should sand them before staining. Schmidt also warns against acid etching of floors before staining. Laitance is a weak milky accumulation of fine particles of cement dust lime and sand fines on the surface of fresh concrete usually caused by an excess of water bleeding to the surface. Look for damage and wear that may need to be repaired.
Be sure the concrete has cured for at least 30 days or the stain and or sealer may fail. After the first pass go over the floor with a fine or superfine sandpaper disc to finish the surface. The best concrete surface for staining is rough and porous to allow good color penetration. Acid etching is the process of applying hydrochloric muriatic or buffered phosphoric acid to a slab then rinsing it off with water.
A lot of people think they need to acid etch the concrete like they do before applying a paint or coating to get the paint to adhere. I started by scraping any dried drywall mud and paint off the floor. When acid staining concrete it s extremely important to clean the concrete very well before doing anything else.