Concrete floor stain

[Chaos USMC]

Buck12, as promised. I am certain the stain and wax were from Kemiko. The sealer, if I remember correctly, was from Masterkure. The stain was applied with a garden sprayer and the rest of the products were applied with a long pole paint roller.

One other piece of advise. Light is your friend when applying the sealer and the wax. After you have your first coat of sealer down, I recall it was real tough to see follow on lines of application, such as wax. Bright work lights really helped. Also, go slow applying the sealer and make sure you have the right roller nap. If you don't, you might create bubbles that will cure in place. As far as the wax goes, pretty much a brainless process.

Good luck.

 

[Egon]

That is where I started but there are so many options it becomes overwhelming. I new with all pros and DIY folks on TBN someone has some experience with this.

Another good source of information would be a commercial industrial supplier that sells the raw materials. Not the big box store although they can be helpful at times.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Here is a few pics of the garage floor prep and the solution used. It is a cleaner / etching solution. We didn稚 get to put any stain down this past weekend, the wind kicked up too strong. It will probably go on this coming weekend.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

And a few more in process with the solution spraying and brushing on

 

[Chaos USMC]

Thanks for the progress shots LS. What products are you going with next?

Sun and short sleeves at this time of the year, I am a bit jealous.

Good luck...

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Thanks for the progress shots LS. What products are you going with next?

Sun and short sleeves at this time of the year, I am a bit jealous.

Good luck...

The products are from a company called Concrete Coatings, here is a link:

Concrete Coatings

The reviews were very good, price was not too bad... middle of the road. My son did hours of research on all types of coatings. Being it will see very heavy garage use, he went with the acrylic top coat. When it comes time to reapply in a few years, just a good cleaning is needed. Some of the other epoxy coats would require grinding / sanding in order to reapply.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Thanks for the progress shots LS. What products are you going with next?

Sun and short sleeves at this time of the year, I am a bit jealous.

Good luck...

Forgot to mention... we will be hitting 62 today... definitely t-shirt weather. We used to live in Bucks Co, PA. , then Lancaster Co, PA, before we moved here out west. I do not miss the winters back East..... but, just had Philly cheesesteaks for dinner last night!

 

[buck12]

I wanted to update this thread I started several months ago. Last night, I finished staining the floors of my cabin. I used TSP and a borrowed floor scrubber for cleaning and satin, sealer, etc from Concrete Camouflage. My total cost for everything was under $600. The floors turned out good but not perfect. For a cabin and my first attempt at staining, I am very pleased with the result.

 

[copytmpmzl]

Buck12, what you propose is not a hard lift. My wife and I did our cement slab a few years ago. We did not consider doing "tinted" cement during the pour.

We had no prior experience. Very happy with the results. I will try to put together a list of the products we used (stain/sealer/wax)and post soonest. Until then, one piece of advise, keep everything that sticks to cement, off of the cement. That means paint, construction adhesive, plaster, and tape. Cover the floors as best you can pending the staining process. Some of those things will come off the cement with a lot of elbow grease but, many will leave behind a residue that will not come out unless the spotting is ground out. Most times you won't notice the spot, until, after the stain and sealer is applied. By that time it is basically to late and becomes part of the character of the floor.

Mikester's comment above does have merit, although I do not have any experience regarding his recommendation. I guess if you were just looking for a "simple, single colored floor", his recommendation sound the easiest. If you are looking for something more, such as achieving a simulated stone/slate/tile appearance (like we did) polished concrete phoenix, I'm thinking you would want to explore my process.

We did not seal our floors with epoxy, it was a water based sealer. Comments above about slickness are still valid though. Door mats are a necessity during the winter months.

I'll be back in touch.

Has anyone done this and are you happy?

On my exterior sidewalks I applied 2 coats of New Look “Endura” concrete stain (after a good power washing) and then 2 coats of a matte finish sealer. It looks great and has held up well. Did it to hide splotchy appearance from and uneven dry/cure after they were poured.

Wondering if anyone has used this or similar product on their garage floor and if it’s holding up.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I've colored a few slabs. Bought color in five gal buckets. It was like chalk that goes in a chalk line. Sprinkle it on at the end when you trowel it off and smear it in. I have a couple power trowels, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it by hand either. The biggest was 5,000 sq ft. Turned out nice.