Many home and business owners regard decorative concrete St.louis as a top choice for their concrete flooring needs. If you are looking for the best flooring upgrade, stained concrete offers the richest color outcome, classic and timeless appeal, and simply stunning flooring surfaces. A St. Louis stained concrete floor provides plenty of staining colors and dyes to suit your need in your residential and commercial properties.
Check out today’s piece for answering all your concrete staining FAQs. Know the benefits, the proper techniques and tools, color options, and guide in making your next flooring project with your local flooring contractor.
Choosing Stained Concrete for Your Needs: Acid Stain or Water-Based Stain
The two types of stained concrete floors, namely acid stain St Louis and water-based stains, are both best for new and old concrete. You can stain concrete overlays. Staining also serves as decorative finishing and concrete coating to driveways, patios, outdoor concrete, and interior floors.
Acid Stain
An acid-based stain uses hydrochloric acid as a carrier, mixed with metallic salts and water to dilute the acid. Using acid as the medium to design the flooring surface, the lime from the concrete material reacts. As this happens, a washed, cloudy pattern appears on the surface.
Acid-stained concrete lovers go for the white-washed effect or the translucent, bare concrete look. The concrete flooring that looks undone can be a keystone that many other decorative flooring styles can follow.
Water-Based Stain
Meanwhile, water-based staining uses water as the carrier of the concrete coloring. While acid stain St Louis creates a matte washed and neutral look, water-based staining is the one that creates a richer color outcome that bears more depth and concentration of the color pigment. Water-based staining combines the uses of polymer acrylic, concrete pigments, and water.
Stained Floors for Old and New Concrete Flooring
Can you stain old concrete? Absolutely! Yes, you need to stain old concrete. You do not need to replace an entire flooring slab if age and weathering already damaged your existing floors.
You can give a basic acid stain, either an old or new concrete, with these 5 steps:
- Prepare the concrete
- Strip concrete coating residues. Remove old sealers and coatings on the concrete.
- Test the concrete. Does it have loose concrete or moisture problem?
- Neutralize and clean.
- Stain and seal the concrete. If you are finishing the concrete with the acid stain, you must seal the surface to preserve the stained patterns.
Polished Floors, Dyeing, Coloring, and Staining: Clean and Contemporary Floorings
Depending on what look you want your floors to achieve, staining can be used with dyes, coloring, and other types of concrete surfaces. Each process gives a distinct resurfacing on your concrete floors.
Polishing for Polished Floors
Have you always loved the glossy floors? Polished concrete simply makes it happen for you. Polishing is another alternative to staining. It gives you UV-resistant floors that are good for outdoor use, like driveways and pool decks.
Concrete Dyes for Multiple Color Options
You can use concrete dyes with staining. Dyes offer vast color options. You can mix and combine to derive the exact color tone that you want to have. A powdered acetone dye will help you get that polished concrete look. Another is a liquid acetone dye that creates a translucent and washed effect. Concrete dye colors are best for interior floors for making a distinct look for each room in your home or business space.
Staining Textures
Stained concrete has more options than you can think of. You can derive many other forms and textures with staining. The staining process can allow you to control the color and depth. You can explore the different textures and style below to get you started with your stained concrete flooring project:
- Semi-transparent staining effect
- Solid Colors
- Brick Form
- Faux Marble Flooring