# water based concrete stains



## wncpainter (Aug 7, 2010)

I have a basement that a lady wants the rug ripped up and the concrete coated. I have worked with zylene based stains on exteriors and garages but cannot have those fumes in this house and have been thinking of using the acrylic stuff, H&C. I also do not want to acid etch either due to fumes and my SW rep told me that with the water based i really don't have too. Any experience using this product inside? i want to gloss coat it over to give it a shine that she wants , otherwise i would just paint it, simple and done. Any kind of special prep I should be doing if I am not going to etch it to get it ready for the stain? The Pad is 20 years old and water does darken it up so it seems like it will take a stain. Cheers


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

WN

We did our shop floor last week with H&C Shield Crete, the waterborne 2 part. It rocks. Use the non skid additive and fleck it. Its bomber.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

We have also used sw tread plex, which is a low voc waterborne concrete stain and it is a one part.


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

Sim stain.


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## wncpainter (Aug 7, 2010)

That Sim Stain looks like a nice product. For this one i am probably going to stick to the H&C water based solid. I guess me main cocern would be the forgoing the acid etching step. Anything else one could suggest to give a little more bite to the concrete?


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## EricTheHandyman (Jan 29, 2008)

If you want to etch the floor without acid, check your local rental shop. Mine rents a concrete surfacing machine with a diamond blade on it that scratches up the floor and has a vac bag attachment to capture the majority of the dust.


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## blackwell (Mar 13, 2011)

Before using these products you should take a 2x2 piece of 4 or 6 mil poly and duct tape it to the floor for a day or two. If moisture condensation is visible you shouldn't use the product. Don't rely on SW those cats don't know squat.


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## RaleighPainter (Jun 13, 2011)

Imo muriatic acid doesn't produce much in the way of fumes.. I would want to follow the prep that I knew would produce a good bond


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

EricTheHandyman said:


> If you want to etch the floor without acid, check your local rental shop. Mine rents a concrete surfacing machine with a diamond blade on it that scratches up the floor and has a vac bag attachment to capture the majority of the dust.


Make sure there isn't any glue or contaminants on the floor, that's the biggest issue. Adhesion not so much. It's just foot traffic, not vehicles, so you should be ok. A floor grinder is a good suggestion, might be overkill for this job though. Depends on what shapes the floor is in. Like I said, any foreign contaminants will be the biggest issue you may have. WB products aren't very forgiving when it comes to that.


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## NACE (May 16, 2008)

Muriatic Acid in an enclosed space can and will attack electrical and metal. It does not provide a good etch. It must be rinsed with a degreaser to neutralize acid. Spray water on the surface and insure water is seeping into concrete. Check for curing compounds by putting a small amount of Muriatic Acid on bare concrete. If there is a reaction there is no curing compound. If no reaction it should be ground with diamonds. 20 grit will suffice. Plastic sheet test is important. If no vapor barrier in floor hydrostatic pressure could be an issue. Water based concrete stains are film forming. A clear would further create a film. Concrete stains ( WB) are ok for foot traffic. if concrete is darkening then vapor drive will be an issue. Is a thin mil clear coat an option? What will floor temp be? Make sure cold temps don't migrate from exterior walls to border of walls and floor. Floor may be 55 degrees but close to walls and corners may be in mid 40's. Acrylic stains need surface and air of 50 degrees F. Just some thoughts.


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## wncpainter (Aug 7, 2010)

Yes plan on doing the vabor test. So many variables when considering floor applications, especially indoors on basement level. I have seen failures of epoxies and stains on horizontal surfaces and glad i was not making the decisions when that happened, so i am trying to tread carefully onto this project. Great suggestions here on PT as usual. There is alot of glue from the residual carpet and other crap , but the slab appears to be ready to accept the stain.. to rent a grinder or not??


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## NACE (May 16, 2008)

Grinders can be tough with residual glue and mastic. A trick I use is to spread playsand when grinding. It absorbs the glue as the diamonds heat it up. On-floor makes special blades that shave the mastic off in conjunction with the sand. Makes clean up easier too as you just have to vacuum up the sand. A 16" grinder should prepare a bare surface of 800 sq ft in about an hour and a half. Opens up the concrete to get the stain in the floor not on the floor. Always clean and degrease before grinding to avoid grinding contaminents into the floor.


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## Masterpiece (Feb 26, 2008)

Just an observation about using stain (not an opaque coating) when carpet padding glue,etc is on the concrete- even when you scrape and/or use a remover (ie goof off,etc) and clean the concrete well, you will see every place where the glue was down since the concrete is basically contaminated where the glue is and doesn't take the stain the same in those places.

Some guys have used acrylics or even aerosols (not advocating either) to mask over these glue remains but I just thought I'd mention that just in case you haven't experienced it...Hope that makes sense...


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## wncpainter (Aug 7, 2010)

the glue residual makes sense and I never thought about it. Maybe I'll just but some porch and floor paint down instead, gotta decide what to do after the holidaze. Thanks for the input


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## Masterpiece (Feb 26, 2008)

I didn't intend to discourage you by any means, I'm not a concrete or stain expert. I do have a very good friend that's been in the decorative concrete business for about 10 years now and has experienced all kinds of variables and situations and has learned many lessons. They work with stains, expoxies (some with metallic reflective materials suspended in the clear topcoat, gorgeous!), polyaspartics, overlays and other materials.

Early on, he did a job for some friends of ours when starting out and wherever the carpet glue had been put down, the stain didn't take the same. It almost looked like a stencil across the whole floor. 

There's alot of nice looking options though nowadays...


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