reddal Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 Hi, There are lots of people on the internet that seem to have achieved impressive looking results from acid staining then sealing concrete floors. e.g. : The process seems pretty simple (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSlzelQYEOU ) and gives a much more interesting finish than plain concrete paint. Does anyone have any experience of this technique? For every case that looks great on the internet is there 99 that were a disaster that we never see? Any recommendations on where to buy the supplies? (acid stain, neutralizer, sealer etc) . thanks - reddal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 I had that look in East Africa years ago....it was all that was available in terms of decoration with materials available and not at all ‘designer’ in those days ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 I worked on a large new build in the Lake District a couple of year back and the whole downstairs was done It looked spectacular I marble plastered some of the walls to match Im not sure how much they paid But it sure looked expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddal Posted October 7, 2018 Author Share Posted October 7, 2018 7 minutes ago, nod said: I worked on a large new build in the Lake District a couple of year back and the whole downstairs was done It looked spectacular I marble plastered some of the walls to match Im not sure how much they paid But it sure looked expensive Yes - it looks expensive - and I bet it is if you get in a specialist company to do it. However it doesn't look that hard and the materials aren't very expensive - so I'm going to have a go on a diy basis. Actually when I say 'diy' I don't really mean doing it myself - I mean getting builders who have never done anything like this to have a go based on watching youtube videos :). From what I can tell, the acid stain itself costs something like £3/m2 , then you need some bicarbonate of soda to neutralize the acid and a concrete sealer product. There is some labor involved but nothing excessive - so it seems like it works out at quite a cheap option - for a finish that could end up looking great. I must be missing something? Why isn't this approach much more popular? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 8 minutes ago, reddal said: I must be missing something? Why isn't this approach much more popular? Don't you have to have the concrete polished first, to get it dead flat and smooth? If so, then I think that's a fairly expensive job on its own. @jack would know, as his ground floor is polished concrete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddal Posted October 7, 2018 Author Share Posted October 7, 2018 2 minutes ago, JSHarris said: Don't you have to have the concrete polished first, to get it dead flat and smooth? If so, then I think that's a fairly expensive job on its own. @jack would know, as his ground floor is polished concrete. I don't think so - you have to get the concrete really clean first, but people on youtube seem to have done this successfully without polishing. I guess the nicest finish would be polished - but I think I'm ok with a rougher, more rustic finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 10 minutes ago, JSHarris said: If so, then I think that's a fairly expensive job on its own. @jack would know, as his ground floor is polished concrete. Can't remember (blocked it out!) but I believe it was over 100 £/m to supply, lay, powerfloat and polish the concrete top layer over our base slab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddal Posted October 7, 2018 Author Share Posted October 7, 2018 3 minutes ago, jack said: Can't remember (blocked it out!) but I believe it was over 100 £/m to supply, lay, powerfloat and polish the concrete top layer over our base slab. Ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 On 07/10/2018 at 16:53, JSHarris said: Don't you have to have the concrete polished first, to get it dead flat and smooth? If so, then I think that's a fairly expensive job on its own. @jack would know, as his ground floor is polished concrete. Yep The one I saw was polished. Pretty much looked like a factory floor and flat as pancake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 At the end of the day it's only going to affect colour, not texture...so you need to be happy with your concrete surface as it is, otherwise you'll need to factor in some level of grinding work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddal Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 16 hours ago, mvincentd said: At the end of the day it's only going to affect colour, not texture...so you need to be happy with your concrete surface as it is, otherwise you'll need to factor in some level of grinding work. Understood. I think I'm ok with the existing surface - its not perfect but not bad and I'm going for a rustic finish so hopefully it will be ok. I'll let you know how it goes :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddal Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 I'm pretty happy with the result. I'd recommend this technique to anyone that wants a cheapish way to get an interesting finish to a concrete floor. It was fairly easy - the most time consuming part was getting the floor really clean to start with. A pressure washer with surface cleaning attachment and a wet vac was very useful for this. - reddal 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivienz Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Nice colouring on that - very rusty looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Yup. Looks like a giant block of mahogany to me. End cost per m2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddal Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 6 hours ago, Nickfromwales said: Yup. Looks like a giant block of mahogany to me. End cost per m2? About £4/m2 for the acid stain (you could probably find it cheaper), maybe £2/m2 for the concrete sealer, and then some labor. Probably under £10/m2 - less if you do all the work yourself. If anyone wants to know more about the process, just let me know and I'll detail what was involved. - reddal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivienz Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 15 hours ago, reddal said: About £4/m2 for the acid stain (you could probably find it cheaper), maybe £2/m2 for the concrete sealer, and then some labor. Probably under £10/m2 - less if you do all the work yourself. If anyone wants to know more about the process, just let me know and I'll detail what was involved. - reddal Could you do a post on the method and maybe a few pics? It would make a useful resource for a look up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albert Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 HI Reddal , I know this is an old post but I am drastically reducing budget on my build due to business uncertainty and with 200m 2 ground floor I'm looking at this technique and wondered how the colour and finish has held up to date. My slab is in and I have powerfloated unpolished finish which should be perfect , I concerned about UFH pipes in the slab. Thanks in advance A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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