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The floor transformation you see here is on an old concrete slab. A
layer of carpeting covered two layers of worn vinyl tile. THREE layers
of flooring material that various owners had used to cover the concrete, and
all had been worn beyond their useful service life. What do you do if
you like acid stained floors but are in this situation? Concrete slabs
in this condition cannot be acid stained and look beautiful. So what
to do? We can do what we call a Thin Stained Overlay.
First the carpeting and vinyl tiles were removed. Below them is a
gummy black mastic. We grind the concrete floor down to remove the
mastic leaving us with a clean concrete surface.
After the floor was ground, it looked like this.
A polymer cement skim coat was applied.
Then another coat was applied to a smooth troweled finish. This
provides us with a brand new concrete surface to acid stain. Next the acid stain is applied.
The owner was looking for a vary dark brown look, a mahogany color.
To achieve this color, Antique brown was
first applied and Antique Black over that. When acid staining floors,
multiple colors can be used to achieve different effects.
The acid was left in place for about an hour to "burn" in. After this,
the acid is neutralized, stopping the reaction. The floor is rinsed
and left to dry.
After drying a sealer coat is applied. On this particular floor, the
owner opted for a satin urethane. The remarkable result is a floor
that will last longer than the other three flooring choices put
together...and looks much better than the other choices as well. The
aliphatic urethane is not a typical urethane. It will not yellow and
is very scratch resistant compared to other types of urethane finishes.
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