Acid staining concrete patio

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Topic: Acid staining concrete patio

homebuilder78

Wed, 08/08/2007 - 10:16am

Acid staining concrete patio

Hi! I read the article about doing a driveway and I have quesions. http://www.bejane.com/diy_video_stain_concrete_driveway

First, it talks about using a garden sprayer. Is the garden sprayer one of these:
or one of these:

The article talks about spraying product on layer by layer, but that if you walk on it, the footprints should be permanent. Does that mean you have to wait 24 hours between each layer for the product to dry before walking on it?

Also, other instructions I've seen had a neutralization step before applying a sealer. Why didn't this need to happen?

Thanks!

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Great questions!

Heidi writes:

Wed, 08/08/2007 - 2:30pm

First, you do want a sprayer that will allow you to have more control over the mist you are creating. When we did it we actually rented a compressor and used a spray attachment because it's a lot less work than having to constantly pump it for pressure. Either way you are fine but I would suspect of the two you listed above that you would want to use the lower one of the two.

AS for not walking on it, you are 100% correct in that you will need to start in one corner and work your way back because while it's still wet you can very easily leave footprints. Though the good news is you don't have to wait 24 hours in between coats. The time you'll need to wait will be dependent on the humidity in the air and how warm it is outside. When we did it, it was hot (around 92 degrees) and not too humid and each coat dried in 2-3 hours. So see how tacky it is to the touch and go from there.

As for the "neutralization step" called the efflorescence blocker, that is used for concrete that has been in the ground for an extended period of time so that you can block the salts that have been pulled from the ground and up through the cement. See most of us believe that cement is a solid mass without any holes but that's not true. There are these micropores that tend to pull salt from the dirt up to the top of the concrete. The residue it typically leaves on the concrete is called efflorescence and it's that whitish, powdery stuff you get on cement outdoors. A blocker is actually a good idea on outdoor cement regardless of whether or not you plan on staining it.

Hope I didn't offer too much information but I'm one of those people who always wants the details.

Make sure you take before and after pictures and put them up on the site for us to see!

Hugs 'n hammers,

Heidi

Thanks! Your info is very

homebuilder78 writes:

Wed, 08/08/2007 - 2:54pm

Thanks! Your info is very helpful. With regard to the sprayer, in addition to the hand-held tools I pictured above, we have both a professional paint sprayer and a pressure washer... should we hook up one of those power tools instead? The neutralization step I'm referring to is something different from the efllorescence blocker (which you explained very well in the original article!). For the acid stain we have, you have to neutralize the acid with baking soda after the acid is applied to the concrete and has cured. I guess you must have used a different sort of acid product! Being in Northern California, I expect we'll have low humidity and high temps next weekend when we give this a shot... hopefully all will go well! Thanks!

thanks for that

ahmed writes:

Wed, 09/12/2007 - 4:18pm

that was useful

Acid staining

Fidget1479 writes:

Thu, 08/09/2007 - 10:03am

For neutralizing, you may want to consider using Soda Ash instead of Baking Soda. We sell that as a acid stain neutralizer because you will need to use a ton of baking soda to neutralize an area as big as a driveway. You can find acid stain neutralizer here: DCsurfaces.com Online Store. That amount will neutralize about 200 sq. ft.

After the acid staining is finished and dry, you'll pour it and 2 gallons of water into a pump up sprayer (like your second picture), saturate the acid stained area, scrub it in lightly with a push broom, then use a garden hose to wash away the residue. Let that dry then apply your sealer.

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