A few weeks ago, we had a small plumbing problem in our downstairs basement/game room. Nothing too major- no damage to anything but the carpet. Luckily, the previous owners didn't cap the drain under the carpet and most of the water found its way down the drain. So, as I was looking into the best flooring options, I started to think down the road and all the "what if's" that could happen down there. Wifey and I both thought tile was the best solution (no more carpet!), until I read about staining concrete floors. So I gave it a go.
I looked all over the internet for the safest and best way to stain the concrete. Muratic acid yields the best effect, but it's really nasty stuff and I didn't want to take a chance with it indoors. So I opted for a water-based stain kit by Rust-Olem. According to most reviews, it's really durable and there are a few things you can do to further the durability.
Last weekend, I began cleaning the concrete. What a major pain in the a$$, unless you like mopping. Here's a pic of the floor before the cleaning/stripping:
You can see the paint, dirt, etc. from the previous owners. No big deal- a little Citristrip and it came off, no problem. I then patched the holes left by the tack strips from the carpet. One thing I was concerned with was that there almost seemed like there was a previous sealer applied. So I got out the rough stuff- Stypeeze and applied it to a small area that looked shiny. Nothing really changed, so I proceeded with the staining process.
The first step is to etch the concrete with the mild acid provided. It basically deep-cleaned the concrete with a lot of fizzing. Then rinse, rinse, rinse. The kit comes with 2 stains that can be mixed at the paint counter. I did a light and a dark to get a mottled effect. I put the light stain down everywhere and then after an hour, I put the dark stain down in areas. Once I was happy with it, I put 3 coats of the sealer on it. Here's where it stands:
I tried the invisible fluorescent paint, but it didn't work. It just peeled right off the floor. Oh well. I'm pretty happy with it. Last night I added 4 coats of top wax to add durability. I still need to paint the drain cover and add 1/4" round to the base boards around the room to give it a finished look.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
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