Acid Stain Application - a general guide

CYA statement – read it, understand it, agree to it, then read on!

This is a general procedure for acid stain floor application with chemically reactive, acid based stain. This general procedure is in no way intended to be a step-by-step procedure for every or any floor, but only a set of general guidelines that will generally work in most scenarios. Problems not addressed here will occasionally turn up and problems addressed here will not always be encountered. Minds in Motion Contractors assumes no liability in any form for anything that happens as a result of following these procedures. We suggest that any person who acid stains a floor attend a seminar that covers application of acid stain products.

DANGERS :

Strippers contain chemicals that are known to cause cancer in laboratory rodents. READ THE MSDS and FOLLOW THE SAFETY GUIDELINES! They are usually very alkaline in nature, therefore will attack mucus membranes (eyes, nose, mouth) or any skin. Stripper will strip glue off the floor and has no problem stripping the skin off your hand. If you get it on you, wash with soap and water immediately. If it gets in your eyes, continuously rinse with water while someone contacts your emergency medical information line for steps to take. Stripper will also strip paint off the walls, off of doors, off your favorite furniture, the rubber off the bottom of your shoes, and anything else it gets on. Protect your surroundings and don't be sloppy.

Sealers (solvent based) contain a high concentration of aromatic solvents, some which have been proven to cause cancer in laboratory rodents (use in a well-ventilated area) after repeated, prolonged exposure. READ THE MSDS and FOLLOW THE SAFETY GUIDELINES! These solvents are also irritating to your skin, eyes, and lungs. Wear proper safety equipment when working with these products (READ THE MSDS and FOLLOW THE SAFETY GUIDELINES!)! The lungs (wear a mask with an organic vapor cartridge) are the primary pathway for most of these carcinogens to enter your body. While curing, the solvent in sealers is air-borne, therefore EXPLOSIVE! Extinguish pilot lights, any open flames, and any sources of ignition. Open the windows. No smoking. BE CAREFUL! They do give you the best-looking, most durable stained floor.

If you have the guts to continue, read on.

If you have carpet : Most likely there will be a lot of paint and drywall mud on the floor when you pull it up. This should come up easily with water, black pads, sanding screens, and sand. Read further down. If you have "full glue" or indoor/outdoor carpet, locate a stripper named ParaBond, designed specifically for this type of glue or use any of the other quality glue strippers. Read about strippers above!

If you have linoleum : If the glue is white or yellow, it is water-based and will usually come up with HOT water (let it soak), black pads, sanding screens, and sand. Read further down.

If you have tile with black glue, parquet, or other stuff glued down with black mastic : You will need a quality stripper and/or glue remover. The best stuff from Home Depot is Kleen Strip III or KSIII (water based) or Bix. They also have a Marine Epoxy Stripper that works well. Strip polyurethanes with a urethane stripper. Strip epoxies with a proper epoxy stripper, like Marine Epoxy Stripper.

YOU WILL NEED (at the minimum): buffer with pad driver, black pads, 60 grit sanding screens (several), 4" razor scraper (and many blades), water hose (s), wet vac, fans, patience, and perseverance. Maybe more patience and perseverance than the rest of them. If, after reading this, you still wish to do it yourself, please contact us and we will help you with the materials you will need.

The General Procedure for Acid Stain Application

1.      Apply one strip of 2” blue painter's tape to your baseboards at the floor level all around your work area. Next, apply another strip of tape on top of that one, about 1” from the floor level and don't stick the top 1” down. Come back with a roll of 18” brown paper (the cheap, thin stuff in the paint department) and stick it to the free 1" of the tape. Extend it up your wall and attach it with small pieces of tape to all your electrical outlets and anything else that the tape won't pull the paint off of. Yes, 14 day painter's tape will still pull some of the paint off sometimes.

2.      Remove your carpet, linoleum, vinyl, or tile. Scrapers are available for removing hard floors. You can rent a power or manual scraper or buy a manual from Home Depot, Loew's, etc. Remove as much as possible at this point. every scrap if you can.

3.      Carpet tack strips can be pried up, but they will leave small divots in the concrete. You can also cut the wood part off with a chisel and grind the nail off flush with the concrete to reduce divots. We prefer filling holes with ZipCrete, but it isn't easy to find. Any patches will probably be a different shade than the rest of the floor.

4.      If the linoleum or tile glue is yellow or white it is probably water based, so apply hot water and let it soak for about 10 minutes. Use a black pad on a buffer and a small amount of cheap playground sand (for extra grit) and remove it. ANY PAINT, DRYWALL MUD, VARNISH, GLUE, OR OTHER FOREIGN SUBSTANCE LEFT ANYWHERE WILL SHOW THROUGH THE STAIN!

5.      If the tile glue is black, working in 100 sf sections, apply mastic remover, let it soak for ~5 minutes, then remove as much as possible with scrapers.  After you get up all you can, finish cleaning with a sandscreen on a floor machine. The concrete will forever be darker and, no, you can't lighten it. ANY PAINT, DRYWALL MUD, VARNISH, GLUE, OR OTHER FOREIGN SUBSTANCE LEFT ANYWHERE WILL SHOW THROUGH THE STAIN!

6.      If there is paint, drywall mud, etc under the carpet usually water and a 60 grit sand screen will remove it. Be patient. Scrape along the walls with a 4” razor blade scraper. ANY PAINT, DRYWALL MUD, VARNISH, GLUE, OR OTHER FOREIGN SUBSTANCE LEFT ANYWHERE WILL SHOW THROUGH THE STAIN!

7.      Wet vac as you go. Use water, water, water. Do not let water accumulate along your base boards for long periods of time. This can come back to bite you when you stain and/or seal. If you have MDF (multi-density fiberboard) base boards, be very conscious of the amount of water along them. It will ruin them if they soak up water. If your floor has none of the above stuff on it, use a black pad and some water and quickly buff over it to remove dirt, etc that has been there for years. You'll get a better stain job.

8.      Patch any holes you want to patch with a cementitious concrete patch. We prefer ZipCrete but even use Quikcrete because it stains pretty well.

9.      If you plan on scoring your floor, now is the time. We use a track saw for decorative scoring, but a 7 ¼” circular saw will work. Contact us to purchase a track saw. Use a continuous rim diamond wet/dry blade on the saw and a 4.5” Milwaukee grinder with a 4.5” continuous rim diamond wet/dry blade. Be very careful with these saws! Even though you can't see “teeth” on the blades, they cut through your thumb like butter (been there, done that). Chalk the lines with purple chalk because sometimes the red and/or fluorescent doesn't want to come back up off the floor. Freehand the small cuts, circles, and irregular cuts with the grinder. Long cuts should be made with the bigger saw and a guide. Have someone hold a wet vac in front of your saw while you cut to vacuum up some of the dust you will generate.

10.  When sawing is complete, wash the floor down again and either scrub like the Dickens around the saw cuts or run your buffer and pad over it to remove any loose concrete dust. Be sure to vac all the cuts, pits, holes, and gouges with an attachment so you leave no extra water in them. Also use an attachment to vac along the baseboards so as to pull any water out from under them.

11.  Fill an acid-resistant garden sprayer (gray pump-up Craftsman from Sears Hardware) with how ever much stain you need (coverage is roughly 400 ft² per gallon). Spray in circles while brushing in circles. Don't let your stain get in the area for the other color, if doing 2 colors. Do the edge of any borders with a spray bottle and a paintbrush, then start with the big sprayer and broom. YOU MUST STAIN WET ON WET OR THERE WILL BE A NOTICEABLE SEAM. Don't let the edge of one application dry, then go over it with another application. If you do, you have applied 2 coats to the overlap and it will show.

12.  Let the stain dry. If you are doing a 2^nd color apply it once the abutting edges of the 1^st color have completely dried. This helps prevent bleed across the colors and this is why you scored a line of demarcation between the colors. Put on a 2^nd coat the same way.

13. Tick-tock. Break time.  Have one of your favorite beverages. ONE only. No, the color the stain is when it dries is not the color the finished floor will be. While your floor is wet during wash down it will be close to the color it will be when sealed. If you would rather, at this point, you can still adjust the color.

14.  After your staining is complete and the stain is dry (sometimes 30 minutes, sometimes 3 hours), add 1/2 cup of baking soda per 5 gallon of water, stir it and spread liberally across the entire floor with a broom (every inch, edges too). Add copious amounts of water and vac it up while scrubbing (not sweeping) with a deck broom. Vac while scrubbing so that you vac up the stain residue while it is floating in the water. Not sweeping, not brushing, not swirling... SCRUBBING.

15.  Wash (with only water - you now have to remove the baking soda), scrub, and vac again.

16.  Yes, one more time. Seriously.

17.  Put fans on it to help it dry and let it dry completely, probably at least 4 hours.

18.  If the area is big enough, roll on the sealer with a 3/8” nap roller. If it isn't that big, use a paintbrush. Put on 2 THIN coats. Not 1 THICK coat. Two THIN coats. You can mix and match roller and paintbrush as necessary. Don't over roll it as you will cause bubbles. If you see bubbles that aren't going away (be patient, they are slow to disappear), backroll with a clean, 1/4" nap roller while the sealer is still wet. The streaks and bubbles will usually fade. Again, wet on wet, not wet on dry. Also, wear a mask, extinguish flames, open the windows (unless it's cold and/or wet outside) – it stinks if you are using a solvent based sealer. READ THE MSDS and FOLLOW THE SAFETY GUIDELINES!

19.  The sealer should dry in about an hour or two at 70°F and 60% humidity. It needs to be completely dry before you put on the 2^nd coat. Apply the 2^nd coat in only your socks. If you step on a tacky spot in socks, you can easily repair it. If you step on a tacky spot with a shoe, your shoe will pull up the sealer.

20.  You can walk on the sealed floor when it's dry, move furniture on it usually in 48 hours, but if you can wait 5 days the sealer will perform very well at that point. Full cure is about 10 days. We recommend felt pads on all of your furniture legs. Teflon cups that go under your furniture legs will scratch the heck out of the floor if any dirt gets involved.

21. If you want to wax, apply 3 THIN coats of wax with a synthetic hair mop (they sell them at Home Depot). Wring your mop out till only damp, lay flat on floor, and drag in straight lines across the floor from wall to wall. Each coat should dry in 15-30 minutes. If you want to further harden the wax coat, when completely dry, buff with a white pad till glossy.

22. Acid stained floors should provide many years of beauty and durability with very little maintenance.

If you wish to continue, please contact us for products and tool rentals.

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