Ask A Pro
Hello John,
Q.- Hello, I have just pulled up all my carpet, and carpet pad. I was wondering what I need to do to prepare it for staining, and if I should do acid stain or acrylic. What do I use to remove all the pad glue, and the various stains from construction, and then which type, acid or acrylic?
A.- Honestly, acrylic stains are only disguised paints which are designed solely to separate you from your cash and nothing more, regardless of what anyone says. If you do decide on acrylics you can make your own which will far exceed any available.
Acid stains are the only Real concrete stains. As wood stain is to wood. If you cannot use acid stains you should forego staining and go to traditional flooring options. You will be much happier. We spend hours explaining to many people how to remove acrylic stains only for most of them to cover the floor with tile or carpet.
Anyway, you must remove all glues and contaminants, including out of the pores of the concrete. To do this you can use a heavy duty glue remover or a mastic remover, a citrus stripper, or Toluene, or Xylene. Scrub and strip the area as best you can. Then use a rented commercial floor sander or a floor buffing machine w/sanding disks to lightly sand and finish out the floor. Then do a final clean and rinse and allow to dry.
Hello Lisa,
Q.- We built a house approximately two years ago and are having finishing issues with the concrete which makes up for approx 4500 square feet of the main floor of our very contemporary home - the floor is riverstone in color, but dull, and I do not believe that it was sealed and I am interested in maintaining it with your wax product as the floor is very dull with no shine. Further the saw cuts were not sealed - Therefore, I wondered what quantity and products you would recommend. Would your sealant work for the saw cuts once cleaned so they do not accumulate food and dirt or so I need to get a different type of sealant for those crevices?
A.- You can seal the entire floor which will fill the cuts and enhance the colors. If you only want to seal the cuts that is fine but they will look better than the rest of the floor. You should seal the entire floor and then wax it as well. It will stay fresh with very little and very inexpensive maintenance. The amount of materials that you will need.....
Hello Lisa,
Q.- One last question - cleaning the concrete as we have lived on it for over a year is a major issue - there are a few paint marks, but I want it cleaned as deeply as possible - what procedure and/or products do you recommend for cleaning before I would go to seal and do you carry them?
Thanks again for all of your help. I am looking forward to getting this started.
Thanks again for all of your help. I am looking forward to getting this started.
A.- Mainly you just need to clean it with T.S.P. and water. T.S.P. or Tri-Sodium-Phosphate is just a really good soap that does really well on cleaning concrete. You can use Xylene to spot scrub any small paint marks.
What we have available is C.S.P. which is Concrete Stain Prep. It is concentrated so you mix it with water for general cleaning. It will remove fresh or recent paint and glues also. C.S.P. is available in a Strong Degreaser / Cleaner which works great for heavy duty cleaning, and a Stripper for spot scrubbing or removing water base sealers and curing agents.
Just be sure to use a stiff straw scrub brush as it will work way better than anything else. The brush is available through us and is usually not available locally. Other tools you will need is a paint roller with handle and of course the roller cover for applying the sealer. You will need a Lamb's Wool applicator and a paint pan for applying the wax.
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