I stained my patio a week ago, can I still do another coat?

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Q. -  I already stained the concrete with your artist grade stain a week ago I think it needs another coat is it to late to give it another coat.

 

Hello Michael,

 

A. - So long as you have not sealed it then you can go ahead with another coat. Once it is sealed then any sealer would have to be stripped completely off in order to stain further.

 

 

Will the sealer hold water in a fountain?

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Q. -  I have a decorative statue the I want to stain. It is also a water fountain. I was wondering if the sealer that you sell would seal my fountain enough to hold water?

Hello Chad,

 

A. - The sealers at Concrete Camouflage are primarily for use as a means to seal off the surface of the concrete from sun, moisture, elements, and contaminants, but will in no way hold water or assist in holding water in a fountain or basin type application. It's value would lie in surface protection and cosmetic value.

How do I get my score lines up to the walls?

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Q. -  I have drawn out my pattern (diagonal tile 18"x18" and I am ready to score.  I have the diamond edge circular saw blade. My question is, How do I score next to walls and under a small fence where the saw will not reach? Does someone make a hand tool that I can rub/scrape a grove  1/16" into the areas I mentioned? Thank you in advance for you reply.

Hello Jeff,

 

A. -  The best thing to do when scoring up to walls, and it actually looks much better as it adds additional decoration, is to score a border along the walls and then take your score lines to the border. Borders typically look best at about 8" +/- out from the wall.

When should I score it? Before or after the concrete staining?

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Q. - How soon is too soon to clean m concrete patio before I stain. My order was shipped yesterday and I ma not be able to stain for about a week. However, I am not at work the next two days and would like to clean the surface now. Is that too soon? Must the surface be completly dry for a few days? 2nd question. If I were to etch a pattern in to the concrete, do I do that before the first coat, between the 1st and 2nd coat and how would I make the groves stand out and not look just like the rest of the patio. Does it naturally look different or do I NEED to trace it with different colors.

Hello Jeff,

A. - You can go ahead and clean it if you like. So long as it stays clean you'll be ok, even if you just rinse it off and allow it to dry before you stain it. It doesn't have to dry any long time before staining it, it just needs to be dry.
You would either score it before final clean and staining, or after it was stained and washed off, but before sealing it. If you score it before, then the stain will settle into the score marks and make them slightly darker than the rest of the concrete so they will still stand out. If you score after you have stained it then the score marks will be the color of natural concrete and of course stand out. It really just depends on your score mark color preference, whether you want the score marks to be colored (slightly darker than the concrete will be), or the color of natural concrete.
Most people score first and then stain and seal. However, the score lines will naturally stand out and have the 3D effect that you're looking for, regardless of which you select.
If you do score afterwards though, be sure and and neutralize and rinse off the residue and let it dry for a day or two before scoring so the stain will be locked in good, and also, be careful to not scratch it. Then rinse it off well, allow it to dry and seal it.

Also, if you get a few extra minutes and would like a smile and maybe a laugh or two, check out www.EarlWayne.com

Oh no! I rolled on the concrete stain and have roller marks! What to do?

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Q. - It's me again. As previously stated, I'm working on a standard, exterior slab of concrete that is approx. 4 yrs old. Yesterday, I used a paint brush and lightly coated leather brown on the smooth border w/amazing results - love it! However, today I used a roller (afraid to use the sprayer b/c of wind) with my island sand. Not only do I have horriblle roller and brush (edging) marks, my patio is very distinctly 2 colors - beigy brown and bright yellow. I'm very scared. Is this normal? Any suggestions? Would lightly spraying the leather brown over the top help at all?

Hello Valerie,

A. - Oops. Unfortunately you found out why you never use a roller when applying concrete stain, and why you always brush in a circular motion. Not to worry though, you can still make it much better, and maybe even better than it would have been otherwise. When you neutralize and wash it off, be sure to use a scrub brush to try and scrub down the bad areas, roller marks, and brush marks as best you can to lighten those up as much as possible, and give it a good scrub overall. Then you can rinse it well and allow it to dry and do a second coat. What would really be best is if you just spray it on. You can either do the second coat with Island Sand or the Leather Brown, but the Leather Brown will darken it up quite a bit.
I would do the second coat with Island Sand. Then you could highlight it with either a third coat of Island Sand or the Leather Brown. Highlighting it with Leather Brown would probably look really good. To highlight it you do this: when you spray on the overall coat of stain you will hold the sprayer nozzle about a foot or so above the concrete, but when you spray on the highlight coat, you will hold the nozzle at waist high to shoulder high so you just lightly mist the concrete. You can even fluctuate the sprayer from waist high to shoulder high and back and forth to have heavier and lighter areas of the highlighting if you like. Doing this, you can really camouflage quite allot.

Also, if you get an extra few minutes, and could use a smile and maybe a laugh or two, check out this website, www.EarlWayne.com

What if I have a curing agent on my concrete?

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Q. - Can I still stain my concrete even though it had a curing agent used?  If so what do I need to do and how? Thanks

 

Hello Noel,

 

A. - Many times, certain curing agents will wear off on their own, so first you need to determine if the curing agent is still present. You can do this by pouring water on it to see if it readily soaks in which means it is likely not a problem, or if it beads up and/or just kinda sits there a while which usually means the curing agent still needs removed. Another method is to get down on the concrete and use a pocket knife to scrape the surface of the concrete, a curing agent will scrape off and be like a waxy substance.

   If it does in fact still have the curing agent on it, you will need a citrus type stripper or our CSP stripper to remove the curing agent. If you do not get it all up with the stripping, then will need to lightly sand it using either a rented commercial floor sander or a floor buffing machine with the fine grit sanding disks. Then you can go forward with staining.