Should I acid stain or paint my patio/porch?

Q. -  We are planning to stain our outside deck and a covered porch. I pressure washed both this weekend and found some areas of concern. I have attached pictures for you. The bleached out area has been under a hot tub for about 9 years so I know the concrete around it is just weathered differently. The other two areas appear to be stained. The larger area has been under a Rubbermaid storage box and the smaller under a rubber door mat. I have not tried TSP on either area yet. I wanted to see if you felt like these ares would cause us to consider painting versus staining the deck due to the color variation that may result after staining.

Thanks for helping us with this.

Hello Jeff

 

A. -  If you use paint or acrylic stain (which is the same thing) then it will peel eventually and become a mess to correct. So I would always try acid staining first. If it doesn't work out you can easily paint over it if you choose and the acid in the stain would have actually opened the pores better allowing a paint on product to take better. However, if you paint or acrylic stain first then the prep will include scrubbing, scraping, stripping products, possibly sanding and alot of work to get it ready to acid stain. If you acid stain it, you can always use a second coat on the light areas, or do a highlight coat with the same color or a darker color over it all to blend it better. And depending on the color you use it may just surprise you how well it looks with just one coat overall. Anyway, acid staining is always your best first choice if at all possible.

Earl

 

What are my chances of getting good results on my floor using acid stain?

Q. -  How comfortable we could be to obtain a good looking gym with the acid stain as I read it may not give the same color everywhere. Will the result be better by using professionals to do it? Thanks.

 

 

Hello Marc

 

A. -  Acid stain works by chemically reacting with the minerals that are allready present in your concrete. So regardless of who applies it, it is going to be the color it's going to be. Pro's will have experience, technique and expertise unique to each one, so I can't say that a pro wouldn't be a better option to achieve the exact look that you're after, but I can say that you can certainly stain your own concrete with confidence and great results.

 

In regards to how well it will work in your particlar situation... There's no product in existence that works out perfectly 100% of the time for 100% of users. There's just too many variables in the real world. Acid stain however, is always the best route with concrete. If you're in the 99+% that it works great for, then you have an awesome looking concrete surface with extremely low maintenance and you did it on the cheap. If you're in the less than 1% that staining concrete doesn't work out for, then you can still cover it however you like as acid staining doesn't get in the way of other products, and you didn't spend a bundle on something that was worth a try but didn't pan out.

 

I hope this helps,

Earl

www.ConcreteCamouflage.com

800 650 1157