What kind of concrete do you need to buy if you want to stain your living room and dining room concrete floors and when you pulled up the carpet found a very rough surface with several holes in it?

Answer 1

See Related LinksSee the Related Link for "Concrete Restoration " to the bottom for the answer. AnswerWood surfaces will receive either paint or stain depending upon whether you wish to conceal or highlight the wood's quality, bad or good, depending upon your point of view.

This analogy applies to concrete. Since your concrete substrate is of poor quality, I would encourage you to avoid staining and use paint after patching the floor with a proper product from a specialist supplier (look in the yellow pages or go to your local big box retailer).

I think Michelangelo would agree with me as he chose to cover the plastered ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with paint, however, there are heavy pigmented stains which would serve your purpose. You should start the ball rolling by contacting product suppliers and installers who will have the opportunity to see the condition of your concrete floor and make recommendations based upon that and your expectation of the finished product.

ANSWER:There are two methods of preparing your floor for acid staining. Don't be discouraged, this is a very common issue. The first and best method is to rent a Shot Blaster from a local rental yard. It will come with a high powered vacuum and some steel shot. Use it in the entire room just like you would a carpet cleaner. This will remove all of the old debris such as old carpet glue, paint, drywall mud, etc. Then use a polymer modified patching material that will allow staining (recommend SDM by Ardex). Purchase the patch from a professional supply house (not a home center). Carefully patch the holes so as not to spread the patching material too far. Let the patch material dry completely before applying stain. The second method is to use a 7" grinder with a "ZEC" disc on the entire floor. Once this is complete, use a 2 coat micro-topping (SDM by Ardex). Apply two coat of this with a steel trowel or squeegee (I recommend the trowel). It should be completely dry in about 2 hours after the second coat. You may then apply your stain. Have fun, I love doing this!!!