Acid Stain is not a paint or coating agent, rather,
it's a coloring process involving a chemical reaction on a cementitious
material. A solution made with water, acid, and inorganic salts
reacts with minerals already present in the concrete, the result
of this reaction is color. It works very well on new or old concrete,
and we've seen impressive results over decorative cementitious overlays
and self-levelers. Acid Stain is a very durable product if properly
protected with sealer or wax, and it can be applied to both interiors
and exteriors.
What makes Acid Stain so attractive? Acid Stain
gives concrete a mottled, variegated, marble like look. It creates
beautiful colors on concrete, mostly earth tone browns, reddish
browns and greens. You can also create your own shades by mixing
and matching your available colors, or applying them at different
rates. Never expect Acid Stain to be uniform or have an even tone,
you'll get different reactions from slab to slab, and even on the
same job you may see different coloration patterns.
Acid Stain can be applied to walks, entrances,
driveways, living rooms, bathrooms, patios, high traffic areas and
even vertically to any cementitious surface On some applications
where the surface is textured, as in stamped concrete or stamped
overlays, Acid Stain provides even more depth of color, larger selection
and realistic look to the surface.
Acid Stain application involves very few tools,
all you need is assorted sprayers, brushes and scoring tools. You
can go from a simple design to a very sophisticated project. The
more complicated your design, the more labor intensive it will become
but the end results are simply stunning. After the Acid Stain is
applied, the floor should be sealed and or waxed to protect the
stain and add shine and depth.
The Decorative Concrete Business has been growing
very rapidly for the last few years, and Acid Stain has been a big
part of this growth. More and more contractors are learning to apply
it, and more homeowners, architecs and designers are asking for
it. The Acid Stain market is miles away from being well known and
fully developed, but it has a very bright and shiny future, and
our goal is to help you learn more about this incredible product.