painters near me memphis stain which was once a specialty flooring product and found primarily in commercial applications has quickly become a residential product as well. Now found in many homes and gaining popularity, it has become today’s alternative to traditional flooring, being used both indoors and outdoors. Though it was once available only to contractor’s, the increased demand for concrete stain from the do it yourself population has brought the product into the mainstream.
Concrete stain promises to give beautiful results while being very simple to use. The cost savings as compared to other flooring products is substantial, and the extremely low maintenance of concrete “acid stain” is being enjoyed by all who have it. It tends to marbleize the concrete when used on smooth concrete and gives it more of a stone appearance when used on rougher concrete. It also has many other uses, such as garden statuary, retaining walls, water features, and more.
Along with homes and many commercial applications, such as restaurants and malls, anyone who has been to an amusement park has seen concrete stain. The boulders, waterfalls, and cave walls are usually made of concrete and then stained. Concrete Camouflage® says that certain major cities have began to use their concrete acid stain for curbing and cross walks. This a great idea. Once the other states and cities catch on to this, you’ll finally start to see much less peeling paint.
Concrete stain can be sprayed on, brushed on, and some stains are rolled on. It can be sealed and/or waxed, or just left in a natural flat state. However, as great as concrete stain is, anyone that has seen and recognized very much concrete stain has inevitably seen a bad job as well. One that has spots, blemishes, or patches of trouble areas.
Many blemishes and even hairline cracks are usually considered character and are actually desired to some extent, for the added character and uniqueness. Although the obvious “job gone wrong” blemishes are not at all desired and can ruin an otherwise beautiful project. So you have to ask yourself, if concrete stain is so simple, then why and where are these bad jobs coming from? Well, that’s easy. Incorrectly cleaning and preparing the concrete to be stained, is definitely the primary cause, hence the creation of Concrete Stain Prep TM.
When staining concrete, or when applying any decorative concrete product for that matter, cleaning and preparing the concrete is all important. If the concrete has not been adequately cleaned and prepared, then inferior results will ensue. If you were to look at concrete under a microscope you would see that it looks like a sponge. Though it appears to be a smooth surface to the eye, it is actually very porous. The need to clean the surface is obvious and fairly easy, it’s what stays trapped in the pores that will work against you. This is the piece of the puzzle that makes the difference.
“Concrete acid stain” which is by far the best concrete staining product, works by penetrating the concrete surface and pores, and reacting chemically with the cement and minerals within. Thereby permanently changing the surface color, it tends to mottle and give you the darks and lights, highs and lows, naturally. Obtaining the marble or stone look.
“Acrylic concrete stain” or other types of topical stains, which are similar to paints, come in solid colors, transparent, or semi transparent and still needs as clean of a surface with as clean of pores as they can get, to grab on. Without clean pores, no type of stain can work or perform as well.
