Remodeling Projects - Preparing Older Floors for Staining
Stained concrete floors are not for perfectionists! This is particularly true when working with older floors.
Certain realities should be weighed before deciding to go forward with your staining project. If you have seen stained concrete on new floors, keep in mind that neither an overlay nor grinding will create as beautiful a floor as new concrete that was protected during construction. Also, if you have structural damage, large cracks in your concrete, crumbly concrete or other major flaws, your slab is simply NOT a candidate for stained concrete.
Deciding how to prepare floors that have been previously covered or that were not protected during construction requires some judgement. You have three options:
- Scraping paint and chemically removing stains,
- Lightly grinding the surface to remove stains and reopen concrete pores,
- Capping or resurfacing the older floor.
The first option -- chemical removal of stains -- may be the most cost-effective, if there are only a few minor paint and material spills. Here scraping with razors and using chemicals to remove stubborn stains may work. NOTE: This can be extremely time and labor intensive if you underestimate the amount of paint/stain residue left on the surface.
We sometimes recommend a light sanding or grinding (using a scarifying machine) to smoothen and open the pores of concrete compromised by adhesives, tar, paint and other materials. Depending on how deep the floors need to be ground, the aggregate may be exposed and the mottling may be reduced somewhat or altogether. Some stains may remain.
When floors have been covered with brick, tile or glued down vinyls, sanding alone may not be enough. Old tiles can leave a ghost image of the old mortar grid. In these cases, we recommend resurfacing the floors with an overlay ( a thin cap of cementatious material). This option is NOT practical for every budget and can essentially double the base price of staining. However, the results are quite good and the surface remains quite durable.
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