Direct Colors DIY Home Improvement · Episode 2
Listen to this episode
A gallon of acid stain covers roughly 200 sq ft on most concrete — but a driveway, walkway or pool deck is deliberately finished rough for grip, and rough concrete drinks more. Shawna Turner on how much extra to buy, when to cut stain with water, and why summer heat forces you into the early morning or the late evening.
6 min 20 sec · Download MP3 (8.7 MB)
For this job you need: EverStain™ · EasySeal™ · OxiGrip™
Not sure which is right for your slab? Send us the details — the free project consultation is a person, not a form letter.
The written guide on this topic, with photographs: How to Acid Stain a Concrete Patio: Step-by-Step Guide.
Editor’s note. This episode was recorded some years ago. The transcript below has been corrected where the facts have changed; nothing about the technique has been altered.
- Two sealers are named under old names. The Sprayable Satin Finish is now EasySeal™ Satin, and the AC1315 High Gloss is now EasySeal™ Gloss — the same solvent-based acrylic sealer in two finishes.
- The anti-slip grit additive mentioned is OxiGrip™ Anti-Slip Additive.
- The sign-off’s RSS-feed line and social links have been dropped — the list included Google+, which shut down in 2019, and Twitter, now X.
- The series is no longer in production, so the closing reference to a twice-monthly schedule reads in the past tense.
- Two passages in the recovered transcript are garbled — one breaks off at “…and how to”, the other reads “…gives you that as to clean surface so with concrete sealers”. Both have been closed rather than guessed at, and no meaning has been supplied that was not there.
- Light copy-editing only: “machined troweled” → “machine troweled”, “insignificant affect” → “effect”. No claim was changed.
- Housekeeping, applied to every episode in this archive. The spoken sign-off has been rewritten to point here rather than at the old directcolors.com/listen address. The RSS-feed line, the social-media list and any pointers to retired photo-gallery, blog or video pages have been dropped, along with pointers to pages that have since been retired or superseded by the links under What’s Next — in some episodes that removes a whole sentence or a short exchange. Every speaker says “design consultation”; the service is now called the free project consultation, and we have used the current name throughout rather than send you to a page that no longer exists. Run-on speaker turns, duplicated intro lines and obvious transcription slips have been repaired without changing meaning. Nothing bearing on technique, safety or product choice has been altered; those changes are itemized above.
Still accurate: a gallon of acid stain still covers about 200 sq ft on typical concrete, the phone number is still correct, and all Direct Colors acid stains can still be cut with water.
What you need for this job
This episode is about how far a bottle actually goes. Order from the coverage figures, not from square footage alone.
- The stain
- EverStain™ Acid Stain — a smooth slab drinks far less than a rough one
- Profile or clean first
- CitrusEtch™ to profile, ProClean Degreaser™ to strip grease
- Seal it outdoors
- EasySeal™
Send your square footage and the slab’s finish through the free project consultation and we will work the quantities with you.
Full transcript
Amie Nolen: You are listening to Podcast Episode 2: Tips for Acid Stain and Sealer Coverage on Outdoor Projects. Sometimes it can be difficult to determine how much acid stain and sealer is needed for a given project. Outdoor concrete can be more rough and porous than indoor concrete, so in today’s episode we’ll discuss some of the different projects. So let’s get started. Hey, everybody, Amie Nolen here. If this is your first time listening, then thanks for coming. I’m here with Direct Colors General Manager, Shawna Turner.
AN: Hi Shawna. Our how-to guide tells customers each gallon of acid stain will cover approximately 200 sq. ft. on most concrete, but what about rough, porous outdoor concrete? How would you advise our customer to plan for patio, driveway or similar projects?
Shawna Turner: Well, there is a big difference between outdoor concrete and indoor concrete, and you can see it yourself at your own home or business. Indoor concrete is finished much more smoothly, generally often machine troweled, while very little outdoor concrete is machine troweled. Sometimes a porch or a patio may be machine troweled, but never a driveway or walkway or similar concrete such as a pool deck, for example. So when concrete is rougher and more porous, it’s generally finished for safety. People don’t want to fall down when it rains, so it is a little bit rougher and more porous.
ST: As a result, rougher concrete decreases the coverage area for your typical gallon of acid stain. As a general rule, I would advise customers to purchase an extra gallon of acid stain beyond what the calculations suggest for those outdoor concrete projects, just to be on the safe side when you’re working with more porous concrete. Of course all of Direct Colors acid stains can be cut with water, and that’s another option to consider, as long as the concrete is in good condition and hasn’t been eroded over a long period of time due to its age. You should get good reactivity from most all the colors that we offer. Please do give us a call at 877-255-2656 if you have any questions about diluting the stains and the colors you’ll get as a result. We do include a comprehensive how-to guide for applying acid stain with every purchase as well.
AN: What about concrete sealers? How does porosity affect sealer coverage rates?
ST: Porosity is a factor again with concrete sealers. The way that a concrete sealer typically works, with respect to acrylic sealers, which is really what most people use for exterior concrete: the first coat of sealer is absorbed into the pores of the concrete and leaves very little on the surface. So if you have a more porous piece of concrete, you’re going to need more sealer to complete that first coat. The second coat generally begins to develop the gloss, or make a deposition of acrylic on the surface of the concrete, and that’s really when you begin to see the effects of the sealer and how it accentuates the acid stain.
ST: Like the acid stain, if you’re working on an outdoor piece of concrete, particularly a driveway or a pool deck or patio, please do go ahead and purchase an additional gallon of sealer to be on the safe side. If you’re working with the solvents such as EasySeal™ Satin or EasySeal™ Gloss, I would recommend spraying it until it is gone. Keep in mind that high gloss sealers should only be applied on rough concrete that won’t become slippery when wet, or used in conjunction with an anti-slip grit additive.
AN: Any tips on acid staining and sealing in the summer months? How does the heat affect the application process?
ST: For those of us who are living in areas of the United States that do get very hot during the summer, this is a major issue. With respect to acid staining, and indeed with sealing, you really need to be applying the product very early in the morning or very late in the evening, depending on whether the concrete you’re working with receives early morning sun or afternoon sun. Concrete off-gasses when it gets hot. The products are going to dry very quickly and you aren’t going to get the best results possible from either of the two products during the heat of the day.
ST: With respect to acid staining, often our customers, when it is windy or warm, will lightly dampen the concrete using a garden hose — not drowning the concrete — to give the acid stain more active time on the slab. Now, dampening the concrete can lighten the color somewhat, so that’s the reason for avoiding the drowning of the concrete. But it will have a very insignificant effect overall. Dampening the concrete during the summer is a great way to begin your acid staining project, be it in the morning or in the late afternoon, as is appropriate to get the best possible results.
ST: Now with regard to sealing, you have no option other than to seal early in the morning or late in the evening, depending on when sun hits that concrete. Concrete goes every day through a cycle of heating and cooling. As the concrete heats, gasses are emitted and that can really interfere with how your sealer goes down on the concrete. Often it will result in bubbles that aren’t very attractive when they pop. To avoid that, you would apply your sealer as the concrete is in the cooling cycle and gasses are not being emitted. That will make a huge difference in how the sealer adheres, how it appears on the surface, and simply how successful overall the application is. So if those two things can be kept in mind, you’re well on your way to a successful summer concrete project.
AN: Hey, thanks so much, Shawna.
ST: Thank you! If you have questions, call one of our expert technicians at 877-255-2656 and we’ll help you select the best products and technique for your needs. If you prefer email, send in a free online project consultation and we’ll get back to you within 24–48 hours. Direct Colors DIY Home Improvement podcasts were produced twice monthly for your enjoyment, and the show notes live here in the Direct Colors listening archive. Thanks again for joining us!
What’s Next
- The full outdoor method, step by step → How to Acid Stain a Concrete Patio
- Staining and sealing in the heat → Applying Acid Stain and Sealer in Summer
- Choosing the sealer → Best Concrete Sealer · How to Apply Concrete Sealer
- Rough or weathered slabs → Staining Old, Rough Concrete
- Shop → EverStain™ · EasySeal™ · OxiGrip™
