Direct Colors DIY Home Improvement · Episode 21
Listen to this episode
Most concrete can be acid stained, but only if it is profiled first — and the wrong etcher does damage you cannot undo. Shawna Turner on chemical versus mechanical profiling, the water test that tells you whether you need it, and what your options are if a muriatic acid wash has already stripped the slab of what acid stain needs to react with.
5 min 06 sec · Download MP3
For this job you need: CitrusEtch™ · EverStain™ · EasyTint™
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: Concrete Surface Preparation.
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.
- “DCI Hard Trowel Floor Prep” is now CitrusEtch™ — the same job, current name.
- “Tinted Concrete Sealer” is now EasyTint™, “DCI Concrete Dye” is now Vibrance™, “Liquid Colored Antique” is now Antiquing™, and the “Sprayable Satin Finish Sealer” is now EasySeal™ Satin.
- The line about concrete “poured in the last 10–15 years” dates from the original recording — read it as roughly the last two decades.
- The closing points listeners at the old Design Blog and Featured Projects pages; those now live at Direct Colors University.
- 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.
- 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photo-gallery, blog or video pages have been dropped, along with pointers to pages that have since been retired or superseded by the links under What’s Next — in some episodes that removes a whole sentence or a short exchange.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, and worth repeating: an etcher sold for use with paint, epoxy or water-based coatings will dissolve the surface minerals that acid stain needs to react with. That has not changed with the product names.
What you need for this job
Prep is the whole episode, and it is the step people skip.
- Profile and open the surface
- CitrusEtch™ — the same product as the hard-troweled pretreatment
- Strip grease and grime first
- ProClean Degreaser™, and neutralize afterwards with ProClean Neutralizer™
- Then stain
- EverStain™ Acid Stain; test first with the EverStain™ Trial System
Not sure how smooth your slab is? Send a photograph and a water-drop test through the free project consultation.
Full transcript
Amie Nolen: You’re listening to Direct Colors podcast Episode 21: Prepping Concrete for Acid Staining. If this is your first time listening, then thanks for joining us. Prepping concrete for acid staining before getting started is critical to success, but how this is done can make or break a project. Here to discuss how to and how not to prepare concrete for acid staining is Shawna Turner, General Manager for Direct Colors.
AN: It seems like surface preparation is the most important step of the process. Can this be a big problem for customers if they don’t do it right?
Shawna Turner: Absolutely. Not all concrete can be acid stained, but most can if the concrete is properly profiled using the correct product or method before staining. Determining which method or product is best can be the biggest challenge.
AN: Could you explain what it means to profile the concrete?
ST: Sure. Profiling the concrete simply means to change the surface texture to allow for better acid stain penetration. Profiling can be accomplished by either chemical or mechanical means. Chemical profiling using an acid-stain-approved etcher such as CitrusEtch™ will open the pores without interfering with the later acid staining process. Mechanical profiling would involve a concrete sander or grinder, which might be used on extremely smooth or heavily contaminated floors. For example, floors with glue, paint and drywall mud over most of the concrete should probably be mechanically profiled using a grinder, because the cost of a chemical strip would be greater than the cost of renting the machine.
AN: What products should not be used to profile concrete?
ST: That’s a pretty easy question to answer. If the etcher is intended for use with anything other than acid stain, don’t use it. That would include water based stains, sealers, epoxy coats, paint and anything else not specifically called acid stain. Acid based cleaners and etchers used in conjunction with other coatings actually dissolve the minerals in the surface of the concrete necessary to support the reaction between an acid stain and the concrete. Without those minerals, the acid stain will sit on the surface and be washed away later in the cleaning process.
ST: So if you have previously cleaned your concrete using a muriatic acid and water solution, the slab will either not stain at all or stain very unpredictably, depending on how the solution was originally applied and how strong it was. I really can’t emphasize enough — if you’ve bought a concrete etching product from a local big box store, don’t use it if you want to acid stain later. Really, that’s the bottom line.
AN: OK, that is straight to the point. How would a customer know, aside from obvious surface contaminants, that their concrete needs profiling in the first place?
ST: Most indoor concrete, and some outdoor concrete poured in the last 10–15 years, was likely finished using a machine trowel. We discuss this in some detail on the first page of our How to Guide for Applying Acid Stain. A simple water test will often reveal whether water will readily absorb into the concrete or bead on top. If beading does occur, the surface needs to be etched using CitrusEtch™ before acid staining. Basement and garage floors are generally the smoothest floors in the house and will more likely than not require etching prior to staining.
AN: So what happens next for customers that have used an acid based etching or cleaning product on their concrete?
ST: I would recommend either EasyTint™, or an EasyTint™ and Vibrance™ combination, to create more color variation and movement on the floor similar to an acid stain finish. If you’re working with outdoor concrete, I suggest Antiquing™ and EasySeal™ Satin. We have a wide color selection and it is extremely easy to apply. I’ve used this product at home on my walkways and patio and have been very happy with it.
ST: If you are in some doubt as to whether your concrete will stain or not, try an acid stain sample bottle and make sure. It’s always a good idea to test the quality of your concrete regardless, and it never hurts to try. You’ll find acid stain samples and samples of all our products on our website.
AN: Thank you, Shawna, for setting us straight on prepping concrete for acid staining. No doubt this will help a number of homeowners avoid a costly DIY mistake. 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 written method → Concrete Surface Preparation
- If the slab is smooth and closed → Smooth, Hard-Troweled Concrete Floors
- When etching goes wrong → Concrete Etching Gone Wrong
- Then stain it → How to Apply Acid Stain
- Shop → CitrusEtch™ · EverStain™ · EasyTint™
