Charcoal, Grays & Black AcquaTint Photo Gallery

• Project Completed In: 6 day(s)
• Estimate of Square Footage: 1800 sq. ft.
• Project Description:
  I have an unfinished 1800sf basement. I wanted to keep the integrity and durability of the concrete floors.
  The floors had been grinded before any work had started.
  First was cleaning up drywall dust, mud and paint off floors. Some was scraped off and then washed with diluted pine sol and water and finally just with plain water. This took about 6 hours everytime, constantly dumping the dirtied water.
  I am a professional artist but this was my first time with concrete stain and such a huge scale.
  The sprayer I used spit and dripped out the paint so I had to change my original plan to random graffiti-like splashes of the charcoal color. Spraying the initial design took 4-5 hours and 2/3 of the 5 gal charcoal. I let that dry 24 hours before starting 2nd coat of lighter gray.
  I used a 3/8″ 9″ roller to apply lighter gray over splashed charcoal. Because I was creating a mottled, random look, it was impossible to roll on in one direction as is suggested. It created lines I didn’t like. Rather, I went heavy in some areas and left the lightness of one coat in other areas, always careful to cover bare concrete. The lighter gray helped to soften the contrast of the lighter areas and the charcoal. This effect took about 2 of the 5 gal. container. Because of the sheer size of the floor, it took 6-7 hours.
  After waiting 24 hours, I began 1st coat of wax with a 9″ Shurcoat paint pad. It was very had to tell where I covered because of the mottled nature of the colors. After 4-5 hrs. I applied a 2nd coat of wax, noticing some areas had a higher sheen to them. I wasn’t sure why this was happening but it helped create depth on the floor.
  The next morning, I applied a 3rd coat of wax, a bit heavier to achieve the desired high gloss look. That was left to cure a full 24 hrs. I used 4 of the 5 gals. to do all 3 coats of wax. Each coat took about 4-5 hours to complete.

Personal Tips:
Aquatint settles very quickly and must be constantly stirred.
Enjoy the way the stain works when using more than one color.
Make sure you have very good lighting to apply both stain and wax.

Direct Colors Products Used:

• • 5 gal Aquatint Charcoal
  • 5 gal Aquatint Gray
  • 5 gal high gloss wax

Other Products Used:

• • 3/8″- 9″ roller
  • 9″ Shurcoat paint pad -3, one for each coat of wax
  • 2 gal Chapin premier sprayer

• Project Completed In: 3 day(s)
• Estimate of Square Footage: 1500 sq. ft.
• Project Description:
  We are finally all moved in and getting around to showing you all our results! We knew we loved and wanted to accentuate the power trial swirls and marbling effect. We spent hours and many test products under where our cabinets would be, but look no further direct colors has the perfect product. We ended up choosing the tinted sealer. We knew we wanted a very transparent but durable stain.
  Essentially all we did was thoroughly clean the dust and construction grime off the floors with degreasing soap and let that dry a few hours. We then came back and cleaned our floors THREE more times with the direct colors degreaser, two of which were rinses. This alone took a full day for 1500sqft. Once this dried we were ready to stain. We tried many methods (sprayers, sponges, rags) and the best we came across for a super transparent look was a 18” floor squeegee! It worked awesome. Like any paint project it is all in the prep work and the actual staining process was over before we knew it, maybe 1.5hrs. After this we let it dry for a day and covered in plastic to finish construction. Once we were ready to move in we washed it again, then immediately waxed the entire floor(last picture) as you can see the floor is almost a living feature of the house as it changes color and hue based on lighting effects. Overall this was a rewarding project that we are happy to have done ourselves! Have fun!

Personal Tips:
Clean clean clean, have all supplies organized and clean up (acetone, in our case) ready. Have an extra applicator (spray gun squeegee etc.) on hand in case yours fails/breaks

Direct Colors Products Used:

• • 1 qt ProClean Degreaser
  • 1 gal Aquatint Charcoal
  • 1 gal Satin Acrylic Sealer
  • 1 gal Satin Floor Wax