Home Made Concrete Stain

[stevehaigh]

i'm trying to find a source for acid stain in Thailand but so far no luck. i know i can get it in Malaysia but with shipping/customs and BS its going to be very expensive

so, i'm looking into making home made acid stain and there are a few good sites out there but some of the chemicals the used, like Iron Sulphite are hard to find here

but i found this link http://www.jamesrive...cidstain_fe.php which offsers up a few options using easily available materials like rusty nails and black irox oxide, available in Home Pro

i'm currently experimenting with both options at the moment and will report back when i get something to work (or not!)

the attached file is the look i'm after. i figure run aluminium strips into the rough floor in a grid pattern to establish the height, just like they do when making sandwash or polished concrete designs. then it will be easy to level and smooth small areas of concrete using the 'cat man' method which makes it very smooth and shiny without grinding. if this doesn't work, i'll try the grinding method too.

then use different concentrations of stain to get the desired colors

wish me luck.

Edited January 17, 2012 by stevehaigh

[PattayaParent]

That looks really good.

Good luck.

Maybe a new busiiness venture for you if it works out?

[stevehaigh]

attached is my first attempt for home made concrete stain

its black iron oxide plus hydrochloric acid and then watered down by about 1 acid/5 water

i poured the resulting stain onto the test area which way basically chaap on the floor, boon nok keow mixed with fine sand and rubbed as it dries to get the smooth 'cat man' finish.

when i poured the stain on, it reacted with the concrete (which was only 2 days old by the way) with a lot of bubbles, then i patted it down with a paper towel to make it blotchy

i let it dry for about 1 hour then i washed it off with water and soda ash from my pool chemicle stash

this photo is shown with water on the surface to make if shiney. i believe i will get this look when dry and sealed with a stone sealer but apparently i have to wait a few weeks for it to dry properly before sealing.

[stevehaigh]

this test was 2tsp green iron oxide, 1 yellow and 1 black, about 50ml acid and about 50ml water

i poured it on in blotchy areas, random shape and size and got a nice strong reaction with the concrete, then after about 20secs, brushed it to fill the whole area

the results look great to me (when wet like in the photo). kind of dull when dry but i'm assuming sealer will fix that permanently

by the way, so far i havn't seen any surface damage to the concrete, even with the 50/50 concentration mix. i have seen other web sites that talk about pitting the concrete surface but for me, with the 2 day old render cement, no problems. the surface is nice and smooth to the touch.

Edited January 18, 2012 by stevehaigh

[PattayaParent]

Where did you get the photo in your first post from?

I was thinking you want it for outdoors which I'm interested in myself but if it can be done like that indoors it gives me a few ideas as it's got to be cheaper than marble?

[PattayaParent]

I've just found Elite Crete http://www.elitecrete.com/

who have a Thailand contact email http://www.elitecrete.com/Elitecrete/Find-a-Local-Elite_Crete_Systems-Office.html

[stevehaigh]

I've just found Elite Crete http://www.elitecrete.com/

who have a Thailand contact email http://www.elitecret...ems-Office.html

that links to here http://www.trepax.co.th/service-flooring.html

might be worth calling to see what they do

the first pic came from here http://www.stainedbydesign.com/

[mrbojangles]

Excellent thread. Love some of the finishes.

Wouldn't mind doing the front outside sitting area below in something similar. Any advice on costs?

On a different note but hopefully still slightly on topic. On the link above, I noticed another link to Nano tiling protection. I'm pricing up tiles at the moment and the same tile with nano is a lot more expensive than without. Has anyone done their own application of a tile protection (Nano or another). And is it cheaper doing your own?

[steveolevi]

http://www.stainedfloor.com/

Very simple recipes. Try on sample areas. Let concrete dry and off-gas at least 1 week.

Iron oxide + hydrochloric acid. mix 6 lit water to 2 kg Iron sulphate add 25 eyedroppers of Hydrochloric acid. mop on and then let sit 2-3 minutes then mop again with water and laundry detergent to nuetrallize acid. Wash like hell! LOADS of water test with Litmus paper afeter for neutral pH.

Email me at [email protected] for pictures. I cant figure out how to add pics here. I have copper sulphate sample pics too

Potassium permanganate gives the darker browns. Same procedure on top of Iron sulphate process.

[stevehaigh]

i nutralise with soda ask, not sure if laundry detergent is much of an alkalie and soda ash is very cheap in any pool shops

the cost of these ideas are next to nothing, 250b/gallon for acid and 50b/kg for iron oxide

i'm making up a form to form the grid patterns then i'm going to sample about 6m2 of floor soon