Collaborative Advantage Marketing (CAM)

New Concrete Floor In Old Factory Before Acid Staining
New Concrete Floor In Old Factory During Build-Out Process

This is a brand new concrete slab, in an old building, poured with the intention of acid-staining.  We had to wait several months while the slab cured and dried to an acceptable moisture content.

New Concrete Floor In Old Factory After Cleaning And Before Acid-Staining
New Concrete Floor in Old Factory After Cleaning And Before Acid-Staining

During this period, renovations and other buildout modifications took place in this commercial project space.  Acid-stained concrete flooring is generally the last work to be done in a building or residence.

New Concrete Floor In Old Factory During Application of Blue Acid Stain
New Concrete Floor In Old Factory After Application of Blue Acid Stain

Above left, you can see the first coat of blue acid stain being applied.  Above right, the second coat.  High quality acid-stained concrete flooring almost always requires two coats of stain to achieve the full color.

New Concrete Floor In Old Factory After Rinsing Blue Acid Stain Residue
New Concrete Floor In Old Factory After Rinsing Excess Blue Acid Stain Residue

The above two photos show the unsealed, blue base color after rinsing the excess stain residue.  We weren't finished staining, though, as our customer wanted accented color highlights.

New Concrete Floor In Old Factory After Adding Brown Acid Stain Highlighting to Blue Acid Stain Base Coat
New Concrete Floor In Old Factory After Adding Brown Acid Stain Accenting to Blue Acid Stain Base Coat

We then applied three additional colors of stain - gold, brown, and reddish brown - to approximately 2/3 of the floor, over the blue base.

Blue Acid-Stained Concrete Floor With Brown Accenting During Application of Clear Sealer
Blue Acid-Stained Concrete Floor With Brown Accenting During Application of Clear Sealer

The true coloring of the floor can't be seen until the clear sealer is applied.  Different types of sealers enhance acid-stain coloring to differing degrees.  We used several different sealers on our pre-project color samples.

Blue Acid-Stained Concrete Floor With Brown Accenting Sealed with Clear Polyurea
Blue Acid Stained Concrete Floor With Brown Accenting Sealed With Clear Polyurea

On this project, the customer chose a high-solids polyurea sealer.  The benefits of this sealer are deep color enhancement, no odor during application, and extremely high durability.

Blue Acid-Stained Concrete Floor With Brown Accenting Sealed With Clear Polyurea
Blue Acid-Stained Concrete Floor With Brown Accenting Sealed With Clear Polyurea