STAINING or PAINTING OLD CONCRETE

[DINKS]

Help. We enclosed our lanai and made a nice room out of it. The floors are old concrete "Keystone technique." I am told this was achieved by throwing ice in the concrete when it was wet? The concrete is also decoratively scored to look like big stone slabs. I need to clean and either paint or stain. Any suggestions. Acid staining? Anyone in Sarasota, Fl who would tackle such a job? I am a total novice so any information, no matter how basic, would be appreciated. Dinks

[John Bridge]

Hi Dinks, Welcome aboard.

Hang around a while and someone in your area will come up with something maybe. I'm thinking "keystone" might be like throwing rock salt on the surface before final troweling?

[Berlyn]

A couple of girls and their DH's painted their concrete floor at work. It was time consuming but looks like tile. They cleaned the concrete with a muratic acid wash. This step you need good ventilation with the strong fumes!! Painted the concrete with a base color, which would be the "grout" color, let it dry. Came back did chalk lines to simulate tiles and laid a 1/4" tape over the chalk lines. Then they sponged on 2 or 3 different colors, let dry and pulled off the tape and applied 3 coats of polyuerathane. It's been 3 years and has held up very well.
You might not have to do all these steps with the way yours is scored. But prep work will be the nasty side of this project!!
Hope this helps some

Kiki