capt. mike - 2-15-2008 at 09:50 AM
is this product anything diff from regular old concrete acid etching and pigment staining i've been doing in homes for years??
i don't see anything new in your description.
so Kemico is just another brand?
i mean if you have something really new here i'd like to know about it.
if not i have great products already proven.
Mexitron - 2-15-2008 at 03:41 PM
Kemiko is another Scofield Chemstain knockoff, used it once, not much difference except cheaper. Capt. Mike--did you ever use the old Scofield copper
stain before they changed the formulation...beautiful stuff.
capt. mike - 2-16-2008 at 08:53 AM
no but i'll check it out. i get all my stuff from Cohill's in phx - they have been in it longer than anyone and are concrete products pros like no
others as far as deco conc. They are materials suppliers to the trade, i sub out the actual work to others who buy from them.
my favorite stamp is ashler slate, and i like maroon hues, deep reds with a hint of purple in the release agents. or sandstone and limestone tans when
i am doing travertine looks.
my friend just did a mottled marbelized maroon over his 1st floor slab it is breathtaking!
if you don't clean and prep your surfaces well 1st you'll get horredous results! be ware!
El Jefe - 2-16-2008 at 11:11 AM
We used Scofield acid stain on our floors and it came out great. Primarily copper patina with some antique amber and weathered bronze sprinkled over
for some deeper color effect. The colors came out like you are looking into a tide pool. Awesome.
The Scofield water based sealer was crap though. It was difficult to apply, the first coat wanted to curdle, and it does not hold up well. It sticks
to anything plastic that is set on the floor and it scrapes off under the chairs. We have used Johnson floor wax over it to make it look decent and
hold up.
If I had it to do over, I would find the best oil based sealer I could and just endure the fumes as I applied it.
And yes, cleaning the floor is everything. We had three guys with putty knives scrape every square inch of floor to get all the construction gunk off.
We applied the stain ourselves. It was a big job, but highly rewarding.
Mexitron - 2-16-2008 at 11:52 AM
Ditto on the crappy water-based sealer! The wax gives a beautiful finish but needs to kept up. A good respirator keeps the oil fumes at bay--I would
use solvent based sealers for outside patios and even outdoors you need the respirator.
El Jefe - 2-16-2008 at 08:34 PM
Agree on the respirator. I thought I wouldn't need one on the roof patio when I put the really good stuff down. But Paula knew I needed a break when
she heard me loudly singing "I'm Enery the Eighth I Am I Am" to the heavens. What a buzz!
oladulce - 2-20-2008 at 01:06 AM
I had good luck with Scoffeld's acid stain also for our concrete wall caps and parapet mouldings and other trim work.
I also tried this concrete stain :
Rare Earth
It's an acid stain that you dilute with varying amounts of water depending on the color you want. Sounded simple, but luckily I experimented with a
small project because mine came out pretty hideous.
I used the Scoffeld "Cementone" water based sealer on our concrete trim moulding and it's held up well for 3 years so far, even in the desert sun.
Plus, Cementone was a pleasure to work with after 2 weeks of solvent-based sealing (below)in the middle of Baja Sur summer.
For surfaces exposed to water and foot traffic, such as the integral powder-stained casa concrete floors and the stonework on the patio and showers, I
used this solvent based sealer by Aldon:Aldon S-B-S sealer
There's a learning curve to getting the best coverage with the SBS sealer and it is smelly, fumey, and a pain in the butt to apply, but it does a very
good job of sealing and bringing out the colors of your stained concrete and stonework. They call it a penetrating sealer, so it doesn't just sit on
the surface or peel up over time.
On our stained concrete, I used a coat of Aldon's "Lifeguard" over the SBS sealer, which is a sealer protector. It was easy to apply and adds a little
more gloss to the finish and makes a wet mopping look like you buffed and polished the floor.
I started off wearing safety goggles for acid staining but they kept fogging up in the heat so I switched to sun glasses.
I'd like to contribute another SAFETY TIP !!!: Do not apply acid stains while laying on your belly, hanging upside down on your rooftop, in strong
afternoon wind, wearing only sunglasses. (as eye protection I mean- I was wearing clothes).
Acid-stain burns to the eyes can fool you- it doesn't hurt as much as you'd expect but the rapid onset of blurring and total loss of vision make for a
very tense 12-24 hours. duhh..