Acid stain on concrete floor

I'm 99% sure we're going to acid stain the concrete floors in the studio.  I'm testing the TINSY bathroom to see what the different colors look like.  Check out my uncomfortable Darth Vader respirator.

Steps:

1. Clean floor with trisodium phosphate cleaner.
2. Tape off floors.  Note that on the horizontal band leading into the next room, we made one row of tape "peaked" to form a sort of dam so it wouldn't slosh over into the next room.  Then we covered whatever parts of other floors/walls we needed to protect.
3. Spray floors with water.
4. Mix acid stain and spray on floor.
5. Wait from 3-6 hours for acid to react with floor.  Check by wiping up the mess to see if it's the color you want.  The color gets darker the longer you leave it on.
6. Neutralize the acid reaction by putting ammonia or baking soda on the acid.
7. Mop it all up with water/rags.
8. Mop, mop, then mop some more.  A wet vac is the best method since you need tons of fresh water.
9. When happy with the result, let floor dry completely then apply a sealer.

I couldn't find the contractor shoes with spikes that strap on over you own shoes.  You're not supposed to walk on the floor when the acid stain is down, or regular shoes can leave footprints.  So, I picked up some Goodwill track cleats, since the little spikes don't leave ugly shoe prints on the floor.  Golf spikes will work, too.  Some people wear booties, but I've read on forums that those can still leave an impression.

I had Adam step on the lower right corner just to see what a footprint would look like.  You can see an obvious heel mark.

Here's what it looked like after I scraped all the muck off and mopped it three times.

In case you care what colors I tried:

-top third = Black Walnut (80% stain, 20% water)

-left middle third = Desert Amber (80/20)

-right middle third = Ginger Root (80/20)

-lower third = Black Walnut (50% stain, 50% water)

In the middle circle, we sprayed water heavily, thinking it would give us an idea of what it would look like to further dilute the stain.

The final colors will be darker.  The directions said that wetting the concrete will give us a good idea of the final appearance.

I stood that box up to give us an idea of what white walls would look like, since most of the studio is white.

What do YOU think?  Do you have a color preference?

Comments

[vanessa]

Ginger root!!

God bless you and all your hard work Darth.

OH MAN!!

xoxo

[Sarah]

I second the ginger root. Wow, what a job! You should wear that outfit for Halloween.

[Laura Irrgang]

Thanks, Sarah.
I think that's the one we're going with.
Well, I'M going with, but Adam will help apply.
As for Halloween....NO MA'AM!
I can't waste the precious week of Halloween on the ugly construction worker costume.

[stacy]

Ginger root. Final answer!

And I love it!!!!

[Charlotte]

Serious DIYing going on in the studio. You need to be an artist before you can start being an artist. I'm in awe of all you are taking on. Go Laura. And Adam. And the girls 'cause I know what a help they are.