I want to create a terra-cotta finish on my concrete floor, has anyone done this?
Question:I have seen this done on HGTV, which of course looks simple with designers doing it. Some advice and pictures would be very helpful!
Answers:
You can buy the entire kit for etching, cleaning, prep and the whole finish in a kit at Lowe's. It can also be tinted to whatever color finish you prefer.
I have done this before in a restaurant in Fort Collins, CO. You first have to etch the concrete with Muriatic acid. The acid will eat away at the smooth finish of the concrete, to allow the stain to stick to the concrete. You first need to wash the concrete, before etching. Allow the acid to sit for about 15-30 minutes then wash it off. Wait about a day, then stain and seal your new floor. Below is the link to a Sherwin Williams affiliate for concrete etching. Sherwin Williams is where we got our supplies.
http://www.hc-concrete.com/product/3019.
I did it for our basement floor using a stain.
The first step was removing the protective coating on the concrete. Being it was inside, I chose not to use acid to strip away the coating. Instead, I rented an industrial concrete sander. Make sure you tent in your basement access and furnace room if you use this method; the dust produced is very fine and will spread throughout the house quite easily if you don't take precautions.
The next thing I did was to layout a tile pattern using ½ inch wide fibreglass tape. I made my floor look as if it were constructed on 16" x 16" tiles. The best way to do this is find the room's two centerlines in and work out towards the walls.
Next, using a canister for spraying weeds, I layed down several coats of stain. On one floor, I alternated stain colours, starting with a terra-cotta colour, followed by an adobe colour. This was repeated several times. After the stain dried, the tape was lifted.
The final step was to apply the protective clear coating; done using a paint roller at the end of a broom handle. It's important to get an even coat, so you have to work the roller until all the roller lines dissipate. One note. There was a section in front of the basement door I wanted to make less slippery. I mixed sand in with the stain. However, the sand wasn't that absorbent. My sister's father-in-law suggested I use crushed walnut shells. But that was after the fact, and I don't have any idea whether this will work.
Sorry, no pictures are available.
More Related Questions & Answers...