MarkRobinson

Here's some pictures of my new garage (& house), before, after acid-staining. It's very durable, permanent, & inexpensive by comparison (min. 4-hr phosphate reactive stain). My neighbors are blown away (good response). Cost was about $250 + about 12 hours labor, all on virgin concrete (never seen rubber, oil, etc).

I can elaborate on the process if asked.

Photos: virgin floor, stained floor, stained floor & sides, 1st coat of clear (2 photos), final coat of clear, shown "washed" by the sun to show how shiny it is.

MarkRobinson

hope it shows up ok

Steven Ko

Very nice!!! I've been thinking of ways to cover up all the oil stains in my garage. Did you do this yourself?? If so, how difficult was it to do?

IcemanG17

Mark
Very nice....how toxic was the fumes when you did it?

Fabio421

Soooooo. This is what you have been spending your time on. Tan concrete
Get back to work on that turbo man. PLEASE ? Pretty please with sugar on top?

MarkRobinson

Took about 12hrs on virgin concrete (new house).

steps:
1. degrease floor (I didn't have to)
2. power-wash floor
3. scrub floor with rented buffer & huge scotchbrite pad (didn't do this, but SHOULD have).
this gets up all the dropped paint/floating compound, etc, that shows through even after staining as the acid stain reacts to the phosphates in the conc, not necessarily "burning" it, & not burning off anything. Highly recommended.
4. Powerwash floor (after buffing).
5. Let floor dry thoroughly (I let it dry a week, but that's me)
6. Vacuum floor in preparation to acid.
7. with a non-bleeding scrubbing brush at the end of a broomstick (sold where stain is sold), pour stain on floor & scrub in in all directions, wearing respiratory protection (for me, wet towel wrapped around my head. Katrina has pulled most of this equp. off the shelves...) Keep a wet edge, but do NOT stay linear> walk a crooked line & exaggerate your wet edge.
8. Do whole floor, tape off with duct tape what you don't want stained, keeping in mind that it may/will bleed a little under the tape.
9. Let dry over night (dry up).
10. Neutralize the acid with baking soda & water, scrubbing the stained area thoroughly, & shop-vac-ing up the do-do water (flush). Dont let this stuff get on your driveway at any time.
11. After wards, wash (pressure wash) area & ensure the runoff is diluted enough not to leave any stains where it washes down your driveway: keep in mind, it's neutralized, & it's a chemical reaction, so it probalby wont stain your driveway after it's neutralized, but I didn't take any chances (new house, driveway, etc).
12. Let it dry thoroughly before "touch ups" or striping or running a border like I did with black (comes out dark brown or charcoal-ish) If an area is too light, pour more acid on it & it will quickly darken. The thicker the liquid, the darker the end-result stain. It foams on contact (the reaction), so standing acid is necessary for the darkest areas. Once you start scrubbing it around, the areas will be lighter unless you pour more acid.
13. Neutralize your border or touch-up areas, let dry for 2-3 days (thoroughly).
14. vacuum thoroughly, and using a respirator & PLENTY of ventilation, apply the clear with a roller, using a smaller roller to get tight areas that the larger roller won't get. Apply one coat (one gallon per 500sf) to do the whole garage, NOT walking on the wet surface whatsoever. Leave the area protected (so that dust doesn't blow onto the wet area), & walk away for 4-6hrs or so. Then, open the area to ventilate & dry for another hour, & lay down the 2nd coat (in your clean socks). let dry for a couple of days (to harden), & park your cars in it.

Mark

MarkRobinson

During free time, moving into house, chasing down boost leak (think I go it now). Stil, fast as hell @ 3psi

Imo000

Nice work, but now it look more like a showroom than a garage. Was that the intent all along?

Imo000

Mark,

Once you figure out where the leak is, can you send me a IM? I'm fighting the same thing. I think I have it figured out (leaky bypass valves), but any additional info could help. It's winter up here in the great white north so any additional testing will have to wait till spring.

MarkRobinson

I tried 4 total BOV's, including a new one from Porsche, it's not it on mine eventhough I was convinced by others that it was the issue. Mine may be the turbo since it was used, but I'll find out tomorow for sure.

Yes, I wanted a museum look to my garage: show garage, not a working garage.

Mark

heinrich

hot dang that is nice

Thaddeus

Nice!