cement sealing

So as a continuation of our cement staining saga I will explain how we have proceeded from where I left off.

After allowing the floor to dry---some spots took longer than others---we did as the manufacturer suggested and scrubbed the floor with a stiff brush and clear water. Following with a wet vac and sucking up the dirty water. You can supposedly mop up the watery filth---but I don't recommend it. We just happen to own a wet vac but if you didn't it would be well worth renting one (or a floor carpet cleaner if you couldn't find a wet vac to rent).

Now to a couple of issues. I personally like a mottled look however some people would consider it to be not mottled but blotchy. Word use depends on your interpretation of the results I think. Anyway---where it puddled the stain did come out darker. It also was darker and lighter depending on wear patterns of our floor. Since it is a 30+ year old floor it is not in as good of shape as a brand new one and there are more "use areas" than a new one would have. I believe that I could go back with a sprayer and hit the lighter spots again if I wanted to make them a bit closer to the darker ones aka less blotchy. I won't however---as I said I like it. It looks a bit like old leather with all the crazing, color differences and the small (but few) cracks.

Secondly---as I wrote the other day I mixed the stain 50/50 with water. I think if I where to do it again I would start with more water. It was a bit darker than I would have originally chosen (too late to change now though) and it would have been easy enough to do a second coat. However I am not unhappy---just wiser if I ever do it again.

Lastly I have included a few pictures of it being sealed today. These pictures are of the first coat of Behr brand masonry sealer high gloss . I purchased it from home depot --about $24 a gallon and I used about 1/2 for first coat on my 24 x 12 foot room. I will put on at least one more coat but I have to let it dry for 4 hours before hand. The blue you see in the picture goes away as the sealer dries---though I worried a bit at first :-)
For this particular "mottled" floor the high gloss looks better and so each following coat will give it slightly more gloss with a maximum of 4 coats per manufacturer. I will do two--maybe 3 coats. We will see---it just depends on how much gloss comes through with each coat.

Overall it has been a cheap and easy way to finish the floor. Especially if like us you can't have carpet for some reason (ours is allergies but moisture or high traffic use also comes to mind). With a bit of practice and experimenting I think I could get much better at it and maybe achieve slightly more interesting and consistent results. A garage comes to mind as a great place to practice if you were so inclined--- then just cover it up with garage paint when your done :-) No one would be the wiser.