About Rust-Oleum Concrete Stain

hello I'm Bob Harris president of decorative concrete Institute I've been involved in the field of concrete construction for most of my life of which the last 20 years has been devoted to decorative concrete decorative concrete is my passion and today what I'd like to show you is an easy method of transforming your ordinary concrete into something that's quite extraordinary using rust-oleum semi-transparent concrete stain unlike traditional concrete stains which produce a painted surface rust-oleum semi-transparent concrete stain produces a mottled natural look which will enhance any project you choose to take on here's what's included in your kit two gallons of concrete stain one you'll use is your base color and the other will be used as your accent color one gallon clear sealer a pump up sprayer for applying the stain as well as the sealer citric concrete edge for prepping the concrete surface and gloves to keep your hands clean other materials you might need our paintbrushes a scraper a scrub brush tape and plastic for additional colors or for more of the same color a tint base is also available sold separately as with any project proper surface preparation is the key to producing a quality project it is important to read the surface preparation guidelines which are included in your stained kit there are some situations when you shouldn't stain do not stain over painted surfaces do not stain over oil stains properly clean them first with rust-oleum heavy duty degreaser do not stain over concrete that is in poor condition don't apply the concrete stain over a concrete surface that has been previously sealed a quick and easy way to see if the concrete has sealer on it is to spritz water and see if the water beads up something else to think about before you start your staining project our weather conditions check your local forecast make sure there's no threat of rain and you certainly don't want to apply the stain if it's overly windy optimum temperatures to apply the stain are between 50 and 90 degrees to get started you'll want to sweep away any loose dirt or dust from the concrete surface once you've swept the debris from the concrete surface the next step is to mix up the concrete edge which is included in your stain kit what you do is you take one bag and you mix the entire contents of the package into a two gallon sprinkling can one bag of vetch will condition two gallons of water which is what the the volume of the sprinkle can is once you've filled the bucket all the way up it is a good idea to take your stirrer stick and make sure that you thoroughly mix the edge the reason that we want to use the concrete edge is to profile the concrete surface what it does is it edges the surface that when we come back and apply to stain it allows the stain to totally absorb and penetrate into the pores of the concrete if we didn't edge the surface we would have an adhesion issue so it is imperative that you etch the surface of the concrete for ultimate adhesion you never want to apply the concrete edge to a dry surface so the first step is to go ahead and pre wet the concrete substrate get it good and saturated prior to applying your concrete edge once you've got the surface totally saturated go ahead and apply the concrete edge with your sprinkle can now remember it is important to use the sprinkle cam because it dispenses it onto the surface uniformly apply a liberal amount of the concrete edge to the surface once you've applied it in a uniform fashion go ahead and take your scrub brush and aggressively massage it into the surface for several minutes making sure that you get a good clean surface once you've worked it into the surface for several minutes the next step is to go ahead and rinse and cleanse the surface entirely what you're striving to achieve is clean water so you may need to rinse it several times making sure that the rinse water is in fact clean the great thing about the citric concrete etch which is included in your stain kit it's a safe environmentally friendly alternative to harsh muriatic acid or hydrochloric acid that won't harm your grass or landscape areas before you start your stain project it is a good idea to go ahead and run an edger down the edge of your grass so you have a nice defined line what we're striving for is that the stain turns down and stains the side of the concrete and if you don't pre edged you'd be actually staining on top of the grass if you have landscape areas in which topsoil or mulching material abuts right up against the concrete it is a good idea to go ahead and remove it back several inches away from that concrete surface so then when it comes time to sting we're ensured that the stain will go over the edge and we'll get full color all the way down the edge as opposed to the stain just line up on top of the mulching material the next step is to properly mask your surrounding or adjoining areas certainly one of the best ways to apply the stain is is with a sprayer and we want to not have a spray stream of staying get up onto your joining areas so take the time to properly mask these areas what I like to do is put a piece of tape down which helps your masking tape and plastic stick to the surface much better so we'll go ahead and mask this area in preparation for applying the sting once you applied your masking plastic go ahead and unfold it to the to the surface and come back for added protection and stick some tape to it the plastic making sure that it helps hold the plastic up you don't want to have the plastic fall down into your concrete while you're applying the stain so you want to make sure that all the vertical surfaces are properly masked off going past the area which you're standing so it eliminates any overspray during the staining process just prior to the stain application which is going to be done with the sprayer it is a good idea to take a paint brush and apply the stain to all the vertical surfaces also while you're applying the stain to this surface go ahead and brush out an additional one to two inches so that when it does come time to spray our overspray only has to cut in over where we've previously brushed if you have areas where the concrete is heavily textured it may require you to aggressively brush it in or in some cases stipple it into the pores included in your stain kit is the pump up sprayer go ahead and read the instruction manual on how to properly assemble all the components it's imperative that you check all of the screw on adjustments and make sure they're nice and tight the last thing that you want to happen during your stain application is to have drips coming from these attachments because they're not tight and in order for the sprayer to work properly you really need to pressurize it it is a good idea before you consider staining your actual project to go ahead and fill your pump up sprayer with water and on a separate piece of concrete develop your technique so you know exactly what to expect and how the sprayer is spraying so I'm going to spray here on a piece of separate concrete you'll notice that the wand is roughly 12 inches to 18 inches above the concrete surface and I'll be spraying in a circular fashion or a figure 8 fashion I don't want to just keep it directional up and back by spraying on a separate piece of concrete it gives me the ability to adjust the tip and I want to make sure that the tip is not spinning or spewing the stain out so simply by making a minor adjustment I'm going to get a nice spray stream so that it doesn't drip when we go to the actual state application you'll notice the spray stream pattern is conical in fashion it's not a fan tip if we were to use a fan tip chances are you'd see the outer edges of the fan pattern once it hit the concrete surface so it is important to use a tip that sprays the stain down in a conical fashion meaning a cone shape you'll notice that we set up a mixing station and we're getting ready to load the sprayer certainly you don't want to load your sprayer on the actual concrete that you're going to be staining to make sure that you don't get any unwanted drips that would go onto the concrete surface you want to fill the stain to the level mark that's on the side of the sprayer or roughly two to three inches from the top of the surface once you've filled you're staying to the desired level it is a good idea to go ahead and take a rag and clean any unwanted stain from the rim of the sprayer once that's clean we'll go ahead and put the lid in and make sure that you've screwed it on firmly and then go ahead and start pressurizing the sprayer simply by pumping we've done a thorough job of not only etching the concrete but cleaning the surface as well the last thing that I want to do is contaminate the clean surface so the first step I want to take onto the concrete surface just before we start our staining application is a clean step and so for that reason I'm going to use my slip-on shoe covers and that's an indicator that I'll keep the surface clean as I start my staining process it is a good idea to always have a rag in your pocket in case something does happen you can go ahead and put the rag over the tip during the staining application if you can ask a friend or a neighbor to help out during the stain application go ahead and do so and he can be responsible for moving the the paint shield off to the side I'm always going to start my sprayer off of the surface so if it does splatter it does it on to our shield and not on the concrete so I want to make sure that we're fully pressurized go ahead and adjust it here and off we go you're going for a uniform coverage when applying the sting certainly you don't want a puddle of the stain but you are going for a hundred percent coverage on this base coat make sure where we've previously cut in with the brush that we get enough of coverage while spraying to hide that hard line if for whatever reason you have to stop the sprayer make sure you don't stop it out over the top of the concrete surface stop it over here and then continue if you have to pressurize during the staining go ahead and keep it moving when you get to the edge of the concrete surface go ahead and spray the stream of this of the spray inward not outward so you can kind of move back and forth in this fashion making sure that the stain does in fact get down to the edges of the concrete if at any point during the staining process the material starts to spit like this go ahead and put it off to the side make sure that you have enough liquid or enough stain in your pump up sprayer or that you have the proper amount of pressure pump into the sprayer I'm squeezing the trigger as hard as I can that way I'm getting full volume out of the sprayer and that's going to also help to assure that you don't get any unwanted drips now I feel the pressure starting to get a little low so I'm going to go ahead and keep the tip over here re pressurize squeeze the trigger all the way down and don't stop till you get to the other end you'll notice what I'll do is when I work my way back in this direction a lightly over spray the previous pass so it better blends you'll notice we're just about to finish our first application or our base coat of the stain notice over here are on our pre standing of existing concrete we have it properly masked it is important to go ahead and mask that surface so we don't get any of the stain on the existing concrete notice I'm spraying away I'm spraying the stream away from the taped edge alright as you can see we've just finished our base coat or our first application of the stain it is a good idea to go ahead and give a visual inspection of the concrete surface that you just stained what you're looking for our dried areas that maybe have a regular color keep in mind on highly porous concrete it may require a light second coat or what we call a mists coat over the entire surface if it is absorbing so quickly and drying fast depending on the site conditions typically you're going to wait roughly one hour before you apply your second accent coat we're getting ready to apply our second coat which is considered our accent coat our base coat or our first coat has been down for roughly one hour and now we're going to provide some contrast with our accent coat the same rules apply when using the sprayer once you've squeezed the trigger don't let off until you get off of the edge of the concrete remember if you let off on the trigger it's prone to spitting the stain down so what I'm striving for is roughly 50% coverage on our contrasting color and as you're about to see this is where the concrete surface really comes to life it's perfectly okay to go heavier in areas lighter in other areas depending on the amount of contrast that you're shooting for as we near the end with our accent coat the same rules apply when you spray your stain on the massed surface remember to avoid bleed through we want to stand on the masking plastic and spray away from it this will assure us of the stain not bleeding underneath the masking plastic we've completed our accent color and we've given a visual inspection it looks great if for whatever reason you found that the accent color was a little bit too bold you could simply take your original base color and lightly mist it over the entire surface what that does is it will soften the tonal values that concludes our staining application now we'll wait approximately one hour and we'll go ahead and apply our seal coat as the final coat one of the keys to preserving this beautifully stained concrete surface is to apply a nice uniform layer of rust-oleum concrete sealer we'll be applying the sealer in the same fashion in which we applied the stain not puddling but getting total uniformity with your coverage rate the same application procedures apply with the sealer meaning don't let off on the sprayer if you have to let off on the the tip here make sure you do it off of the concrete surface if you have to pressurize go ahead and keep the mists going it's simply a nice uniform mist coat applied over the entire surface when applied properly this will help preserve the concrete stain surface for years and years you notice how I keep pumping it is very important to keep a nice atomized mist and this will prevent the sealer from puddling on the concrete surface I'm holding the tip roughly 12 to 15 inches above the concrete surface and it is important that you maintain an irregular spray pattern you'll notice that I walk back and seal backwards and the reason that I'm doing that is because I can see the sheen from this angle if I was to put the sealer in the opposite direction I wouldn't be - I wouldn't be able to see if I'm getting uniform coverage during this application process you'll notice as the sealer hits the concrete surface that you do have a little bit of a milky appearance which is fine that's normal for this type of sealer it will dry clear we've just finished our seal coat of rust-oleum concrete sealer over our beautifully stained concrete surface keep in mind on our project here today this was highly absorbent concrete in a situation like this it may require a light mist second coat of the rust-oleum concrete sealer generally if this is the case you want to wait a minimum of two to four hours before applying that second coat if you're transitioning from one stain color to the next or you're preparing the sprayer for the clear sealer or you may simply be done with your stained project at the end of the day remember the sprayer is fully pressurized so it is a good idea to take a rag place the rag around the rim of the sprayer so that when you open the container stain doesn't spray everywhere make sure that you release the pressure slowly and then put the contents of the stain into the bucket once all of the contents have been dumped into your can go ahead and put the lid on seal the can that way you can use the stain for another job to preserve your sprayers flush them clean with water after every time you use them simply put a little bit of water in the sprayer shake it around dump it into a containment can then very important fill your pump up sprayer roughly half full with clean water go ahead and pressurize the sprayer and flush it with clean water you want to keep spraying until you see clear water coming out of the tip it is a good idea to take the tip off of your wand and go ahead and take a brush with water and scrub the tip clean so the stain doesn't accumulate at the edge it is a good idea to not allow the stain to sit in the sprayer for an extended period of time especially in warm conditions what can happen is the stain can actually dry in the hose more importantly if it dries in the tip it can clog the tip many times your concrete surface will in fact have hairline cracks in this instance there's no reason to fill these cracks the stain can actually accentuate these areas and it can become a feature of your floor one way to enhance your architectural masonry units is with the use of rust-oleum semi-transparent concrete stain it's a quick and easy alternative to really bringing your masonry wall to life a couple of pointers before you start is simply clean off the walls you don't want any you don't want any unwanted dust or contaminants on the surface washing it with a hose and maybe a light brush and once dry you can go to work with your sting I like to keep a brush on hand that if you do get any unwanted drips that would run down the face of your wall go ahead and simply brush them off we're going to use terracotta and here we go keep in mind these masonry wall units are very porous and absorbent which really tend to absorb the stain on smaller jobs I'm simply using the handheld trigger sprayer on a larger project you could simply use the sprayer that's provided in the rust-oleum stain kit as you can see this is a quick and easy alternative to add some exciting color to your rather boring architectural wall units for additional accenting you can use the rust-oleum semi-transparent concrete stain in a contrasting color you can add as little or as much as you'd like rust-oleum semi-transparent concrete stain works great on ornamental concrete statuary we're simply going to spray apply to the surfaces I like to go ahead and spray the underlying base first always keep in hand to brush out any unwanted drips so we're going to go ahead and spray our first coat make sure you get up underneath the bench all the way around I'm going to work my way around the base of the bench first move to the top then I'm going to come back and start to address any of the drips now I want to avoid paint strokes I don't want to sit here and use a define paint strokes because that'll simply take too much of the the stain off of the surface so it might just be a light stippling such as this right here I don't want to remove any of the concrete stain I simply want to fuse it into the pores so we don't have any drips so I'm just going to stipple any unwanted drips you can also just Pat it lightly with the sponge you'll notice I keep a very random motion with my sponge I don't just dab in one direction I simply just turn it a half turn each time I dab it quick simple easy for producing some pretty dramatic elegant looks for additional accenting you can use a contrasting color of the rust-oleum semi-transparent concrete stain I'm simply going to use a contrasting color and we're going to use a technique that's called dry brushing I mean just barely load the tips of the brush offload the majority of the staying onto a rag and then just with a real light touch come in and dry brush the side area of the bench just to get a little bit of additional accenting it is also a good idea to have a rag on hand that if you do get a little bit on the side you simply wipe it off right there as you go for additional accenting we can now use a third color of the rust-oleum semi-transparent concrete stain in a much darker color we're going to do some of the detail work on the side of the bench you don't need to get you don't need to worry too much about sitting here and getting it absolutely perfectly detailed it's much more natural-looking gives it a very nice patina to go ahead and just get it on quickly as you see here and then simply come back with your dry rag and rub it back off and on and it gives it a very elegant patina appearance here's another great idea add some stain color to your pre-existing concrete stepping stones or your new steppin stones another great technique of transforming your gray unsightly paver stone is to add additional stain color and make it look realistic like a natural piece of slate now I'm going to use the dry brushing technique just to simply blend so I'm using an actual dry brush and as it starts to accumulate stain I want to offload the stain trying to keep as dry brush as possible just to kind of blend it we want soft edges that's all there is to it here's another easy way of transforming your stepping stones simply by adding two colors wet on wet at the same time it's perfectly okay to leave it dry as is or if you wanted to blend the colors a little bit more harmoniously you could simply take a paintbrush or what I like to use is a stipple brush and simply lightly pounce the colors together blending them in this fashion we've shown you some very easy and effective methods of transforming your gray don't concrete into something that's quite extraordinary have some fun with this and for more information visit us at our website rust-oleum calm

Channel: Rust-Oleum

Views: 1,047,837

Keywords: concrete stain, rust-oleum, rustoleum, concrete, stain, staining, concrete staining, stain concrete

Id: Vj76uEbNjwA

Length: 27min 45sec (1665 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 19 2012