We have 500sf back patio with full sun southern exposure. It was covered in pebble tech which we had demolished & removed, then smoothed the old concrete patio over with a grinding machine & cleaned. I was trying to be eco-friendly and stupidly chose a water-based stain instead of acid. I wanted a speckled/mottled/distressed/uneven colored concrete look BUT the light blue water-based stain color came out solid - looked crazy like a swimming pool!!! To add insult to injury, we had a 1970s decorative dolphin which the grinding machine & chemicals couldn't remove since my handyman thought it was ceramic & he didn't know how to get it all off (all the other pebble-tech came up easily), so it's chipped but still there mostly too although we can cover it with an outdoor rug would be ideal to remove it.

Within 24 hours we etched the whole patio and applied acetone which thinned it out the water based stain unevenly. Last we applied a layer of grey water-based concrete stain on top of the blue. It looks acceptable but not great, and we haven't sealed it yet. I'm thinking it'll fade, chip over time anyway to get a 'distressed' look??

My question is how hard would it be to do the acid based stain. Any thoughts on putting the acid right on top of the stain to see what happens maybe in a small corner? I do NOT want to have to float a new layer of concrete, nor do I want to grind down again since I'm afraid we've already messed with old concrete a lot and not sure how much more pounding it can handle. The etching & acetone didn't remove it, they only thinned it even with hard scrubbing with tools & steel wool.

What options do we have to 1) leave the water-based stain but give it a 'cool' acid-stain like effect or 2) put an acid on top of a water-based stain or is that nuts or 3) let us fade for a few years THEN do the acid-based stain?? BONUS POINTS on ideas on how to remove that stubborn dolphin!

THANK YOU.

 

Welcome to the forums!

Acid stains are only for raw concrete. It is a chemical reaction between the acid and the concrete that produces the stain. Acid stain will not work over any type of coating. While acid stains are best sealed, most solid color concrete stains don't require a sealer.

Not sure I understand about the dolphin pics might be helpful - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html

 

Also, blue or green acid stains are not for outdoor use. They can turn black when exposed to moisture for periods of time. This includes weathered bronze, which appears brown or tannish on charts but is actually considered a green.