I have a concrete walkway that exterior paint and stain will not last very long on. I now realize from doing some research that I had not used a seperate primer or adhesive of any kind but rather porch paint that had primer mixed in it. Anyways, I have heard that if I use Muriatic acid to prep it then the stain will adhere much better. So I have a few questions now. Does anybody recommend this process of using Muriatic Acid first? If so how can I protect my neighbors walkway from anything getting onto it when I go to rinse off MY walkway? Will a plastic tarp surfice? Next question is after using the Muriatic acid should I use a primer next or just go ahead and stain? And finally, which concrete stain is the best? I have heard that Sherwin Williams H&C is too expensive for what its worth and a lot of mixed reviews. I also see Behr has a deep base Concrete stain with a Siliconized acrylic formula but that has a rating on homedepot.ca of 3.8 out of 5. Behr also has a product called DeckOver which has only a 3 out of 5 rating on that site too. So should I ignore bad reviews since some people may be unhappy cause they can't prep properly or what should I do? Any help is appreciated.

 

If the concrete is rough or well weathered you shouldn't need to etch it with muratic acid - it's mainly for slick concrete [opens up the pores] Generally a good cleaning is all that is needed.

I'm partial to the H&C stain and have had good results with it although I've mostly used it on porches and garage floors. The problem with coatings like deckover is it's a thick coating and once it fails you'll have an uneven mess to contend with. I don't know a lot about Behr's coatings other than they don't have a great reputation.

 

For what its worth, about 3 years ago I took Marks advice and stained my open front porch concrete floor with H & C solvent based stain and it has held up better than any concrete stain I've ever used. Zero chipping and peeling over 3 long Upstate NY winters.

I've used other name brand products over the years labeled as concrete stains and none of them have held up very well. They all seem to peel and lift after a very short time.

Yes, it's expensive but I feel its one of the products where you get what you pay for.