We all have ‘problem’ areas in our yards: patches where grass refuses to grow, an unsightly corner, or perhaps an awkward traffic flow. If you’re anything like me these areas are ignored and nothing gets done because I simply do not know how to solve the ‘problem’. Well, I had a big problem with my Patio: the porch that leads onto the patio is an old slab of concrete.
It wasn’t bad enough that the slab of concrete was just a few inches too short to fit a table and four chairs; it was also cracked, pitted, patched, stained, chipped concrete slab.
Get the picture, it was U-G-L-Y.
Hideous, yes? No matter how I tried to dress it up with plants, furniture or art, the concrete patio was a glaring eye sore.
But what was I to do? Since the day I bought this house that concrete slab was a thorn in my side. I was not a DIY’er then and had only two solutions in my tool bag: hire or buy my way out of a home renovation problem. But who do you hire for an existing concrete porch and more importantly, what would they do?
I ran one ‘buy’ option and tried concrete stain; luckily it was on a small ‘test’ area. This was about 10 years ago and it just turned into a big hot mess. There were only a few colors to choose from, mine turned out to be a peachy-orange’ish hue which did not cover anything. It sat there for years just looking like another stain on the concrete before fading away.
With all the improvements I was making on my patio, it was inevitable that I had to tackle this problem area.
As I soon found out, concrete stains have come a long way, baby!
Yes, that is the same concrete slab.
Because the concrete was so old and in such rough shape I chose a patterned design to cover the imperfections. To my delight I found that concrete stains now come in a wide assortment of fabulous colors offered in varying transparencies so you can create virtually any look or ‘texture’ you want. Choosing the colors and design is always the best part of any DIY project but this turned out to be really easy and went smoothly from start to finish. I had a new patio in one weekend with the help of a girlfriend.
Staining concrete is a three or four-part process depending on the design and color or colors used. I was going for a marbled look in natural colors and decided on a two-color, sponged process.
Prep, Color, Seal: Prepping the concrete involves cleaning it, then applying the Color(s) and finally protecting it with a coat of Sealant. The sealant not only protects the work you’ve done but also adds another dimension to your design: you can use a high gloss finish for a ‘wet’ look or a semi-gloss for a natural sheen, truly the options are limitless.
How To Revive A Concrete Patio With Stain
Materials:
- Heavy-Duty Rubber Gloves and Boots
- Rags
- Hose / water source
- Large Watering Can
- Long Handle Scrub Brush
- One-Gallon Plastic Pump Spray Container
- Stain Color(s)
- Acid Etch (for surface prep)
- Concrete stain sealant
- Paint rollers with extension handle
- Miscellaneous: Concrete Patch, Scraper, Sea Sponges or tools needed for special patterns
1.
Concrete Preparation: Remove all objects from the area you are going to stain. Cover or tape off any areas in close proximity that you want to protect. Patch any cracks with a matching concrete patch, I like the ones in tubes because it’s easier to apply. Let the concrete dry thoroughly.
Scrape loose particles off the concrete and wash/scrub the surface. Because the concrete on my porch was old and had a porous surface (unsealed) I prepped it on a Friday afternoon with an all-in-one Cleaner, Degreaser and Etcher: Fast Prep from Lowes.
Acid Etch: An acid etch cleans and preps the concrete surface. I prepped the concrete by doing small areas at a time: wet an area of the concrete surface, pour the Fast Prep into a watering container and ‘water’ the wet concrete. Using the long handle scrub brush I scrubbed the surface, then rinsed the area. I continued this process until the entire surface was ‘etched’. Let this dry thoroughly. It goes much faster than it sounds.
2.
The next day, Saturday, my friend Rose came over and together we added the color. Using the roller with an extension handle, I rolled out a small area of the base color and Rose ‘sponged’ over the wet base coat with the second, accent color. It took a few tries before we got the exact pattern I was looking for but after that it went pretty fast. We started on one end and worked our way to the other end. I let this dry overnight.
3.
On Sunday, I got up early and after spending quite a bit of time staring at my beautiful ‘new’ patio, I could not believe the transformation, I swept the porch off. I sealed the surface by pouring the Sealant directly onto the concrete and rolling it out with a clean paint roller. This went really fast. I let this dry for about 6 hours and then added another coat. I used a semi-gloss sealant which slightly darkened the stain making the colors pop and gave the whole surface a slight, diffused sparkle. Very cool.
This was a fun, easy low-cost project that totally transformed my Patio. I cannot even express how much I love the look. I did this project last spring and it weathered a pretty rough winter without any sign of wear. I was very careful at first but now I find myself dragging chairs across the surface. If you have concrete that needs a facelift I highly recommend staining it.
Can you even believe this is the same patio?
I purchased all the supplies for this project from Lowes (love that store!) and they have a great “How-To” Video Library that provides detailed steps on how to stain concrete.