"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 7/8/2009 8:47 AM spake thus:

On Wed, 8 Jul 2009 08:59:02 -0600, "SteveB"
wrote:

My question is: Is staining about 1000 sf of concrete something a
diy newbie can do?

Steve, I stained my driveway and it was no big deal. The stain is
usually acid based and you spray it on.

So you're saying you can spray color onto existing concrete with a
fighting chance of it being permanent? I'm wondering because I have a
client who wants to have some newly-poured concrete in front of their
house painted, and I told them that I thought that painting concrete was
not a good idea.

More details? Color range?

there's a bazillion ways to do this.

the color acid actually causes a chemical reaction to occur. different
chemicals are used for the different colors, as it's not a dye. it sinks in,
so is permanent, but does wear some as the surface of the concrete gets worn
down so can change colors (and can fade in sunlight).

it doesn't work well, if at all, if the concrete is acid prepped (like one
does for epoxy coating) because the acid from that has already been
counteracted by the alkaline concrete so there's not much left for the
reaction.

here's a site that explains a lot of it: http://www.fabcrete.com/index.htm.
there's a lot of sites for this.

regards,
charlie
cave creek, az