Types of Concrete Stain
There are two different types of concrete stain that you might consider if you would like to put in stained concrete inside or outside of your home. These different types include reactive and nonreactive. Concrete is a surface that is perfect for different stains because it is porous. The colors provided by staining concrete are different with the two types.
Concrete of any type can be stained and colored. The good news is that you can stain the current concrete that you have laying outside your backyard for the patio. This means you are not required to lay the concrete all over again. The important factor is that the concrete is not covered with any type of coating like glue, grime, sealers, or curing membranes. This is because if the concrete is covered with something then it may not take the stain properly because it cannot penetrate all of the way. It is a great choice to stain concrete because it can completely change the look and feel of interior or exterior flooring.
Reactive concrete stain reacts. A reactive stain is a chemical stain that is water based acidic solution. It includes metallic salts that cause a reaction with the lime content in concrete. When the reaction occurs, the stain will form a permanent bond with a concrete slab and act as a protectant. This is very useful so the concrete will not chip or peel away.
A nonreactive concrete stain is a water based acrylic. This type of stain doesn’t rely on any sort of chemical reaction to cause the concrete to take in any color. This type of stain works by penetrating the surface of the concrete to deposit the pigments inside of the open pores. This is a very popular method of coloring concrete because the choices of color are much broader than you find with chemical stains. A nonreactive concrete stain is much easier to apply to the concrete. However, there is one downside and that is the concrete may vary in color and not look as consistent throughout the application. The color tones of acid concrete stain are usually more in uniform.
