New product for the decoration of concrete floors
AS a leader in floor care technology, Tile & Floor Care (TFC) is launching another unique product – Coolcrete Concrete Stain – for the decoration of concrete floors. The product is styled as being a (genuinely) penetrating concrete stain, because the liquid penetrates into the concrete and a chemical reaction takes place that permanently changes the colour of the concrete.
The stain is not a coating and therefore does not disguise the natural grain and hues of the concrete. In addition, because it is a stain, it does not fade, peel or flake.
This brings the normally bland and boring cement substrate to life. The stain works very well as a stand-alone decorative finish or it blends very effectively with natural finishes such as sandstone, slate, travertine, mar-ble, and porcelain.
Coolcrete Concrete Stain is available in five colours, presented in 5-litre and 25-litre packs. One of the many benefits of this product is that you are only limited by your artistic flair, because the colours may be used together to create any type of pattern or shade. Concrete will be seen to be beautiful, like never before.
The use of Coolcrete has clear advantages for several reasons. For example, TFC knows and understands porous flooring substrates, thus providing a performance tested product; the stain will be protected by tried and tested TFC sealers, thus providing stain resistance and longevity.
The product is aimed at the DIY consumer, and thus is produced to be very user-friendly, plus the fact that it is a very cost-effective decorative application that provides a fashionable, natural choice of finish.
Coolcrete is available nationally through all TFC distribution centres, which means that it is readily available anywhere. This also means that the product is backed by the TFC support infrastructure and experience.
The application of the product is simple: firstly, the concrete surface must be cleaned using TFC Easy Clean, and two to three coats of the stain applied – depending on the porosity of the concrete. A period of 48 hours should then be allowed for the colour to develop, before sealing with a sealer of choice.
UNDERSTANDING COOLCRETE
Coolcrete concrete stain can be applied to new or old concrete. The concrete must be unsealed and porous, so that the stain can penetrate and re-act. How it works is that the metallic salts in an acidic water based solution re-act with the calcium hydroxide (free lime) in the hard concrete and yield insoluble permanent colours. The colours achievable are variants of three basic colour groups. These colour groups are black, brown and blue/green.
The acid in the Coolcrete solution opens the surface of the concrete and then the water causes the “rusting” re-action. This re-action begins immediately but can continue to develop for up to a month. There are other factors that can determine the outcome of the colour.
- Age of the cementMoisture content of the cement Type of aggregate in cement - siliceous aggregates such as gravel do not re-act with the stain. Floated, power floated or trowelled finishWeather conditions during stain applicationEfflorescence
- Preparation method before stain application
Newly laid floors contain more free lime than older established floors so Coolcrete will develop more colour on new cement floors.
Generally cements that are rich in calcium hydroxides will produce richer colours and the same goes for mixtures that contain greater proportions of cement.
Beware of cement additives and accelerators as they can affect the finish and are likely to cause a blotchy effect.
More colour is generated from floated floors that have been lightly trowelled than from floors that have been hard trowelled or power floated. This is because floated floors are less dense and contain more free-lime than dense trowelled and power floated floors.
Cement slabs laid in wet cool conditions develop more colour that those in dry warm conditions due to the fact that the higher and longer water presence causes more rusting. Also the stain penetrates deeper in wet cool conditions. However be aware that if the conditions are too wet, then efflorescence can occur, causing blotches. [[the stain is applied to a hot dry surface the development will be limited as the carriers will flash off immediately and thus not allow the stain to penetrate and re-act.
If the slab is constantly damp then the chemical re-action of the stain's development will continue and this will lead to the floor turning brown or even black. This stresses the importance that the slab has been correctly installed with the dampcourse layer below it.
Do not clean with acids before application as the acids kill the free-lime and thus limits colour development.
Remove all oils, waxes etc as these will prevent the stain from penetrating and re-acting with the free-lime.
| THE COLOUR OF THE LIQUID IN THE CONTAINER IS NOT THE FINAL COLOUR ON THE FLOOR!! VARIATIONS IN COLOUR MAY OCCUR AS THE STAIN NATURALLY RE-ACTS WITH DIFFERENT CONCRETE TYPES. |