Acid-Staining a Big White Wall
Julie had a retaining wall on her property that was a bright white eyesore. Here’s how she stained the wall for the better:
“I used your gel stain two years ago to stain a 120 foot white concrete retaining wall. The wall now looks great and I get a lot of compliments. I need one more quart of coffee brown gel stain to finish an area that I could not reach because my neighbor’s fence was too close.
“The wall was a regular poured concrete wall in a brick pattern form. I took a clean broom to wipe the concrete wall from any debris. I applied the Deco Gel with a paint brush. I spot stained occasional orange bricks then did the rest with coffee brown (not black). Then I used a sprayer with water and baking soda to neutralize the stain after it remained on the wall for many hours.”
-Julie J.
Julie’s Shopping List:
8 gallons of Coffee Brown Deco Gel
1 quart of Black Deco Gel
1 quart of English Red Deco Gel
3 gallons of Sprayable Satin Finish Sealer
It looks like Julie’s wall had been painted white. Can you apply the gel stain directly to painted concrete blocks?
Dear Tami.
Actually, her wall wasn’t painted. She was acid staining with Deco Gel Concrete Acid Stain a white cement wall. You cannot acid stain any painted surface because the stain needs to penetrate the concrete pores to be effective. If you have a painted wall, you might consider using the DCI Concrete Dye instead.
Thank you,
Direct Colors Inc.