<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Re: [Greenbuilding] Redoing all floors</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<FONT FACE="Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>Jason... I’ve been in the industrial coating biz since 1989, so etching to me has always meant “acid etching”. Any other type of surface prep would be called something different....blasting, scrabbling, scarifying, etc. Not everyone uses the correct terminology, so mistakes can be made. Too many contractors who don’t know how to prepare concrete have tried to acid etch a slab that has a cure-n-seal on it, only to find that the acid doesn’t work. In your situation, the stripper worked because the paint, sealer and stain are all topical. However, If you tried to acid etch that surface without stripping it first, it wouldn’t do a thing.<BR>
<BR>
Off topic...Those soy-based stains...I’m still not convinced there is any “green” benefit to them. According to what I’ve read, don’t you have to acid etch bare concrete before applying the stain? So, if you are still using an acid, why is the stain any more eco-friendly than using an acid stain? Just curious. <BR>
<BR>
Andy<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On 7/27/11 3:01 PM, "Jason Holstine" <jason@amicusgreen.com> wrote:<BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Calibri"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14.0px'>Hi Andy,<BR>
<BR>
Tell that to my own concrete, when a customer decided to spill a gallon of paint, and we used our soy-based paint stripper and it tore right through the spilled paint, sealer, and soy-based stain so the concrete ended up looking bare. It doesn’t have to be an acid etch to “etch” up the sealers. Ultimately, the success of the approach depends on the concrete and how deep these finishes/stains were allowed to get. If the concrete was messed up, they may well be sitting more on top than in it.<BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
</BODY>
</HTML>