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We prefer acid stains because of their transparency
and depth. We like to use techniques borrowed from watercolor
artists. We lay thin painter's plastic dropcloths into
the wet stain either wall to wall or in "rivers"
across the floor and leave it down during the entire
cure time. Gases well up from the slab during the reaction;
this lifts areas of the plastic, creating negative spaces.
Hence you get wonderful organic patterns which resemble
dragonfly wings or mottled leaves. Plastic also helps
to ease color transitions when you are mixing two stain
colors on the slab wet-into-wet.
 Any
absorbent natural material can be soaked in a darker
color of stain, drained in a plastic colander, and laid
or sprinkled onto the original stained background color.
Our current favorites are straw and alfalfa, which give
calligraphic effects.
We often use artist's acrylic paints to faux-paint
over bucket rings and stain blotches where the floor
has been patched. We mix the paint with clear gel medium
and dab it on with a sea sponge in thin layers to keep
the multicolored effect of the stained floor. We can
also "shift" the entire color of the floor
in one direction or another by adding artist's acrylic
paints to our clear water-based sealer for the first
few coats.
Gaye Goodman, Faux Real,
Albuquerque, N.M.
On a regular basis we
use acid stains, water-based stains and dyes.
With acid stains we'll often use a resist - a clear
sealer - that we apply with a sea sponge or rag, then
come over it with the stain. We'll also use eyedroppers
to bleed stain upon wet stain.
 With
dyes, use an HVLP sprayer. We use torn paper edges for
veins, waves and other effects.
You can use a variety of faux finish techniques with
waterbased acrylics: ragging on and off, sponging on
and off, blending, bleeding, layering, and more. You
have more time to work with water-based acrylics.
We also frequently combine methods. For example, apply
and acid stain as a base color and then clean, and for
more color contrast or intensity consider using an acrylic
stain or a dye or a combination of the two.
Other effects techniques include ripping old bed linens
into strips and applying them wet or dry onto wet stains,
sprinkling kitty litter or rock salt on a wet stain
to draw the stain to it; or scattering aluminum shavings
on acid stain for a chemical reaction.
Bob Harris, Decorative
Concrete Institute,
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