Hi, I’m new to the forum from Meadow Creek, BC.
I’m building a bar for a client who wishes to have concrete counters. The company that’s making them says that red wine will stain. Is there any any way to seal the concrete to avoid this? I had thought of pre-staining the counters with wine, but I’m a little worried about what it will look like. Does anyone have any ideas?
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Replies
Heh-heh, I like the idea of prestaining the concrete with wine.
If you want to do a slightly more organized job of staining the counter, read up on "acid-stained concrete". Folks use stains to color concrete, generally on floors in high-end residences or fancy stores. The stains are generally applied to give a mottled appearance, rather than a single color. They'd do a good job of mottling your wine bar, and disguising any real wine.
Thanks for the tip
Mike,
Your best bet for a bulletproof countertop is to use a cured, film-type sealer. In the family of an epoxy or an acrylic. If this is a commerciial bar this is the smart way to go.
Film fiinishes are less desireable for a kitchen countertop, as hot pots/pans can discolor or lift the film finish. With this being for a bar, a film fiinish sounds like a good choice for protecting against spills and vomit. It'll also do well againt etching caused by citus sllices (lemons and llimes) left on the top.
There is a bit of slab prep required for a film finish. Different manufacturers have dfferent specifications in temrs of prepping the slab for their product. Read and heed.
One downside of film finishes is they give the slab a somwhat synthetic, "plastic" look. Think of a piece of fine furniture with a polyurethane film finish vs one with a hand-rubbed penetrating oil finish. If this bar is in a private residence, you could probably get away with a penetrating sealer due to the light use the bar would get. Still, for peace-of-mind, you may want to stick to the film finish family.
Nearly all of my experience is in using penetrating sealers on concrete countertops for kitchens. I can't be of much help in recommending a specific film fiinish. On kitchen countertops I recommend three coats of a penetrating sealer (I use Sealers Choice by AquaMix) followed by a buffed coat of paste wax. The wax can be renewed everry 3 months or so. Penetrating sealers can handle hot pots and pans with ease...though they are somewhat more susceptible to staining and acid etching if the spill is alowed to siit on the countertop for a long period of time.
White Mountain has an acrylic film sealer called "Wet Look". They carry that at my local yard.
Aqua-mix, Brightstone, Phenoseal, Miracle 5000, Glaze-'N-Seal are penetrating sealers.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.
I'm miles ahead of this morning -
Thanks