Stained Acid Edged Concrete Floor Cleaning (Interior)

A commercial client asked us to clean their restaurant tile floor.  The floor was an acid edged concrete floor. 

Acid edged concrete flooring is a very economical solution to create a unique flooring look by optimizing staining and acid washing.  Ones the concrete floor was stained and acid wash are applied to give it a unique free flowing antique but modern look.  The floor is then capped with an epoxy coating or a polyurethane coating. This coating gives it a hard and lasting cap.  But, it doesn't end there.  If the acid edging is installed properly, the contractor would have installed with the initial application three (3) or four (4) applications of flooring finish or sometimes referred to as floor wax. 

All though the floor is considered hard and resilient, it still needs some TLC.  Without manufacturers recommended maintenance, the applied floor wax will wear off in due time depending on the traffic and use of the facility.  As you can imagine, a restaurant has plenty of foot traffic, food and beverage spillage, and chemical floor mopping’s. 

Ones the floor wax has worn, the epoxy or polyurethane is unprotected and exposed to wear and tear.  Although the stained acid washed floor is protected by this finish, they are no untouchable for deterioration.  Harsh cleaning chemical cleanings (like Clorox, Pine-Sol, acids, etc.) and alcoholic beverages spills have the tendency to wear away these finishes.  As the finish is in distress, the stained aced wash finish is exposed to the elements.  Be mindful, stains applied to concrete only penetrated 1/32 of an inch into the concrete matrix.

 

To maintain this type of floor, one needs to treat it just like a vinyl composition tile (VCT) floor.  Residentially one needs to clean and reseal (wax) the floor about every three (3) months.  In commercial settings, the floor may need to be treated more frequently (i.e. every month) depending on the use of the facility.  Commercially, our public school system has initiated a pretty good maintenance program. They follow the cleaning and waxing routinely and they completely strip the floor ones and sometimes twice a year and then reseal their VCT floors with three (3) new layers floor finish (wax).