Customer Reviews for Eagle 1 Gal. Graphite Interior/Exterior Acid Stain

I used a whole gallon and got 90% of my concrete stain so I ordered another gallon to finish the rest and now it wont come anywhere close to matching. I'm on my 3rd gallon and making no progress.

NOT FOR BROOM FINISH CONCRETE. This product takes a lot of careful prep and rinsing then sealing. I have used it on smooth troweled concrete (garages) before with success, but lots of work. When I used it on broom finish concrete after the test patch came out ok, I was extremely disappointed. This stain should not be used on rough concrete as the results are not predictable. It turned our new concrete porch and steps a dirty brown and black and was blotchy and uneven. It made it look like it was 70 years old and mildewed. I had to rewash with acid and use a primer and solid stain to cover the concrete in a different color. I was very disappointed in this product and would advise never to use it on broom finished concrete!

I followed the instructions exactly. Spent hours prepping. The acid stain turned the entire surface solid black, like a 100 year old driveway coated in oil. I was so excited for this project until now. What a massive waste of time and money. I really wish I would get a refund as this has ruined my patio area. Not I have to spend a ton more money to try and fix it. So disappointed.

Simple to use. Beautiful results. Graphite color reads mor brown than gray but that is consistent with the test area results.

Easy application, color came out beautiful. Very pleased with the product

I will start by saying that this Rustic color is really nice. Once applied and after 3 coats, it looks like a really nice brown leather. My wife and I started with 3 coats of Rustic, and there was a little too much of an "orange" tint to the floor for the color we planned for the walls, so we went over the Rustic with 2 coats of the Eagle Cocoa acid stain. The picture shown is of the final product, after the neutralization and rinsing process, and 3 coats of high gloss concrete sealer. We plan on applying the Eagle floor polish this evening, so the photo is prior to the polishing step. I will say that the entire acid staining process is very labor-intensive but very much worth the effort. All in, staining the concrete in this room cost us about 1/2 the price per square foot of putting down the laminate flooring that we used in the other rooms in hour house, and looking back we wish we would have stained the concrete in those rooms as well. The bottle says that one gallon covers up to 400 SF, however we had a 400 SF room and used 3 gallons (2 Rustic & 1 Cocoa) for 5 coats (2,000 SF total), applied with a pump sprayer and still had some stain left, so it goes a long way. Two pieces of advice - don't judge the final color until the concrete is sealed as it will change slightly, and don't over-scrub the neutralizer after staining unless you are trying to lighten up the floors. The end result is that we have an AMAZING floor that my wife and I cannot believe we did ourselves, and we are so happy with the result that we plan to do other rooms in our house as our laminate wears out. Highly recommended!

Awesome product worked as expected, I think it is a little bit short on coverage though, but otherwise awesome.

JUST SAY NO! I could NOT be more disappointed in this stuff! They need to change the name from Taupe, to "Mildew" ! I am NOT kidding! I only gave it one star because you have to, to do a review. We bought a gazebo to put on our patio so we wanted to dress up the concrete before we put the gazebo up. The thing is huge so we would not be able to move it to do anything once it's up. We researched the concrete stains and from other people's reviews, we found that normal in-store type stains aren't really stains but more like paint that will peel, especially with chairs & table legs scraping across them. Acid stain looked like the winner. We ordered two of the stains, three cans of the sealer, and one of the de-greaser/neutralizers. That added up. I pressure washed the concrete, used the de-greaser, etc. and followed all the instructions. The patio looked great! Then we applied the stain. At first it looked like it wasn't doing anything but it darkened as it sat for the six hours. We followed the instructions to neutralize etc... There are patches that didn't take the stain like others, there are streaks that look like they're places we missed with the pressure washer. The streaks are pretty much the width of the patio, the problem is, we used one of the round surface attachments for the pressure washer, so there are no "lines" per-say. I have no idea what would have caused the lines???? I wish I had gotten a picture of the patio prior to adding the stain as it looked great, almost like new. We just wanted it to look "fancy" & help prevent mildew/stains down the road. The pics I've added are after the stain job was complete. Thank God we didn't use the sealer because it would stay dark and make it harder for other stains or paints in the future, to adhere. Two of the pics are "dry". The rest of them are wet from the hose & that's what it would stay like if we sealed it after. It seriously looks like 18 years of mildew buildup. SMH We HATE IT! We have to cover it up so we decided to tile over the whole thing but when we priced tiles that wouldn't be a slip & slide when they get wet, we were very discouraged! The other concrete "stains" just don't have good reviews, especially with furniture traffic. We did find something with good reviews finally, and here on HD's site. I wish they carried any of this stuff in store but at least we can get it. We're going with Insl-x Sure Step. We will write a review once we get it and apply it. No, it's not a new concrete patio, it's 18 yrs old.

We completed the project of appling this acid stain on our family room floor about 3 weeks ago. We were able to cover a 500 square feet area with less than 2 gallons. Our home is 40 years old, so this was old concrete. To remove the remaining stain and neutralzer, it does take numerous moppings and rinsings. Using a shop vac with squeegee attachment to remove excess water does make the task much easier. We applied 2 coats of Eagle high gloss floor sealer and also 3 coats of an industrial floor finish. We are very happy with the results, and this is so economical and easy to clean.

I would highly recommend this product. I applied this product to a newly poured concrete floor (3 months old), and applied one coat, undiluted. I did not pre treat the concrete or etch. The color is a little bit darker than the illustration, but truly a work of art. The floor looks professionally done, as well as having lots of character. The neutralizing of the floor was indeed very labor intensive. I mopped and scrubbed by hand. The floor required not less than 8 rinses and a thorough scrubbing with a scrub brush. I would recommend using a commercial buffer and shop vac to simplify. I used a simple deck sprayer ($18), for the application of the stain, and it worked just fine. I will most certainly use this product again.

The stain is everything I hoped it would be. Extremely easy to use and appears to "soak" into the concrete well. I did not dilute it with water as others have done and I am completely satisfied with the results.

My customers are pleased so you just have to know what you are doing

Previously had unstained uni-lock blocks that made up a low wall. I wanted to change the color to a tan color. I chose the Wheat color for my purpose. Applied acid stain as per instructions. It took about 8 hours for the concrete blocks to change color. Very Happy with the product. I did apply two coats which made a difference.

This is a great product. We had a lot of great success with it. I will say as others have, this is a very time intensive project. It's not necessarily complicated- just tedious and time consuming. Be ready for MANY floor cleanings. But if you are patient, it will pay off huge. We absolutely love our floor. I have a blog posting all about our basement project if you'd like to read more about it. Mostly as far as process goes, we followed the tutorials that Eagle had provided and also made sure to read all the bottles many times. Can't stress enough that preparation is the biggest key in this project. Here's the link to my blog! https://wiscomichiganlife.com/2017/07/07/the-basement-saga/

The color came out as we expected after seeing the online reviews and mfg. picture. We were going for a more yellow/rust look and that's what we got. Our only complaint is it took 4 gallons and multiple coats to do a little over 400 square feet. We used the stain on 2 newly poured exterior concrete slabs that we were sure to wait the 4 weeks before applying. However, the first slab came out a lot more rust colored than the other. The second slab was not reacting like the first and there are still areas that you can see are very light yellow and the gray concrete look is visible under it. We followed the mfg. instructions to a T, used all Eagle1 products and even watched their how to video. Not sure if it was the way the concrete cured, less stuff in the concrete to react with (even though it was the same pour), outdoor application or what. We even made sure to apply the second coat in the early morning hours when it was cooler thinking it would help. We opted to use the water based Eagle1 Natural Seal sealer, so it has a matte finish instead of shiny. Maybe a glossy sealer would have darkened it?

Used on a quikrete walkway project. First did a 1:1 stain to water ratio application. Covered around 200 square feet with a sprayer. Had just enough left to do a full strength application to a random quarter of the project so about 50 square feet. Color came out very nice.

This is easy to use. I used a small nap roller and applied three coats. Then I applied a fourth coat. While the fourth coat was semi-dry, I used a hand sander and sanded away the surface to give it a marble look with veins. I also took a wet rag and smeared the coat a bit. If you just remove the excess you'll get the finish in the product photo. I used H&C Concrete Sealer, Gloss, which was easy to use and gave the floor a shiny look. I tried others and was disappointed.

Easy to use, beautiful results. You will get an amazing floor for a fraction of the cost of any other type of floor.

This is a great product and works as advertised. Very easy to use for the beginner. I will be using more of this on other projects

Very easy to use! Turned out beautifully. We used this for concrete countertops and it came out just awesome! Just follow the directions on the bottle.

Purchased 3 gallons but used 2. Sprayed the first gallon as 50/50. Sprayed the second as full strength. After I neutralized, I liked the look when wet and thought it would be that dark with the sealer. Unfortunately, it was much lighter. If I had to do it again, I would place more product on the concrete. (Also, the concrete was NEW and had only cured 7 days)

The Eagle Acid Stain performed very well on both new and 30 year old concrete. The custom precast concrete post bases were complimented nicely by the Rustic Stain and gave the "Pop" factor I wanted. Use a stiff plastic bush to massage the acid onto the concrete sides to prevent flow lines. Use same brush on top surface as well. Will use product again.

This step was the simplest to apply. I did this in my basement and the only thing I didn't anticipate was how much water you are putting down and taking up during the whole process. All in all, a good result and the pride of a job well done. When you first put it down, it looks orange, but let it cure and you'll be alright (see pictures)

Power washing took the longest, over an hour. Spraying the stain was fast and easy. neutralizing and scrubbing was by far the hardest and longest step. The gloss sealer I used didn't come out of the sprayer in a fine enough mist to use by itself so I had my brother use a roller as I sprayed the concrete sealer/gloss. Overall I am happy with the project.

We used this for our new stamped concrete and came out great. We spayed it in a circular motion without brushing it in like some videos say. We wanted a two tone effect We did two coats. On the borders we rolled it on to have a more consistent color. We also did afront porch that has old concrete and came out good. We powered washed it a few times and used stripper to remove old paint. We also painted over two pieces of integral colored concrete and the results of the colors were the same as the stamped concrete. It was a light integral color so I'm sure it will vary by color. We thought it would be cheaper than integral color but after we finished we probably spent more than integral color but the results I think are better and look high end. The color variation you get look great Overall we are happy with the results.

Pictures do the talking, A progression of the stain reacting with the concrete and pictures of the finished result!

After watching few videos on how to stain (it looks so easy ) i bought this product. First its not all that easy as it sounds and looks. You will need a lot of time cause takes time to prep etch dry neutralize wash off dry again betwen coats etc... Product does do the job. You will need 2 gallons for 400sqft garage. In HD store they sold me Muriatric acid for etching saying that i need this before i stain ( while i was waiting order to come in mail i cleaned and etch with acid , next day order came on and first thing it said DO NOT USE ACID TO ETCH) Went to store with instructions to ask them why they said Acid etch is must. Wanted to be sure that i didnt screw something up(and i did). The guy who sold me the Acid made excuse that he ment for Behr stainer you need to use Acid :(. Its to late now. It did good job but would be much better if i didnt kill all crystals in concrete with Acid etching process. For first coat dont soak it wet it takes forever to clean neutralize. Lost of Amonnia water and washing off. It came out pretty cool. Im happy over all. Just wish i didnt used that Acid to etch.

It was a ton of work....but i am happy with the results. I loved the bronze as the first initial color. I also used a darker color( valspar concrete"stain" more like a paint) to help hide concrete blemishes by spraying a splatter pattern(it was not an acid based...more like a very thin concrete paint). Do NOT skimp on the concrete prep. We cleaned the heck out of the concrete. Do NOT skimp on the neutralizing part either. I used ammonia and water to neutralize...no need for any special stuff. overall i love the color that came out of the bottle. we got away with using one bottle for just a bit under 400 square feet. If i could have ordered another one and have it get here in time... i would recommend it... it was just barely enough for our porous concrete. We left it on over night because we barely had enough for full coverage.

I had a new walkway poured in April and then my driveway and patio poured in May. I prepped and applied the stain to all of them on a mild day in November. The stain reacted completely differently on the walk than it did on the driveway and patio due to different batches of concrete. However, I love the results on both. I used the rustic on the borders and the taupe on the main areas(though Home Depot did not have taupe on the website at the time, I called Eagle products and they swapped out the wheat for the taupe on my order) I also used the Eagle Armor Seal which works well but makes it a bit slippery when wet even with a rough textured float finish.

We have 30 year old concrete walks driveway and patio. They look like new now! Several cracks and some raised toe stub edges existed at expansion joints. Raised edges were ground down. I disguised the edges and cracks with darker stain of COCOA color solution. (see below) Masking house stucco and walls to be the hardest chore. Spraying the stain was fun and easy. Waiting for it to react takes patience. Most of ours reacted within 4 hours in 80 degree temperature. I found baking soda solution stopped the reaction better than ammonia. With ammonia it continued to darken somewhat even though it was a strong solution. Started by using a home grade pressure washer. Found using TSP was unnecessary. Wife likes the darker colored areas. That is the COCOA color solution. I added more COCOA in a random fashion here and there. The main areas are RUSTIC diluted 2:1 and 1:1.(for blending and interest) COCOA was diluted with 2 parts water and 1 part RUSTIC. Otherwise, it turned out black instead of chocolate. We liked it so much we went on to do every bit of concrete. The garage is next and last.