LESLIE: Coming up we have Joan in Louisiana who’s got a problem with the old and the new concrete not matching up.
Joan, tell us about it.
JOAN: Well, we poured some new concrete and it doesn’t quite meet at the doorways where the other concrete is. And I used some of the other patch concrete and it’s definitely a different color and I’m going to eventually stain it all. But I was just wondering if I could go back and fill in some areas with regular concrete. I didn’t know if it would adhere to the new concrete or not.
TOM: It probably will not. You’re probably going to want to use an epoxy patching compound because that’s the only thing that’s going to adhere to concrete real well and not crack and fall out and just basically turn to little chips.
LESLIE: Now Tom, with all of these different types of concrete and the epoxy patching, when she goes to stain it all, will it stain uniformly?
TOM: Probably not. Why do you want to stain it? Is painting an option?
LESLIE: No, painting is not an option.
TOM: Well, OK, but just keep in mind that you’re going to have some differentiation in color because you have different materials poured at different times, different densities, and they’re just not going to accept stain or if you’re using an acid stain, they’re going to react differently.
LESLIE: Yeah, but if you embrace the differences and, say, select two or three different colors of concrete stain and sort of wet blend them together to create areas of depth and areas of different coloration, you might make that difference work for you and create a beautiful sort of pattern in your gaming room.
TOM: I hope that helps you out. Thanks again for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.
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