Acid Washing Concrete

I'm in the learning process and preparing to etch a concrete drive before staining it and I have a couple of quesions. 1- What would be the dilution rate of the muratic acid and water? 2- Will the diluted acid kill the customer's saint augustine grass? 3- Using H & C Concrete stain, should I roll it or spray it with an airless sprayer? Thanks in advance for your replys and for being there for us newbies! Brian

when we stained I did not use acid to etch the concrete. But we did use a 3000 psi pressure washer with a 15 degree tip to clean the surface I wish I had the surface cleaner attachment at the time We also rolled it. But make sure which way you roll/spray the stain the first time. You roll/spray the stain in the opps. direction. Ex. rolled left to right. then on the next coat roll it from top to bottom It came out looking good But like in everything prep work is the key in everything -Dean

If the concrete is new, acid etch is good. Read and follow label directions. It won't hurt the grass if you rinse well. If it's not new, then pressure washing is all you need.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll acid wash it and rinse the grass well. I didn't know that I would get a call from a potential customer (Newspaper ad) asking me to do concrete staining. I listed as a parking lot striper and this older gentleman called me. I figured my cost and gave him what I thought was a fairly high proposal price. He didn't even bat an eye and said " when can ya start?". I guess I can add this to my jobs menu once I complete it satisfactorily.

the xylene based HC stain works for us best.. wear some gloves...roll and spray both ways like Dean said. use thick nap roller adn good luck.

You should check with the manufacturer of the stain. Some don't reccommend acid etching. Also many stains are applied with the garden type sprayer.