Painters tape uses a type of acrylic resin glue, which is similar to the acrylic resin used in decorative sealers used on concrete. Sometimes the glue bonds to the sealer, so that when the tape is removed it also takes the top layer with it. One solution would be to use a faux finish technique with tints or stains, followed by resealing. A more extreme solution would be to strip the entire floor and redo it.

Contact your concrete refinisher. They will have experienced something like this before. It is their finish, which means you will want their input as to how to fix it. They will know all the tricks.

And yes...tape removes finishes. Get estimates as to how this can be fixed and then go from there. It is possible something extra will be needed...which means "extra cost" to this job.

Hey Mark, I've got the same problem and was curious if you were able to find any solutions that removed the tape stains?

Hey Mark, Thanks for thoughtful the reply. We actually plan on doing 4x4' joint lines, only problem is they don't align with the tape marks. As you can see, the marks aren't as severe as the one you had, but still a major frustration.

Seems like my options are:

A. Demo the floor and do it again. Major deal and throws off the timeline pretty terribly.

B. Possibly grind down the entire floor further exposing more and more aggregate in hopes that the tape lines become less consistent and the white pebbles become more larger and more visible toward the surface diminishing the visibility of the stain. Any advice on this? You mentioned you grinded down further, but was it just over the stain line or the entire floor?

C. Live with it, and as it's my house, hopefully the curing rates will balance out in the next few years and the lines grow faint and eventually disappear. This should happen right?

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Will

Hi Will, sorry to see that. I know exactly how you feel! Considering its your own house, if it were me I would do the following: Grind down slightly more exposing a little more aggregate and hopefully lightening the lines, add a color stain; we used concrete gray and charcoal, so we stained the whole floor with concrete gray and then we used charcoal to create a more mottled look. the concrete stains are very subtle so they seldom change the natural look too much. having slightly 'mottled' colors will soften the lines even further. You will probably still see them but they will hopefully fade as time passes. Good luck!

Will Hoffman, have you considered a thin micro cement overlay?

I haven't... Can you tell me a bit more about the micro cement overlay. Keep in mind, we want to see the aggregate like the picture attached below. Is this possible to do with the micro cement overlay?

You may not be able to do this with a micro topping because the aggregates are to fine. Plus with most micro overlays you're not able to polish.

Schonox DSP along with their primer you'll be able to achieve the finish you're looking for. It can go down at a 1/4". I'm sure there are many products that can achieve the same type of finish, this is just the one i'm familiar with.

Hi Thomas, providing you don't tape directly to the floor (as we did) you will be fine. All the ram board we put down was taped to each other (board to board not board to floor) excepting the starting piece. We had no problems excepting the starting piece. What I do suggest is being very very thorough and making sure a) not one piece of tape touches the raw concrete and b) every piece of concrete is covered evenly with the board-covering the concrete causes different curing rates so you don't want to cover some areas and not others. Good luck!

Same Issue, ram board after slab dried to protect while plaster etc..., planning a mechanical grind & seal ( minimal exposure) ? Any ideas on what we should do or are we also stuffed?! Someone mention we should leave it unsealed for a month nd the moisture may replace or something ...