Stain Your Indoor Concrete Floor Like a Pro

Stained concrete is a chic looking floor finish that also provides cost savings over any other flooring choice. You don't need a modern interior space for stained concrete floors. This floor finish looks striking with all manners of interior design styles, from cottage cozy to minimalist contemporary.

Clean the floors until they are totally free of any dust, grit or dirt. They must be completely scrubbed clean. Start with a broom and then detail clean with a vacuum. Next, use Mason's Select Concrete Cleaner, or similar, and clean thoroughly. This product will also help remove stains, oil and grease from the concrete.Tape and protect the baseboards and the lower portion of your walls. This entire process can easily ruin those surfaces.

It is necessary to etch the concrete floor surface. The concrete cannot be smooth, as a smooth surface will not allow the stain to penetrate. Use Mason's Select Safe Solution, or similar, to safely etch the floors in preparation for staining. Apply to the etching solution using a five gallon bucket and mop. You have to work it quickly. Once complete, run your hand over the surface, the concrete floor should feel like fine sandpaper. If not, repeat the process.

Use a bucket of water and a squeegee to clean the concrete one final time. Dry the concrete floor surface completely. It's a good idea to put a space heater in the room for 24 hours or more after final cleaning the concrete. There cannot be any moisture on concrete floors prior to staining otherwise the concrete stain will develop bubbles and flake in the future.

Pick up your concrete stain, concrete sealer and stain sprayer. There are acid stains, acrylic stains and epoxy floor coatings. Acid stains provide a richer texture and a more mottled look, a bit like marble. Acrylic and epoxy coatings provide for a painted floor look. Keep in mind acid staining is a coloring process while epoxy coating is a painting process. This article outlines the acid stain coloring process. Your best concrete stain products will come from a contractor supply house, so look in the phone book and find one near you.

Apply the concrete stain with a sprayer a self pumping, one gallon sprayer. This process provides for a finish with a lot of dimension or mottling as it's called in the industry. If you want a morea uniform, monochrome finish then roll on the stain. 

Let the stain dry for several hours and then decide if you want another to apply another coat based on the color. Let your final coat dry for 24 hours before walking on it.

Finally, seal the concrete stain. Apply concrete sealer with a roller. The sealer will not look clear as it is applied, but it will dry clear. Wait at least four hours before applying the second coat of sealer, which is necessary. Importantly, you can add anti-skid additives to the sealer to avoid slip and falls. This is a good idea for a kitchen or bathroom where the floor gets wet.

TIP: Using a Skilsaw and a concrete blade, you can saw cut a diamond or square pattern grid into the concrete and use alternating stain colors. Use a small roller to apply the stain. The saw cut groove helps avoid stain bleeding into the other stain section or square. This is a very effective method for creating a nice finish for your patio.

TIP: Most conrete stain colors are earth tones. If you want a dark surface, such as black, mix stains together. This works well.