Concrete floor stain

[Steppenwolfe]

We are building a cabin on our rural property and I want to stain the concrete floor myself. This is a budget build. I have never stained concrete. The more I read the more confused I become. I am hoping the TBN faithful will share their experience and recommendations.

H&C Concrete stain... easy peasy. Home - H&C(R) Concrete

 

[buck12]

If you are still building you can tint the cement at pouring time. Your concrete finishers should be experienced enough to help you there.

The only staining of finished concrete Ive done has been by accident and has involved either wood stain, oil or grease. You could apply a two part industrial epoxy coating after the fact, but you need to have an extremely clean and oil/grease free surface to start with.

Personally Id go with tinting the cement as my first option, two part industrial epoxy coatings as my second option. Hire good, old world pros to do the finishing if you want a good job.

The concrete was poured in October.

 

[buck12]

Search the internet for concrete floor stain information.

That is where I started but there are so many options it becomes overwhelming. I new with all pros and DIY folks on TBN someone has some experience with this.

 

[buck12]

We moved into our new house on a slab last May. We hired the floor stained and sealed. We had an excellent concrete crew and they poured us a flat smooth floor highly power troweled.

First thing the stain/sealer crew did was grind the surface to a dull finish. Said if they didn't do that the stain wouldn't stick and we'd not be happy. My concrete guy sure was disappointed, he worked hard to get that sheen.....

After grinding and cleaning they applied the stain using a simple pump sprayer. Applied three different color stains to get a marbled look. Let the stain sit for two hours. Then applied two coats of water based sealer. Sprayed on the sealer and lightly mopped it. Then I applied four coats of water based polish. I sprayed it on and mopped with a micro fiber mop.

Some friends of ours built a slab house three years ago. They sealed their power troweled concrete. They have problems with the sealer chipping and coming off. I'm not sure what they cleaned it with prior to sealing. I know they didn't grind it. They had the same concrete crew that we used.

Our showers are walk-in on the finished concrete. When we first moved in they were pretty slick when wet. That has improved as we wore off the polish. Doing it over I wouldn't polish the shower floors. Otherwise we don't notice the floors being dangerously slick.

We are satisfied with the results. It's very easy to clean. With that said, it requires diligence if you are a "tidy" person. You will see every speck of dirt and dust that gets on the floor. There's nowhere for that stuff to hide. My wife is an exceptional housekeeper. I never wear my shoes inside out of respect for her.

We hired 1900 square feet stained/sealed. Cost us $5,000.

If your slab is highly polished by power trowel I am concerned whether you will get your stain/sealer to stick.

I'll attach some pics. First is the cleaner that was recommended to us by the guy that stained/sealed our floors. I used it prior to applying the polish.



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Your floors look great. I have read about TSP for cleaning prior to staining. The guy who finished the concrete also does staining. He told me he put real slick finish so when I stained the floors it would take better.

 

[buck12]

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Another option. We had our concrete guy cut in simulated "tile". The finish on the floor will be 3 years old this month. Also acts as another stress crack prevention.

Just FYI. Do not use any of that rubbery, "anti-slip" mat under rugs, and, be cautious of the indoor floor mats you use. In our case, some of those products appear to have had a chemical reaction over time. For instance, an under rug anti-slip pad seemed to adhere to the floor over time. (floors coatings were at lease 3-4 months old) Going to be a real chore to get it up when we need to redo the wax. Probably have to strip everything when and if. We found the same thing happened when we used certain door mats, same result.

We do have radiant heat in the slab but I am fairly certain it was a chemical reaction. We used all water based products, and will again. Just be aware....

Your floors look great. Thanks for the information. My neighbor scored his floors and they turned out great. This is a cabin so I will not go that expense.

 

[buck12]

We are currently in the process of prepping our garage floor for staining. Many options were considered - epoxy, paint, and stain. Stain is much cheaper than epoxy and easier to apply for a DIY consumer. I recommend Vivid stain by Concrete Coatings. I am using their whole lineup: EzPrep, Acid Stain, and SuperSeal 2000 acrylic.

Acrylic was the final choice as a sealer for many reasons. 1) It is less glossy than epoxy, so less slippery. 2) it is way cheaper than epoxy. 3) It is applied easier with a roller like normal paint. 4) It lasts a few years, less than epoxy, but the inevitable re-application is a very simple clean and roll on process. Epoxy needs intense prep for reapplication years later.

There will definitely be some pics after this weekend, so feel free to check back.

Please keep me posted on the results. It will probably be two weeks before I am ready to start. It痴 tough building something an hour from home. It seems to take forever for me to get anything done.

 

[mikester]

Another epoxy option is a troweled on granular coating like this stuff
Decorative Stone Finish | Stoneffects™ | Rust-Oleum

Regular epoxy paint can be slick as ice when wet. This stuff performs very well and isnt slippery. Ive seen some nice commercial multicoloured variants that give you a terrazzo effect. Not cheap but leaves a nice finish.

 

[YanmarFever]

H&C Concrete stain... easy peasy. Home - H&C(R) Concrete

We painted a 7000 sq ft warehouse floor with this paint and it looks lovely, however it does not stand up to forklift tires all that great.
We thinned it with xylene, and after 30 mins of painting I was really light headed. It sure looks nice though, good paint.
Sherwin Williams sells it.

 

[YanmarFever]

delete..

 

[poncho62]

Years ago, I worked in a printing plant. I built a garage at home and used solvent based ink to stain my garage floor. It needs to be real well ventelated while it drys and is quite flamable until dry. It held up for years taking all kinds of abuse. I don't know if they use solvent based ink anymore.