Stained Concrete Floors: Easy Upgrade
I recently moved into a house that my husband’s father bought as a “flipper.” Somewhere along the way, the flip idea turned into our buying the house because it’s directly across the street from the high school where he teaches and directly next door to the elementary school where our younger children attend.
The house is purported to have been built in the mid 80’s, but it is packed with layout “features” from the 70’s, like a master bathroom so small that there’s barely room for a shower and absolutely no linen storage. But it also has the disproportionately humongo living/dining combination area that was a feature of so many homes built in the late seventies, as well as wall to wall dark wood paneling.
What We Started With
The seller floored this entire 480 sq ft area, including the kitchen and hallways with a laminate wood flooring, which looked really nice as a first impression, but the installation was not completed correctly, plus at some point there was a plumbing mishap that ruined about 40 sq ft of flooring that they never replaced. I wish I’d thought to take photos of the trim-out on this floor before we ripped it up - installing a laminate floor is probably the second-easiest flooring job one could ever have to to, but someone didn’t read the trim-out directions at all, nor did they apply any common sense. When it came time to tack the floor down, someone simply nailed quarter-round trim in various places in the most haphazard manner I’ve ever seen. They also didn’t use the under-cut saw that allows you to put the floor under the door trim, so the flooring did not fit correctly.
These trim-out issues combined with the fact that a quarter of the floor in the dining room shrank up after being soaked with water, meant that the entire floor was subject to shifting. As people came in and out of the house, dirt tracked in and got in between the grooves and under the boards. It was noisy, unsightly, and actually tripped people when some of the warped boards shifted in just the right direction.
For a little back story, let me tell you that I recently married into a family with five kids, whose father is a high school physics teacher. It’s not like we have a hidden stash of remodeling money hidden anywhere. We needed to replace a good chunk of flooring ourselves, as inexpensively as we could, three weeks before school started. Who knew that would end up being considered a high-end upgrade? Well, I did, to be honest, but I wasn’t sure if we could pull it off.
For The Budget Conscious
If you’re not afraid of a little hard work, staining a concrete floor is easily the least expensive, high-return upgrade you can perform. A gallon of stain costs between $50-60 and used undiluted, will cover about 200 sq ft - more if you either dilute it with water (a common practice) or go for a more mottled look like natural stone. Then figure in the cost of a suitable sealer - you don’t have to buy the sealer made by the stain company. You can use any sealer that provides the type of finish you want. You can even just wax it down without a sealer if you prefer that look. Then throw in the $17 it costs to buy a plastic garden sprayer, $25 for a contractor’s scraper, and few bucks for sandpaper and short nap paint rollers and that’s pretty much it.
Stained Concrete, three-color
For our 483 sq ft area, we spent about $290 because we went for a three-color blend on the stain, so we spent more on stain that some folks would need to, and the particular brand of stain we used didn’t come in any container smaller than a gallon. We also used two gallons of sealer but could have easily used three. Basically we came home with five cans and spent $250, then added in the incidentals required for prep (scraper, sander, sandpaper) and application (sprayer for stain, roller for sealer). If you already have the necessary tools like a plastic garden sprayer, a good sander, something to scrape the cement with, and paint supplies, you won’t have those expenses.
DIY FYI
Before you dive into to a stained living area, experiment on a porch or patio - most concrete stain manufacturers sell sample kits. We stained our front porch and an office using color combos from the sampler box, in order to decide what color combination we liked best before putting it in the living room. I’ll use two of the remaining sample colors in the tiny master bathroom when we finally get around to revamping that thing…
Some additional accessories that might help a DIY concrete staining project go smoother include plastic sheeting, so you can mask off the other rooms in the house because once the sanding starts, dust gets everywhere. You might want to rent a floor sander/buffer - we did our floor with a Ryobi orbital hand sander and I must say, it was like working with the Brave Little Toaster - that little sander was totally up to the task.
You might also want to bring out a large cloth-type floor cleaner, like a terry cloth covered dust mop, to use as a wet-mop when it’s time to clean the floor. It is essential that you get all the acid wash residue off the concrete before you seal the floor. Washing the floor is great, but wiping it is better. A regular old sponge mop just won’t cut it. We finally resorted to dropping beach towels on the floor and “walking” them around the floor to wipe up the leftover haze from the acid treatment. You will also need some sort of small paint brush to cut in if you’re going to be rolling on sealer when you’re done. Depending on the expanse of floor you need to work on, you might want to invest in some plastic “booties” to cover your shoes too. All acid stain manufacturers recommend chemical protection as well, in the form of gloves and breathing filters (painter’s masks).
what will you find under your floor?
Make sure you bring a lot of patience, especially if you’re unsure what’s under your current floor. Your final and permanent result for a stained concrete floor depends on properly preparing the surface. This isn’t like every other project that says “surface must be clean and free of grease.” This is an absolute must if you want a floor you can be proud of. Builders don’t normally take care of the cement when they’re building - be prepared to find chips in the cement, along with cabinet stain, drywall mud and paint all over the surface. If there was ever any linoleum or tile applied to the concrete, you’ll also have a layer of mastic to dig up - you can either use elbow grease (and some sandpaper) or get some chemical assistance in the form of mastic remover to help with that. In our case, the cement in the kitchen was also treated differently when the house was built because of the original flooring options. Aside from literal grooves in the cement, the concrete in there is actually of a different composition, so the same stain came out a slightly different color.
Be Imaginative
If you want to get fancy with your staining project, you can use a standard circular saw set to 1/8″ depth to create a “tiled” look by scoring the floor. Depending on how far apart you put the grooves, you can simulate any look from small terra cotta tiles to huge slabs of marble. You can also give your plain ol’ cement the look of inlaid stone but etching geometric designs. You can apply the stain with a sponge or other cloth to keep it “inside the lines” and make it look like someone inset a design using another type of stone.
In the long run, staining a concrete floor gives you a practically maintenance-free floor - all you have to do is sweep (or swiffer) it. It’s not paint so it won’t wear down or chip off. You don’t have to play gestapo when kids are drinking Koolaid - heck, aside from the obvious safety issues, you don’t even have to wipe up your spills! Contrary to what you might think, it’s not “cold” or “hot” - cement is more conductive of temperature than other flooring so it’s more easily going to adjust to match the temperature at which you keep your house. It’s also not “loud” like you might expect - all that echoing on your “new house” as it’s being built is from the empty walls, not the cement floor. We have far less noise pollution in our house now than we had with the laminate and we’ve eliminated the area rug that we used before. It’s also amazingly “soft” on your bare feet after it’s been sealed… go figger.
It’s also considered a “high end” upgrade when it’s done properly, which means for resale, you get way more bang for your buck then you would if you installed some other flooring. Considering how cheap it is to do, I expect everyone reading this to at least experiment on the patio!
Hi, are spill marks normal in stained concrete? We have places that look like puddles of stain. In fact, it is in every room. We were told that it is because of low spots in our concrete. This was a new construction, and it does not appear to be a low spot. Is it normal to have (huge) puddle marks in concrete? Thank you Trina
Excellent post on how to stain floors properly. I was especially impressed about the specificity of the post and alert everyone to some of the pitfalls and the hard work it sometimes takes to complete a stained floor project.
Great Job would love to post a link to your article on my blog. “How To Stain Concrete”
John
Ваша фраза, просто прелесть
I love the look of concrete floors, the easy maintenance, etc. but I must confess the labor involved with creating this amazing look has been scary to me. I like the way you simplified things and took away the fear.
I love stained concrete floors! As a flooring DIY project it offers so much versatility!
I am experiencing a problem with viewing your blog layout via the newest release of Opera. It is fine in IE and Firefox however.Have a lovely day.
I really need to do this to my front entry way. It looks like alot of work, but I think it will be worth it. Very helpful post.
One other thing that really makes your floors stand out is the color chips you can put in it. It is what we put in our garage and it is amazing. Really easy to do as well. And Robyn, don’t worry, it really isn’t that much work. It’s almost just like painting it.
I really need to do this to my front entry way
Thanks for the info I have been planning on stainning my gargae floor and needed some advice
I really like the idea of scoring the floor. That makes for an extremely affordable faux tile floor. Clever.
the best feature of laminate flooring is that they can be cleaned easily *
Hi there, just browsing for information for my Ryobi website. Can’t believe the amount of information out there. Wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but very nice site. Have a nice day.
Have at Taco Bell parking that I am cleaning … found that some of the concrete is stained or sealed . I have never did this type of work … Can it be power washed and resealed .. If so what would be the bestway to find out what product is there now …
laminate floorings provide a cheaper and easier way to setup a good flooring -;”
I do not know where to start, but I must write some questions to you. Firstly, I want to congratulate you on your story that sounded a little like my venture and hope it will help someone in this situation.
I must introduce myself as the son of a Machinest and from my Grandfather and the family before him, where machinest. Subsequently. my granfather and his brother from N. Caroling, in the late 1800’s were hired by the United Fruit Co., were contracted to set up all the machine shop, trains and the railways, etc., were hired to come to Bocas del Toro, futhest point north of Panama and that is how I came to be mechanically inclined and my faterh would not alllow me to keep up a washed out tradition and instead just be a college gratuate. I have been a litle frustrated but I did what he required. After all these years, now that they have all passed on and I am retired, I took the oportunity to take on buying a piece of land only 3,000 meters in area on a hill near the Panama Canal, after reading that peaple worldwide were experimenting with the excess of Sea Containers. Purchased four 40 and two 45 footer’s which I placed on the land after transporting the containers from the Atantic side of the Istmus to the Pacific side where I am locted within he Rep. of Panama.
After putting up 5 containers side by side and cuting out the windows, door, sides taken out buy cutting with a tourch, I stated on the floor project and decided to pour concrete on urly looking 3/4 inch marine plywood floors and tried to use what was available in this small and gorgeous contry. So I tried the only floor stainer (powder form)and the job results were very disappointing. I looked for information on the web and concluded it was way over my budget, until I came upon your very helpful.
if possible, could you advise me how I could contact the company that produced your stain in liquid form? Any tips? I am at a loss on how to scrape the now poorly stained, but very smoth finish. I need the clear details of the process of staining one or thee colors. I am not a painter, but a machinist at heart. That is why the sixth 40′ container, converted it into a work shop and storage area. Am I happy with thsi part of the venture.
My wife notices a green in color water hose lying on a terrific shinny floor. Any reason? How do I reach this goal? Again just how much should I scratch and sand to remove my power stain? How long do I wait before staining the floor after mopping it and cn I stain over this powder stain? Bt logic, I should not be able to do this unless the stain is completely removed. Is the sealer what makes it shine and protective? How many coats of sealer do you recommend?
Thanking you in advance.
Best regards,
John
thanks for the great post! A perfect guide to stained concrete.
MSI laptops are very high quality. They are as not bad as if not good than ASUS build quality. I do know that most of the retail merchants that sell MSI are very nice and reliable. msilaptops.net is my personal favorite, they are very enlightened and can help you with any questions you have.
~*: I am really thankful to this topic because it really gives useful information ;*.
The original five 40 foot sea containers were placed side by side and am planning to place a double metal security door starting from the left side facing the front and extenging to the right up to where it will extend. I plan to make a concrete facing from this other side (left) extreme solid wall and continue by placing a sliding bouble window about 7.5 feet wide on the other extreme. This would leave me, I assume the remainder of concrete wall looking like an “L” form turned around. Question, How do I secure said window, I was suggested to use streched thick metal to cover the window for decutiy which seems the most secure for the window. The purpose of this window is for air circulation and lighting during the daylight. Please, do you have any other secutiy ideas. I apologize, but I am at a lost to find a safer way of protection. Thanking you in advance. Best regards, John Albritton (jalbrittono7@gmail.com}
In the process of buying a house..Needing all of the pointers we can get…Excellent article!
Hi there, Need tovery good
We just bought a house with stained concrete floors throughout. They looked great intially, but we have just realized that the footprints we thought were just dirt not yet cleaned up were actually permanent tracks throughout the living and dining room. HELP, what can be done to remove this unsightly mess?
Thanks for the blog. I have been wanting to get this done. I love the look of a stained concrete floor.
i found your website on digg and also believed i would are available in and have a appear. interesting idea you’ve but i may have a few other folks f you have an interest. they may help or even might not but its worth a try.
keep up the superb work , I read few content on this web site and I conceive that your web blog is rattling interesting and has lots of excellent information.
Following read a few the actual blogposts in your site these few times and that i genuinely much like your method of blogging We tag it in order to my favorites site list and will probably be checking back soon Check out my personal website as well and let me know your believed
I love the look of stained floors! I think we might need to do this in my husbands art studio since he has ruined the carpet.
Hey nice blog, simply checking out some sites, appears a fairly good platform you are using. I’m currently using Drupal for a few of my sites but seeking to change one of them over to a platform very much like yours as a test site.
profile pictures for facebook
get ready to upload new rocking stylish pictures profilepics99.com
I’ve said that least 3591370 times. The problem this like that is they are just too compilcated for the average bird, if you know what I mean
Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very difficult to get that “perfect balance” between usability and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a excellent job with this. In addition, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Firefox. Exceptional Blog!
Thanks a lot for good information on this site, I will come back again.
Great blog post thanks for sharing all the interesting information.
I really like the idea of scoring the floor.Thanks for the info I have been planning on stainning my hardwood floor
Happy Holidays to you.. you’re so cute I’m Madison and am interested in getting to know you a little more other than the photos ive seen of you on your page
Happy Holidays to you.. you’re so cute I’m Madison and am interested in getting to know you a little more other than the photos ive seen of you on your page
This article is very good thanks to the owner of this blog is to be taken
Thanks for the work
Thank you. please visit me about game should come with an illustrated guide with hundreds of pages that will come in handy even if you are in the not fun.
I’ve been waiting for this time of year. To purchase online. | Black Friday Deals 3M Adjustable Notebook Riser (LX500) | Black Friday workspace accessories 2011 Sale workspace
To purchase online. | Black Friday Deals Husqvarna 1830HV | SnowKing Gas Powered Two Stage Snow Thrower With Electric Start & Power Steering
chi l
itrip l
smooth
Thank you for your great post! it has been terribly useful. I hope that you just can continue sharing your knowledge with us.
Blog content is very good and I will come back to read it as an encouragement to the other
We will keep track of what I write to you and me.
We will keep track of what I write to you and me.
Thank you. Is something that interested me.
It is felt that this was the information that we want to have.
I am typically to blogging and that i truly recognize your content. The article has very peaks my interest. I’m getting to bookmark your web site and hold checking for whole fresh information.
Thanks for the nice article. I have learned from this text, Love the site!