Staining Concrete Floors: How to Choose the Best Stain color
Your home’s concrete floors are your pride and joy: After all, they are easy to maintain and should stand the test of time.
There’s just one problem: They look like — well, concrete. It’d be nice to make your floors a little warmer and more inviting. Whether your interior concrete floor is a garage floor, basement floor, or a showroom floor applying the stain is the same.
The good news? This is more than possible with concrete floor stains. If you’re serious about livening up your concrete floors, here’s a rundown on how to choose the best stain for staining concrete floors. Before you grab your plastic sheeting and clean the floor take at least 24 hours to learn about staining.
Let’s get started!
Acid Stains
An acid stain offers depth and natural color to a concrete floor. If you’re like many other homeowners, you’ll be drawn to the variegated and transparent finish associated with this type of stain.
Another benefit of this type of stain is that it is long-lasting, which makes it perfect for areas that experience high traffic. In addition, it will not chip, peel, or fade.
Note, though, that acid stains are typically available in earthy tones — for example, a soft blue-green, terra cotta, brown, or tan. Also, once you apply this type of stain, you’ll have to remove residual acid from the surface.
Acid staining is a bit unpredictable or risky as the color derived from an Acid-based stain is based on a chemical reaction based on the chemistry of your existing slab.

Selecting Water-Based Stains
A water-based stain offers the benefit of coming in many more hues when compared with acid stains. For instance, you can get these stains in orange, vivid yellow, black, and white.
On top of this, a water-based stain won’t interact with concrete. So, you can rest assured that the stain will remain consistent.
The challenge with this type of stain is that many are not even stains. They are in the paint family and they are more of a coat of stain. We don’t recommend these types of stains which are found at home depot and applied with a paint roller. For this reason, correcting a mistake can be more challenging.
The durability is mostly dependant on the concrete sealer chosen.
Choosing Hues
As a general rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to choose a stain that works well with your living space’s existing color scheme.
Of course, this may make it harder to sell the home or redecorate it later. In light of this, it might be better to choose a color that is more neutral, like a tan or brown.
Brown is especially popular because it works well with all types of furniture. This is the same reason why the majority of wooden floors are brown.
Also, keep in mind that a darker hue won’t have to be cleaned as often compared with a lighter, as darker colors are better at hiding dirt.
You could also utilize several colors on one floor to produce a design or pattern. This can have a dramatic impact on your living space.

Dyes
Concrete dyes are the most predictive and durable solution for coloring concrete. They have a fast dry time and work with polishing systems or one or two coats of sealer.
These can be mixed with water or solvent in a specialized pump sprayer in a circular motion. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SPRAY SOLVENTS WITHOUT A PROFESSIONAL. YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF WITH A FLASH FIRE. IT HAPPENS. PLEASE CONSULT.
How We Can Help with Staining Concrete Floors
Did you enjoy our tutorial on staining concrete floors? Our goal in putting together this guide was to help you to make a stain selection that you won’t end up regretting months or years from now.
However, in addition to providing tips on staining concrete floors, we can help you to find a reputable concrete contractor near you.
Contact us to learn more about how you can make the most of your next concrete project, and feel free to also share this tutorial with family and friends!