Staining concrete....

+PuppyWuppy+

Tell me about staining conrete floors....easy or hard?  Where did you buy your supplies?  Any words of wisdom?

~NB~

If you can paint you can stain concrete. My supplies were brushes and rollers from Home Depot, where I bought the cans of concrete stain (which should be called concrete paint, because that's what it is).

nmoe

We used a concrete paint on ours instead of a stain.  Our concrete isn't completely smooth and has some knicks in it, and we were told that a stain would really highlight those flaws.

We just cleaned the floors well, and then painted them with a floor roller.  It turned out great!

nmoe

Oh, and we bought all of the materials at Home Depot.  We used Behr concrete paint.  I don't remember the name of it, but it was a really deep brown with a hint of red in it.  I loved the way it turned out.

+PuppyWuppy+

Concrete paint sounds like the way to go.  Now, this is gross but...we have pulled up the carpet because our cat has peed all over the place.  Will the conrete paint seal in those smells or should we kilz the floor first?

Thanks so much ladies!

nmoe

I would imagine that it would seal it in.  I'd thoroughly clean and deodorize the area before painting.

+PuppyWuppy+

nmoe:

I would imagine that it would seal it in.  I'd thoroughly clean and deodorize the area before painting.

Perfect. I am thrilled to get started -thank you!

Wine Enthusiast

My H does concrete for a living and does some staining.  If it is for inside a house, I would probably go with paint.  If its a patio I'd go with stain.  The stains smell REALLY strong and for quite a long time plus require more prep work and sealing.  You really should grind the concrete if you are staining.

Assuming its inside since you are pulling up carpet, I would clean the floor 2x with bleach.  I did this in my house, as the owners before us had a cat and I could smell the pee.  I would also put down a layer of killz after its dried a day or two.  I didnt do this and wish I had.  I can occasionally still smell the cat pee (but we covered with carpet).