Looking for advice from anyone with experience. My family has built a new hunting cabin on the family farm. It is 1000 square feet on a new concrete slab. We are looking to stain the concrete floors. What kind of stain do I need to use? I see etching acid stains but the colors are very limited. Can I use a non-acid stain instead? We want the semi-transparent stain so that it has a marbled look. Can anyone offer any advice?

I am interested in this also. When I build my house, looking at all cement floors.

When I stained one of my rental house floors, I bought the acid stain and sealer from USA Concrete. They gave me some good advice and maybe could help you.

I acid stained my house when we built it and had it for 6 years. We were flooded last April and I went back with a reflective metallic epoxy. I really liked the acid stain better, but it's really not easy to do that twice.
I am by no means a professional, but I did over 2000 sg ft and I could probably answer some basic questions for you.

I'm considering staining at least some of my concrete floors when I build later this year. A friend built last year and he stained and scored all his bottom floor floors. He scored diagonal lines from 2 directions about 1/8" deep from edge to edge of his slab and it almost appers to be large tile laid in diamond pattern. After it was stained and sealed it looks great.

I just tried the new water based stain at Sherman Williams in a section of my basement. It SUCKS!!! Make sure the concrete has absolutely no sealer, oils, dirt, Sheetrock mud residue, etc on it. If it does, the stain won't take. I have heard it is best to stain as soon as possible after pouring and prior to putting up walls. Of course this leaves you worried about scratching it while building. They look great but are a pain to do. In my case, I gave up and found laminate on sale.

The second floor of my house is stained concrete. There are 1 inch deep cut lines every 9 feet and 1/4 inch cut lines every 3 feet, so it looks like big tile. The cuts don't need to be under the plates. It was done after the walls were up, but before sheetrock. The floor was covered with some type of thick paper then a layer of card board. Pressure wash first then acid wash then the color goes on. Try it in a closet first to see what the color looks like. This way you can change something if the color doesn't come out like you want. We have had ours 10 years and love it.

A buddy of mine who is a contractor did the floors in his house with wood stain and topped it with polyurethane and they look great! They have held up well for several years and it was very cheap to do.

I used H&C concrete stain to paint a basketball court on our driveway 20 years ago and it's still there. Pros tell me if you do concrete that's been there awhile you need to etch it with muratic acid first.

Thanks, guys. I am going to go with the acid stain and then seal it for a high-gloss look. The floors are dirty and will have to be cleaned good before we begin. Going to do the staining before we paint and install trim.

We had a contractor acid stain our fellowship hall several years ago. It was a last minute decision so we hadn't planned for it in advance. For you guys that are planning on stained concrete floors the main thing you need to do is protect the floors during construction. Everything you spill on it will show up when stained. Some people call it character, I called it memories because I remembered most every spot. Also don't let someone shoot down boards to brace the walls. Concrete patch defiantly stands out.

We're building now. Our plans are to use acid stain from a company called Kemiko concrete stain. Look them up on the web. I've been watching a lot of youtube on this.
If it would ever stop raining where we could get the trusses up and a roof on, I plan on doing it before the sheetrock goes up.
To me it looks great, even with a few cracks in the concrete.

my son just completed building a home and he stained most of the floors. A lot of work but I was really impressed with the outcome. Looked great, only problem is they are slick and things slide easily such as people and furniture. If you are going to do it than do it the specifications called for and you will be pleased.

I had stained concrete floors throughout my old house. They looked great when we built it. After 4-5 years they were not as attractive. Also, I would not recommend the whole house. You get tired of always walking on hard concrete. It's always cold, and dusty. You will sweep and mop 3 times a day! There is nothing to dampen the noise either. I have hardwood and carpet in my new house. Again, I would highly advise against the whole house being concrete.