'Stained' concrete floors?

waihuia, Feb 1, 5:40am
We have recently fully lined and painted our double garage with a view to it being a man cave. It's an old garage with a concrete floor, built in the late 60s. I have seen concrete floors that look like they have been stained (marbled look) then varnished which would be perfect for our imperfect floor. Does anyone know how I might achieve the look without having to contract someone for what I estimate would be very expensive?

jacinda2059, Feb 1, 9:12am
if the floor is in good condition you can use either a acid stain, or acombination of different colour stain, with acid you have to neutralize it , then wash it off, then seal. purchase acid from n.z decorative concrete supplies. have a look on utube , for staining concrete floors.

budgel, Feb 1, 8:40pm
I have stained a concrete floor with resene water based stain and then polyurethaned over it and got a great finish.

The floor was sanded first to get rid of surface irregularities,

waihuia, Feb 3, 7:58am
Thanks so much you guys. I don't feel so nervous about the whole idea now. This is such a great media to get great ideas.

unclejake, Feb 4, 11:31am
I imagine that the 'marbled' look you refer to is polished concrete which has then been sealed.

The 'polishing' grinds off the top few millimetres of the concrete, revealing the aggregate (stones etc.) embedded in the cement, but still leaves a smooth surface. Add a few coats of a quality oil based gloss concrete sealer and then you will probably get the look you are after

If you rent the right grinding gear you can do it yourself, but it's a noisy and dusty job.

carlie, Feb 4, 7:15pm
Interesting thread. It was suggested to me I get my family room concrete floor polished. I had no idea how this worked or whether it would even be an option as the floor is marked. Have learnt a lot so will look into it more.

jacinda2059, Jul 24, 9:40pm
if getting a professional job ask if you can see any floors they have done, and get a quote, written out lining all the procedures, eg grinding to what finish , staining , what sealer they use etc. good luck.