I have been around the decorative concrete industry for quite a while and have seen all the ways to color an existing concrete surface. It seems that most manufactures and installers are always looking for the quickest and cheapest way to color a floor. Constantly new products are brought to the market claiming to “mimic” the natural variegated coloring and flow that can only be achieved when staining concrete with a reactive (acid) stain. From my own experience and from chatting with a select group of top-notch installers all around the States I have found that there is still only one tried and true method for permanent coloring of exiting concrete.

The difference in installing a real reactive stained floor over some other acrylic stains or penetrating-only stains is that it takes much more time and experience to successfully complete the project. We always figure that an extra day on the project and a little bit more expense up front will deliver a more valuable and durable surface.

Below I share our steps for completing this process.

Thank you to Heidi Hundall with Runyon Surface Prep for working with us to develop this!

Click here to download the 4 Step Staining Process – Dancer Concrete