Commercial floors have a different brief from residential ones: they take heavy traffic, they have to be cleanable, and they usually cannot be closed for long. Stained concrete answers all three — it colors the slab you already have instead of adding a covering that wears out, and a sealed floor takes mops, carts, paws and boots without much complaint. The projects below are real Direct Colors commercial jobs: offices, a pizza parlor, a gym, an animal hospital, a liquor store, garages, and a tattoo shop.
A 3,500 sq. ft. office floor in Azure Blue EverStain™ with Black veining, sealed gloss and waxed.
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Valtex headquarters: 3,500 sq. ft. in blue and black
Valtex are full-shell-construction subcontractors, and this was their own new headquarters — so the floor had to be a showpiece. An Azure Blue acid-stain base with Black veining worked over it, then gloss sealer and floor wax.
The Azure Blue base, Black highlights worked in, and sealing.
A barndominium office, wet-on-dry
Azure Blue and Coffee Brown layered wet-on-dry rather than wet-on-wet. That is the technique to reach for when one of your colors is heavy — applying Coffee Brown onto a dry base lets you control how far it goes instead of letting it bloom.
A pizza parlor, and what to do with a slab that will not take stain
This concrete was over thirty years old and had areas that simply would not react — a common problem on older commercial slabs where patching, sealers or contamination have killed the chemistry. The fix is the one we recommend generally: acid stain where the slab cooperates, and Vibrance™ Dye over the areas where it does not. Dye is not reactive, so it colors regardless.
The finished parlor floor against the exposed brick.
A gym floor in three colors
Acid stain suits a gym: it is low-maintenance, it cleans easily, and there is no coating to peel under dropped weights. Three colors here — Azure Blue, Malayan Buff and Coffee Brown — worked with the veining technique, which is what gives a large flat expanse something to look at.
An animal hospital
Probably the hardest wear test in this gallery — claws, cleaning chemicals and constant traffic. Malayan Buff and Azure Blue, and the sealer is doing the protective work.
A liquor store
Retail with heavy foot traffic and no appetite for downtime. Vibrance™ Dye in Malayan gave an even, predictable floor without the uncertainty of a reaction.
A commercial liquor store floor in Malayan Vibrance™ Dye.
A commercial garage
A default gray garage slab in Shifting Sand and Coffee Brown, with Malayan Buff. On a working garage floor the mottling is practical as well as decorative — it hides the marks a flat color would show.
Two-stall boat storage
Twenty-eight years in and around construction, and this customer had still never acid-stained anything. Their verdict afterwards: easier than the wood paneling and metal siding, because there is nothing to measure or fit.
Tips: “Watch as many YouTube videos as possible. Spend as much time as needed to ensure your prep work is complete — I sanded the entire floor area with 40 grit sandpaper for the mechanical etching process to ensure a uniform finish. Wash and clean floor at least 3 times to remove all dust from the etching process. I used carpet drying fans to aid in the drying process after the initial wash, neutralization wash and during the sealing process… Use a high quality respirator if you use an acrylic sealer.”
— DIY Customer
'Til Death Tattoo, Springfield, Missouri
A brand-new tattoo shop, a first-ever DIY project, and 1,000 sq. ft. of carpet glue standing in the way. The removal story is the useful part: acetone, adhesive remover on a buffer and Goo Gone all lost to a hand-held razor scraper from Harbor Freight and a lot of blades. Then a diamabrush etching pad on a rented buffer to open the pores.
The completed tattoo shop floor.
Their one regret: “Wish we had picked commercial high gloss when we did it — the two gallons of residential got us about 8 coats in total and it turned out just fine.”
Tip: “Clean, clean, clean. And then clean again. Your work beforehand and your finishing after your project is sealed makes more of a difference than anything else you will do in the process.”
— 'Til Death Tattoo, Springfield, Missouri
Shop EverStain™ Acid Stain Kits →
Planning a commercial floor
What's Next
- The method → How to Apply Acid Stain · Neutralizing
- Interior floors → Acid-Stained Concrete Floors · Garage Floors
- The colors used here → Azure Blue · Malayan Buff · Coffee Brown · Shifting Sand · Black
- Choosing a color → Acid Stain Colors Guide
- Applying stain outdoors → How to Apply Outdoor Concrete Stain
- Choosing a sealer → The Best Concrete Sealer
- Prefer a reactive, mottled look? → Acid Stain Colors Guide
- Shop → EverStain™ Kits · Vibrance™ Dye · Trial Kits
Direct Colors. Shawnee, OK. Manufacturing the full decorative concrete system since 1997.
