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.
Prefer to listen? Shawna Turner on the cost case for concrete in flips and rentals. The player is at the end of this article.
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
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Planning a commercial floor
Common questions
Is refinishing really cheaper than replacing a countertop or floor?
Substantially, and most of the saving is not the material — it is not demolishing what is already there. Removal, disposal and the labor around them are what make replacement expensive. Refinishing an existing top or floor runs to hundreds rather than thousands. The specific dollar figure quoted in this episode is years old, but the ratio has not changed.
Do I need a specialist finisher for this work?
No, and that is deliberate — the business is built on it. A handy person with construction or remodeling experience can apply these products successfully, which removes a whole subcontractor from the job and usually makes it faster as well as cheaper. Surface prep is the time-consuming part, and you would face that on any flooring project anyway.
Why does concrete suit rental property?
Because the turnover cost is lower every single time. Removing and replacing carpet between tenancies is expensive and recurring; reapplying wax, or resealing if it comes to that, is considerably cheaper. Add a lower upfront investment and the fact an owner can learn to do the work themselves, and the arithmetic compounds over the years you hold the property.
What are the selling points beyond cost?
Cleaning, allergens and access. A hard sealed floor is easy to clean and holds far less dust and pet allergen than carpet — a real selling point to the right buyer or tenant. And it is genuinely easier to cross in a wheelchair or with a walker than carpet is, which matters more to some buyers than any finish detail.
Listen to this episode
Direct Colors DIY Home Improvement · Episode 32
Remodel and Flip Houses for Less
Tommy Carter and Shawna Turner · 6 min 21 sec · read the full transcript
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.
