Basement Floors

ColorWave® Water-Based Concrete Stain: Project Gallery

Apr 23, 2026 Justin Richardson

ColorWave® is our water-based stain. It is not reactive, so unlike acid stain it does not depend on what is in your slab — the color you choose is broadly the color you get, on new concrete or old, indoors or out. It is low-odor, it layers, and it can be worked wet-on-wet like an acid stain if you want mottling and movement rather than an even tone. Several projects below do exactly that.

Marble-inspired design on a concrete floor created using ColorWave water-based stains

A marble-like floor built from Iron over Silver, White, and Stone ColorWave®.

Shop ColorWave® →

Available in: ColorWave® · AcquaTint™ · EasyTint™ · Vibrance™ Dye
Note: ColorWave® has its own 6xx color range — Molasses, Steel, Stone, Iron Gray, Silver, White, Amber, Rust, Olive, Navy and more — which does not overlap with the Antiquing™/Portico™ numbering.

Note on results: every photo here is a real Direct Colors customer project. These products are semi-transparent, so your concrete's original tone and condition shape the final color — always test a small area before you commit to the whole surface.

A 700 sq. ft. floor in Stone

Carpet came up across a dining room, front room and living room. What went down instead was ColorWave® Stone with AcquaSeal™ Satin and ProWax Polish™ Satin — a warm, mottled stone look for a fraction of what laminate would have cost.

Living room with carpet removed, exposed concrete floor, prep tools, ladder, and fireplace before applying ColorWave Stone concrete stain — Before — carpet up, bare slab, prep underway.

Finished living room with glossy mottled brown ColorWave Stone stained concrete floor sealed with AcquaSeal Satin and ProWax Polish Satin — After — a glossy, mottled Stone floor.

A basement in Molasses

New concrete used as the finished floor rather than a subfloor. Molasses gives it enough warmth to read as a finished room rather than a basement.

Color: Molasses ColorWave®
Finish: AcquaSeal™ Satin + ProWax Polish™ Satin
Size: 1,500 sq. ft.
Time: 5 days

A fully prepped concrete basement floor ready for staining, with protective plastic covering the walls and trim — Before — the basement slab fully prepped.

A finished basement living and dining area with a ColorWave Molasses stained concrete flor, modern furnishings, and soft lighting — After — the living and dining area in Molasses.

Concrete floor with Molasses stain applied, showing swirls and variations — The first coat going on.

A close-up of the stained concrete floor, showing rich brown tones and natural variations in ColorWave Molasses — The stain dried with its natural brown variation.

A stylish basement bar area with a sleek stained concrete floor in ColorWave Molasses, featuring industrial-style bar stools — The finished bar area.

“The cleaning process is the most tedious and time consuming, but it is the most important part. Make sure you are using compatible products for removing stains or paint from the floor to avoid any potential issues between DC products and cleaners. Lastly, follow the directions and do not cut corners.”
— DIY Customer

Wet-on-wet: a tri-room remodel

The most technically interesting project here. The owner wanted acid-stain character but chose ColorWave® for convenience — then applied it like an acid stain anyway, wet-on-wet in multiple layers. Their observation about Silver reacting with Iron Gray to read almost navy is the kind of thing you only learn by layering.

Colors: Silver, White, Stone, Iron ColorWave®, wet-on-wet
Layers: Three (two would have done)
Finish: EasySeal™ Satin then Gloss, plus high-gloss wax
Size: 500 sq. ft.
Time: 7 days

Prepped and Clean Concrete Floor Ready for Staining — Before — prepped and clean.

Freshly applied ColorWave stains in Silver, White, and Stone with Iron Gray accents using a wet-on-wet technique.

Dry Iron Accents Over Silver, White, and Stone ColorWave.

“I originally was drawn to the acid stain floors but chose ColorWave for the convenience — but applied it somewhat like an acid stain, with the wet on wet multiple colors. I started out with a white only (which I would skip were I to do it again). I did 3 layers of color, but two would have worked well. I especially love the Silver, which in certain light is a baby blue and reacts with the Iron Gray to be similar to a dark Navy.”
On sealer: “Due to the fumes in EasySeal Solvent Sealer, I would choose the water based sealer even though it is not as good for re-sealing.”
— DIY Customer

Mastic to marble

A basement three-quarters covered in black asbestos mastic after a flood took up the 1970s tile. White and Steel over it, and the sealer is what revealed the result — a floor that looks like a magnified slab of marble.

A basement floor covered in mastic, showing the ghosting of removed poly tiles before concrete staining — Before — mastic and the ghosting of removed tiles.

A basement floor stained with ColorWave in White and Steel after mastic removal, creating a sleek marbled effect — After — White and Steel, marbled.

“BE PATIENT — it is worth doing right and letting the product dry and/or cure for the correct time. Also, I had a lot better luck using one of the twist mops when applying the polish and just going over it lightly.”
— DIY Customer

The puddling method

Black, Stone and Iron Gray, applied by letting the stain pool rather than spreading it evenly, then sealed high gloss and waxed twice. Three days for 430 sq. ft.

Dry ColorWave Stains in Black, Stone, and Iron Gray on Concrete Floor.

Sealed and polished Stone, Iron Gray and Black stained concrete floor.

ColorWave Stains in Black, Stone, and Iron Gray Applied Using Puddling Method on Concrete Floor

Mid-application — the colors pooling and running together.

An industrial home office

An honest one. After the first coat every scrub-brush stroke from etching showed, and it looked bad. The fix was improvised: black and silver samples over the worst areas, then a Bissell spinwave mop used to swirl and buff the stain. That is what produced the stone-like finish.

Colors: Black, Silver, Stone + two gallons Steel ColorWave®
Finish: AcquaSeal™ Gloss
Size: 210 sq. ft.
Time: 4 days

Clean and etched basement floor, prepared for staining — Before — an etched basement floor, brush marks and all.

A pawsitively beautiful transformation: polished basement floor showcasing a stone-like appearance — After — buffed to a stone-like industrial finish.

“We had a lot of paint overspray and learned that vinegar works great to pull that up… Don't skimp on the prep. We etched our floors and after the first coat of stain, we could see all of our scrub brush strokes from etching — it looks really bad. When the brush marks didn't dry away we were left to problem-solve… we actually took our bissell spinwave mop and swirled/buffed the stain. This worked great! It hid the etching marks and made a really nice stone type of look with the three colors. It was a roller coaster but I love how it turned out.”
— DIY Customer

Fixing a pink driveway

The concrete company's integral color was supposed to match the home's stained wood accents. It came out light peach. Years later, ColorWave® Molasses with Aztec Brown Antiquing™ got it to the rich brown originally wanted.

Concrete driveway before staining, showing a pale pinkish tone — Before — a pale, pinkish driveway.

Concrete driveway after staining, featuring rich Aztec Brown and Molasses tones — After — rich Aztec Brown and Molasses tones.

Tip: “After the color, don't use the spiked sandals on your shoes — even walking very carefully, it left marks in the color. Since the color was dry and I was rolling the sealer, I simply wore an old pair of socks.”
— DIY Customer

A whole house in White, with Blue in the wet rooms

2,300 sq. ft. of slab-on-grade used as the finished flooring throughout. White applied with a pump sprayer then worked in with a dry mop — deliberately, to get a cloudy look rather than a sprayed-on one. Blue in the laundry and walk-in shower.

Colors: White ColorWave® throughout + Blue in laundry and shower
Applied: Pump sprayer, then dry mop in circles
Finish: EasySeal™ Gloss ×2 + ProWax Polish™ Gloss
Size: 2,300 sq. ft.
Time: 3 days

Half of Room Stained with White ColorWave on Concrete Floor — Half the room done — the difference the White makes.

Stained and Sealed Concrete Floor After ProWax Polish — After — sealed and waxed, with Blue in the laundry.

White Stain Applied to Concrete Floor Using Handheld Pump Sprayer and Dry Mopped — Working the White in with a dry mop.

Concrete Floor After First Coat of Sealer (Still Wet) — The first sealer coat over Blue.

“We used the dry mop because we wanted more of a cloudy look than a sprayed-on paint look. When rubbing the color in using the dry mop, use circular motions rather than side to side.”
— DIY Customer

A Pre-K classroom, and a stamped patio

Molasses and Mahogany together, mottled, in two very different settings — a classroom floor and a ten-year-old faded stamped patio. On the patio the owner sprayed both colors then used an old broom to smear them into the stamp grooves.

Plain concrete flooring in a Pre-K classroom — Before — plain classroom flooring.

Mottled effect flooring in Molasses and Mahogany ColorWave® Stain in a Pre-K classroom — After — a mottled Molasses and Mahogany finish.

Faded concrete patio with a stamped design, cleaned and etched, ready for staining and sealing — Before — a faded stamped patio.

Restored concrete patio stained with Molasses and Mahogany ColorWave, featuring outdoor furniture and umbrellas in a sunny yard — After — restored in Molasses and Mahogany.

From the classroom job: “Never put paint or adhesive on concrete. It's hard to get off.”
From the patio: “After I sprayed on the two ColorWave stains I used an old broom to blend and smear them into the concrete stamp grooves.”
— DIY Customers

Countertops

A custom concrete countertop by @cretewooddesigns, built up in layers with water used to blend the colors while still workable. Before sealing, ColorWave® moves easily — which makes countertops far more forgiving than they look.

Cured Poured-in-Place Concrete Countertop — Before — the bare countertop slab.

Concrete Countertop Stained with Iron Gray and Steel ColorWave — After — Iron, Steel and White worked in layers.

“Work in layers until you get the look you want. The product runs off easily before being sealed, so it's easily manipulated to the finish you are wanting. Also, using water to help the colors come together well results in a unique look.”
— DIY Customer

Gold in a sunroom

A small 8×20 sunroom patio, 160 sq. ft., finished in ColorWave® Gold with EasySeal™ Satin.

Stained concrete patio with ColorWave gold water-based stain.

Sunroom concrete floor stained with ColorWave water-based gold stain.

Driveways: Rust, and a discontinued orange

A front porch and driveway in Rust. Alongside it, a scored driveway whose archived photos are labelled with a warm orange ColorWave® shade we no longer stock — the nearest current equivalents in the line are Rust and Persimmon.

Faded Driveway Concrete Pavers — A front porch.

Rust ColorWave on Concrete Pavers Driveway — Driveway going down in Rust ColorWave®.

Breathing new life into a dull scored concrete driveway with the vibrant Tangerine ColorWave water-based stain.

Heated concrete, and a garage

You can stain heated concrete safely — ColorWave® colors the surface without interfering with the heating elements cast into the slab, indoors or out. This heated driveway approach used Almond, Amber and Olive together. Below it, a garage where the previous owner's failing coating had to be ground off first.

Heated slab: Almond + Amber + Olive ColorWave®, AcquaSeal™ Gloss ×2 — 360 sq. ft., 15 days
Garage: Three coats Amber ColorWave® + EasySeal™ — 500 sq. ft., 5 days

Heated Driveway — Before — the heated slab.

Water-based stained concrete patio — After — Almond, Amber and Olive.

Unappealing garage with peeling coating and sealant on the floor, left behind by the previous owner — Before — a garage with a failing coating.

garage floor after colorwave amber easyseal sealer application rolled e1725766499838 — After — Amber ColorWave®, rolled and sealed.

From the garage: “I rented a concrete grinder to remove the coating. This took 2 days and was the hardest part of the project. On day 3 I applied 3 coats of ColorWave Amber — easy, only 15 minutes per coat with a pump sprayer… The real test was 3 days later when I put the cars back in the garage. I was worried the coating would peel up and leave hot tire marks, but it didn't! I saved thousands of dollars from the quotes I received.”
Warning: “The directions say the sealer can be applied using a pump sprayer, but it is too thick — I had to go buy a roller and tray.”
— DIY Customer