Stunning Black Stained Concrete Transformations: DIY Customer Projects & Tips

Project Info:

• Project Completed In: 7 day(s)
• Estimate of Square Footage: 1500 sq. ft.
• Project Description:
  This is one of the many diy projects we did on our new build. The hardest part of the floors for us was removing the old sealant that was put down on our new concrete at the time of pouring. That took us about 1.5 weeks to remove before applying this stain and wax. Applying it was quick and easy. We used the aquatint in black and satin prowax polish. We love the way they turned out! Definitely recommend!
• Personal Tips:
  Don’t get sealant on existing concrete at the time of pouring if you plan to do any staining. The staining was an after thought for us so we had to remove what was already placed.
• Direct Colors Products Used:
  1 x 5 Gal. Charcoal AcquaTint™ & ProWax Polish™ Satin Kit
  3 x 1 Gal. Black AcquaTint™

Project Info:

• Project Completed In: 10 day(s)
• Estimate of Square Footage: 1200 sq. ft.
• Project Description:
  I call this project “basement redo”. I call it this because this is my second attempt staining my concrete basement floor, each time using your products. Epic failure first attempt. I failed to properly prep the concrete floor for stain on my first attempt. I was prepping fairly new concrete that was very smooth and non-porous. I felt like the etching material I used to prep the concrete performed well so that the concrete would absorbed the ColorWave stain, I was wrong. The finished product looked good but was not durable at all. It would flake and pull up very easily. Things such as painters or scotch tape would remove the wax and stain very earlier, leaving bare concrete. I took a much different approach for project redo. I rented a concrete floor grinder to remove the old stain and to open up the concrete so that this time it would absorb. This time I used AcquaTint, I liked the idea of sealing the concrete and giving it color at the same time. I used EasyTint on my outside patio and really like the finished product. As you can imagine this project was extremely messy and time consuming but well worth the redo. I also had no help during any step of the project. I had almost 24 hours just in floor grinding, hand grinding and phase one cleaning. An additional 8-10 hours on phase two cleaning. After cleaning the basement was waterlogged so I had two days of running fans to dry it out. I tried different application methods used by other customers, pump spray method is what I chose. I wanted to archive some color contrast/marbleish look so I did a bit of experimenting on areas where I knew you would not see (under area rug and couch). The base color I used was gray and I also purchase black. I found that the black was to much of a contrast so I mixed black with gray, initially at a 1:1 ration but ended up using a 3:1 ration gray to black. Finished it off with ProWax satin. I applied 5 coats because I planned on using a floor polisher to buff it out but ultimately didn’t like the polished look so I stopped after testing it in a small area. I have since tested the floor in several area for durability and it has passed the test so far. Had 10 kids over for NYD and unknowingly found them using hockey sticks on the floor, durability test two…PASS, haha. I am significantly more pleased with project redo both in looks and durability. Thanks for the great products!!
• Personal Tips:
  Suggest having multiple pump sprayers available, mine seemed to gum up easily resulting in sputtering of the sprayed material. This way you can transfer the material to a new pump and continue, clean the other when you are done.I found it difficult to walk in the spikes shoes, also time consuming putting them on and taking them off. To solve this I used an old pair of rubber crocs and attached the spikes to them so that I could easily slip on and slip off.Highly recommend testing the color on an area you may not see and get sample colors. My first attempt I was not crazy about the color, liked great in photos but turned out a lot different on my application. Also try an area not going to be seen (mine was under a large area rug I knew would be there) when trying to achieve a particular look, color, or accent design.Can’t stress enough about proper prepping for concrete dye/stain. If any doubt use a grinder to make your concrete more likely to absorb the stain. I would say just do it, grind it, if you have hard troweled concrete.
• Direct Colors Products Used:
  5 Gal. Black AcquaTint™ & ProWax Polish™ Satin Kit
  2 Gal. Gray AcquaTint™

Project Info:

• Project Completed In: 5 day(s)
• Estimate of Square Footage: 200 sq. ft.
• Project Description:
  We had a living area that was covered in black mastic. Several years ago we used a sander to remove most of the mastic and laid carpet. When the carpet was pulled up, there was several adhesive marks that would not fade. The Colorwave stained was able to cover the marks and help blend them in with the rest of the stain.
• Personal Tips:
  Make sure you spend the extra time with cleaning prep
• Direct Colors Products Used:
  1 Gal. Black DIY ColorWave® & AcquaSeal™ Gloss Kit
  1 Gal. Steel ColorWave® Stain
  1 Gal. Molasses ColorWave® Stain
  1 Gal. ProWax Polish™ Satin

Project Info:

• Project Completed In: 2 day(s)
• Estimate of Square Footage: 1200 sq. ft.
• Project Description:
  Staining the inside part of our shop floors.
•  Personal Tips:
  We used a sponge since rolling it on or spraying just did not want to work with us. Maybe the concrete was to smooth?

• Direct Colors Products Used:
  1 Gal. Charcoal AcquaTint™
  5 Gal. Charcoal AcquaTint™