There were so many lessons learned when we did our downstairs floors, and while some things may have changed after just a few short years, I still feel the majority of this information should be extremely relevant and I think could be very helpful if you endeavor on this task.  If it had it not been for our first lesson learned, the entire bottom floor would have only cost us $500.  There isn’t a better price with such a beautiful finish to be found anywhere.  The most valuable lesson was to rely on the Roosevelt’s famous quote of, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself”.  

1. Hiring a professional  

we had a very difficult time trying to find someone local that acid stains floors, which was our preference over epoxy coatings due to durability.  We were concerned about many of the things we had read and wanted to ensure it was done correctly and also having it done without breaking our back.  However, we finally thought we had found someone who was willing to come further.  They showed up for a quote, produced a contract, business cards, samples, and everything.  We set a date and he asked for a down payment just for the cost of the stains.  He never returned and wouldn’t return a single call or message. That’s another battle, but it was what pushed us to do it for ourselves. 

2. Perfection won’t fit 

I find beauty in natural imperfection, and love that you don’t know exactly what you will get with the acid stain because it is a reaction to the surface, not a coating.  This is what makes it more durable, but what makes it not be uniform.  If you are looking for uniformity, you are looking at the wrong type of flooring, but we knew that going in. 

3. Be cautious with your purchase of acid stain

We found out that most acid stains have a semi-short shelf life and if you buy it at a bigger store that doesn’t monitor those life spans, you may end up with a non-reactive stain. 

4. Proper prep is important…

…but don’t cause you to overthink it.  We told the concrete contractors we were staining it so that they understood they needed to minimize unevenness, cracking, and burnishing and they did just that (see more on our foundation for some on that).  We worried about having it clean enough, etching or not etching it, etc.  We also saw something about if the concrete was fibrous it might cause a weird finish (ours had fibers). In the end, we cleaned it moderately (it wasn’t that dirty and we didn’t kill ourselves), we didn’t etch, we just went for it…and…BREATH…it was FINE!  

5. Watch out for the spray foam insulation. 

My husband didn’t tell the spray foam insulation guy to be careful and thought it would be find, but there was a little overspray right at the edge of walls and FYI, it doesn’t accept stain with that overspray but it covered up with our walls.   

6. Go the easy route

We just used a new, cheap pump sprayer and coated it well and then waited for the reaction, I think it is hands down, the easiest and best way to put down the acid stain. 

7. Wait and don’t fret

You will see some ugliness and weird patterns sometimes, but just wait and let it do its thing.  You will see from the pictures the end results were far different from the first sprays. 

8. Clean some but just neutralize 

***LIFE SAVER ADVICE***  Here was the biggest lesson we learned and when someone asks my husband how hard it was, he immediately swears for people to not do it.  This is where I remind him that the issue was where we learned our lesson.  Everything I could find said to clean the floor until it was completely clear. It said if we didn’t, it could cause a very bad effect on our sealer. We cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and kept cleaning.  It would not turn clear and we were exhausted and at our wits end.  I finally read our life saving piece of advice.  Take water and baking soda, spray it all over it to stop the acidic reaction, clean up the powder and be done.  That is what we did and then just let it really dry.   

9. Sealers 

A good sealer can really make or break your look, but what helped tremendously was going to the store we did.  Luckily, they had sealed their floors in all multiple types of sealers (acrylic, epoxy, etc).  They had worked on the floors, driven with a forklift on the floor and had pretty heavy traffic.  This made the choice very clear.  We picked a great acrylic sealer because everything else was very marred.  We just rolled it on with a long pole and paint roller. 

10. Finishing the floors before framing has pros and cons

Cleaning and maneuvering without anything in your way really makes things so easy.  No water came in contact with our framing which wouldn’t have been possible if it was in place when we went through the staining process.  If you know my husband, there was no other way!  The con was, there was a little floor glue (from subfloor above) that dropped here and there but my husband popped it right up with a pocketknife.  The sealer was a bit abused, but once our porch is all done and no more construction will occur, we will either buff it really good with wax or add another coat of sealer, but the color has stayed. We feel confident they will be great in the end because when you mop or just wipe it up, it looks gorgeous.