Anyone have acid etched/stained concrete floors? (Tempe: houses, buyers)

[AzWickedSS]

Looking to do something a little different as I need new flooring throughout my house. The first floor tile and carpet is getting torn up this weekend and I need to make a decision on what to do next. 20x20 tile was my first thought but I have been seeing pics of stained and etched concrete flooring and that looks pretty cool. Does anyone have this done to their place? How is the results and does it make a difference in cooling during summer and heating during winter? Doing this also looked to be a bit cheaper as well and I could have a look that is like marble or travertine with different designs.

So anyone........

[Jkgourmet]

We considered doing this, but finally decided to stick with what is more generally accepted, which would be 20X20 tile (or larger, if it's a large room) or travertine (if the house and area justify the cost of that material). The reason was simple: When we go to resell, concrete is not considered as universally appealing. MANY buyers will be turned off.

Note that if I were doing floors for a downtown or Tempe loft, I'd probably do the concrete. When they are done properly, they look great. But for 98% of the houses in this area - tile, travertine or wood flooring, IMO.

[AZJoeD]

I once sold a home that had stained concrete floors. The owner took his time and cleaned up the concrete real well, grooved a pattern into the flor (just large squares) and then stained them. It can out real nice.

Not sure which stain he used, but it is virtually maintenance free.

They put rugs down in places where they wanted a softer surface.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by AzWickedSS

Looking to do something a little different as I need new flooring throughout my house. The first floor tile and carpet is getting torn up this weekend and I need to make a decision on what to do next. 20x20 tile was my first thought but I have been seeing pics of stained and etched concrete flooring and that looks pretty cool. Does anyone have this done to their place? How is the results and does it make a difference in cooling during summer and heating during winter? Doing this also looked to be a bit cheaper as well and I could have a look that is like marble or travertine with different designs.

So anyone........

My recommendation, AzWickedSS . . . DON'T DO IT.

About ten years ago I had my my tired carpeting removed and the cement floor acid stained and sealed. It looked great at first but after a few months it began to look dingy and worn. After about two or three years it became an eyesore and required more work than it was worth.

I finally covered it up with hardwood and everything has been fine since.

MY TWO CENTS WORTH.

[ads7680]

We acid stained our concrete floor a couple of years ago. By far the biggest challenge was trying to remove the carpet glue. Despite countless hours on my knees attacking the glue with a razor scraper, the glue prevailed. However, since the acid stain salesperson assured us that the acid stain would "eat" the glue and it wouldn't be a problem, we decided to proceed with the staining. As it turned out, the glue actually ended up being a major problem and it looked hideous (no way did the stain "eat" the glue). In the end, we decided not to seal the floor and instead tiled over it. The staining project was a huge waste of time and money (mainly time since it was a do-it-yourself job). With that said, you should get good results if you are dealing with new, virgin concrete.

[roundball]

My 2nd part time job in school (when they needed me) was dealing with concrete. I did dozens of floors with dozens of designs and they still look awesome 15yrs later. They were all new builds with in floor heating and we were working from scratch. More of an imprint and not an etching.

I would go with what bummer recommends. You may want to also think about using an epoxy spray or some kind of other micro topping.

[unit731]

If you ever plan to sell then stick with what is the most common.

[AZ bound]

Originally Posted by roundball

My 2nd part time job in school (when they needed me) was dealing with concrete. I did dozens of floors with dozens of designs and they still look awesome 15yrs later. They were all new builds with in floor heating and we were working from scratch. More of an imprint and not an etching.

I would go with what bummer recommends. You may want to also think about using an epoxy spray or some kind of other micro topping.

You say you've done many of these, that look awesome 15 years later, and go with what bummer recommends.
Yet bummer says don't do it?????????

[roundball]

Originally Posted by AZ bound

You say you've done many of these, that look awesome 15 years later, and go with what bummer recommends.
Yet bummer says don't do it?????????

I helped pour the slab,press the design, and finish it. To make it look the same they would have to pour a whole new floor.
I wouldn't think their slab wouldn't look good. Most slabs that are meant to have a floor covering aren't finished nice enough to stand on their own. It would be easier to break it out and re pour. Without seeing it I could be wrong. I did point out here are some sprays that look neat.

[AzWickedSS]

I guess I will stick with the original plan of tiling the whole first floor. I did look at a lot of pics of some concrete stains and they all looked extremely nice but I guess majority of those are probably the really high end work I saw that I can't afford. I do have a fairly large floor plan so I figured 20x20 tiles is best or the stain with lines etched in at even a bigger size would be nice as well. I guess I just need to make up my mind. I made the decision that wood is out due to my dog liking to pick at wood objects for hours. I have old tables around the house that you can see where she nibbled on all the corners and such.

With tile is there really a difference between the $4/sqft stuff and $1/sqft if they are both the same compound, ie ceramic?