DIY Acid Stained Concrete Floor

I had mentioned in our fireplace post from last week how excited I was that the floor under the heinous old carpet of our living room was concrete because I have always wanted a modern acid stained floor. I have always loved the look, as long as I can remember, usually only seeing it in restaurants or other retail formats.

I mean, just look at the awesome, mottled blotching and variety that can be achieved?

So, having always been a fan of modern, industrial feels in decor, I jumped right at the chance to incorporate this trend into my own home. I was also excited to have a very good reason to tear up that carpet that I hated so much and offer up a cheap DIY flooring alternative that I knew my husband couldn’t say no to.

And when I say cheap, I mean seriously cheap! For all the supplies you need, I mean ALL the supplies from brushes to the stain and polish, you’re looking at about .65 cents a square foot. I mean, you can’t find any flooring option for that inexpensive and even the cheapest of cheap options require some know-how or skill. But not this. Seriously, any beginning DIYer could do this project. Which I know sounds insane, but really it’s not. Acid staining requires cleaning, spraying, waiting and more cleaning. Don’t you think you could probably handle that? I bet ya could.

I personally love how uncertain the results are with acid staining. No two floors will be the same! The muriatic acid reacts with the lime deposits in the concrete so there is no telling exactly what your floor will look like and I think that’s exciting. You can also get a lot higher-gloss type of coatings, but none that I felt were safe to do on an indoor space we were currently living in, especially with a young daughter and me being pregnant again. Most of those more intense products involve VOC that should be carefully regulated within your home, and probably is by law to a certain extent.

So anyway, those were just not for us as much as I loved the idea of getting a really glossy wet coat. But, if you’re doing this project on a home you haven’t yet moved into or on an outdoor area, those products may very well be for you! So, just know, you can get a lot more of a glossy coating than what we have here, if that’s your thing.

Either way, the direction to follow can be found right here. There are quite a few steps and materials and the process can be more involved if you’re looking at a particularly rough or uneven surface, but the acid staining itself is pretty straight forward and I really don’t feel like you can mess it up so don’t be intimidated by the longer tutorial. I promise you can do it!!

What do you think of my turquoise floor? Is it something you would consider in your home? If turquoise isn’t your thing, you can also chose from a variety of browns and earth tones, is that something you would consider? I really want to hear so leave your answers in the comments below!