I'm having the tile replaced in a 2nd bathroom in our home, and am removing the old peel and stick tile myself (which was put down 20 years ago). Went to buy some new ceramic tile today, and it dawned on me that simply staining the concrete might be a good alternative.

Any reason to not consider staining as an option? Bathroom is 9 x 6. It is used full time during the summer months but used maybe one weekend a month during the other times of the year.

Some others can probably chime in with better info but my understanding is it is very difficult to go back and stain a floor that has had tile/carpet on it previously. Of course you can always give it a whirl and then tile back over it if the stain doesn't take correctly

Do it, then come back and let us know how it goes!

(we have been contemplating same thing)

I have heard the same thing. Our new office has stained concrete floors throughout and there are quite a few places that are discolored. Talking to the floor guy, it is because stuff gets spilled on the concrete. No matter how fast the spill is cleaned up, the concrete absorbs some of the spill. This hinders the concrete's ability to absorb the stain.

FWIW, it's worth a shot. If you don't like it, tile back over it.

Justin '03

Depends on how finished you want it to look and how much time you want to spend cleaning it.

We ripped the carpet out of our house and didn't clean it very much as this is a temp solution for us..

1)Rip carpet out and remove tack boards.
2)Vacuum everything up that is solid.
3)Clean floor and rid of adhesive and make as smooth as possible.
4)Mop with bleach solution and let dry thoroughly.
5)(This is where it gets interesting)Buy a exterior latex paint in a neutral color, we chose a very plain grey. Plaint floor said paint to give the floor a uniform color. And let dry thoroughly. We used rollers for this step
6)Buy semi-transparent concrete stain. Apply stain to painted floor (we also used rollers for this). We went in every conceivable direction to prevent roller strokes. Let dry thoroughly.
7)Buy floor grade poly and apply 2 or more coats letting dry thoroughly between each coat.

We did almost our whole house for around $500 or less, don't remember an exact figure, and it has held up pretty well. We could stand to put another coat of poly down, but probably won't as we are nearing putting down hardwoods or some form of tile.

After carpet removal


After paint


After stain/poly

I did a 10 year old room that had carpet. Cleaning was a PIA, but it turned out pretty well.

Cleaning up from tile may be worse, since the lines might ghost up.

Also, it is pretty slick, so may not be the best for a bathroom. They might have a finish that is rougher, but I did not look into it that far.

The dirty floor in the pic can be cleaned very well if you use the right products. Never clean it with bleach if you plan to acid stain the concrete.

That floor could have been nicely acid stained with no overlay. We do them all the time.

That aside, your floor looks great.

My first thought is the floor would be slick and cold. Not 2 features I would want in a bathroom floor. Personally, I'd go with a radiant heated floor with ceramic tile. Another option would be cork, but you would need to go with a higher end product, not the $1.99 crap.

"I want to be around people who want to compete in the best conference in America. If you're scared of that, get a dog."

Kevin Sumlin