As a life long stained concrete contractor. I can give you a few tips on how to keep your project from turning into a disaster. I'm no pusher of these products, as you will see, I will recomend a spectrum of products that work and are cost effective. This not a commercial and sadly no one product line has what you need. I run around town picking up a sealer from this store, a sprayer from another, and my stains from yet another. Houston is a big city to run around in but I have found that any deviation from a winning formulation can only lead to disaster.

1. COLOR IS EVERYTHING(If you don't nail the color you'll never see any green) The first thing I would tell you is to use only the best stain. Acid stain is the best stain, and kemiko stains are the best acid stains on the market. You can dilute them in half and oftentimes I will dilute them as much as 15 parts water to one part stain. They are more expensive but material cost is the least of your problems. Kemiko stains also have a lot less residue to clean up and if you know what you're doing almost none at all. This is critical for any installation. Acid stains are also known to "cannabalize" or eat through the free lime in the concrete until you have bare spots. Kemiko stains are less likely to due this due to the above mentioned residue build up. The only time I use another acid stain is when the color can't be achieved with the color chart available. Want a nice gold without the orange? Use Increte Mission Tan. Want a mahogany? Try Butterfield Terra Cotta. Also, remember the color of a stain depends a great deal on how much you dilute it and how many times you apply it. The first time you spray a diluted stain will open up the pores and burn the dust off the top. So if at first your color doesn't turn let it dry and give it one more try. If you're a contractor get a sample approved and if you're a DIYer get a sample bottle from the supplier and make sure the color is what you wanted. COLOR CHARTS LIE!!! The most important lesson I've learned is that color is personal, one person's perception of gold is another's yellow or worse orange. The same color right? No, it's not and you better have done a sample. Remember to apply the sample as you would the entire floor.

2. SPRAYERS? SHOULD I BUY A CHEAP ONE OR SPECIALTY$$ ONE (the answer is neither, get the right one) Many contractors will tell you use use a cheap pump sprayer and throw it away when you are done. Don't believe the hype. A sprayer that won't last will break down while your applying and this will scew up your whole project. I see many an article saying that this is the case, from so called experts. They need to think outside the box. The big box stores that is. Home Depot and Lowe's dont have a good pump sprayer for acid stain, I know I've tried them all. Go to Ace Hardware or an Independent Hardware store and find a Chapin brand or Ace Hardware brand pump sprayer(same thing). They have a plastic cone tip and are great for acid stains. You will almost never wear it out and they're are no metal pieces to break down. As a side note, they last about 30 minutes when spraying Acetone based dyes, which is usually more than enough time to spray. These are all I buy. The $100 specialty pump sprayers break down(that hurts), even the Chapin brand "acid stain" sprayer you'll see at decorative concrete supply are too expensive for the same thing from the same manufacturer. You might want to buy the bigger one 3 gallon if you don't relish having to refill a lot like me.

If you're a DIYer good luck. If you are a contractor you're welcome. Either way check out my website and portfolio http://www.artisanoftexas.com