One of the most boring parts of our garden design is also one of our most necessary – walkways, patios and driveways. Most of us have simple poured concrete, and while it definitely does the job, it is, in a word, boring. We wanted a cool textured, almost rustic look that would blend well with different styles. Here’s how to stain a concrete patio yourself, without a sprayer, without expensive commercial products, and without taking a huge chunk out of your checkbook.

 

DIY stained concrete patio before and after!

patio stain project

 

Supplies For DIY Concrete Stain Project

  • Concrete Stain – We used 2 gallons of Behr Concrete Stain (semi transparent) on an average concrete patio. Buy online from Home Depot here. We found this to be the best patio stain that we have ever used.
  • Roller and tray
  • Sponge
  • Optional: Concrete cleaner/etcher and concrete sealer

 

behr concrete stain

 

How To Stain Concrete Patio

Step One:

Determine if your concrete is porous enough to absorb the stain. The best way to do this is to drip a few drops of water on it. If it absorbs after a few minutes, it’s good to stain. If the water beads up and won’t absorb, then you need to strip and etch it. Probably don’t need to do that unless your concrete has been sealed in the past. Behr makes a concrete stripper for this purpose, I’m sure there are other products as well. Follow the instructions on the can. If stripping is not needed, simply clean the concrete really well with water and a little vinegar or mild soap. The advantage to the vinegar is that it wont need rinsing. The soap will. Allow to dry thoroughly.

 

Step Two:

We used a roller and tray to apply the stain to the floor, then used a round household sponge to dab a texture into the stain before it dries. You will need to have two people, one to roll and one to dab and work in small sections. Try to keep the edge wet as you work to prevent a hard line, but with the texture, its pretty forgiving. Allow to dry. Don’t panic if it looks like a total failure at this point…it WILL need a second coat! In fact, you could add a third coat for a really rich texture, we stopped at two. Note: If your sponge is not round, simply tear away chunks of the edges before using so you wont have any hard edge marks in your stain.

See? First coat looks pretty rough…patience!

concrete stain patio diy project

 

After the 2nd coat. Looks a lot better. We could have done a 3rd coat but stopped here. We kind of like the uneven, rustic look to it. And now you know how to stain a concrete patio. Easier DIY project than you thought right?

concrete stain diy patio project

 

After your final coat, allow to dry 24 hours. If you choose to use a sealer at this point, now is the time. Be sure to roll on using light coats and allow to dry thoroughly between coats if you do more than one.

  • Advantage of using sealer: Stain will last much longer and will have a little more shine to it.
  • Disadvantage of using sealer: When you eventually want to freshen the stain, or need to repair a spot, you will have to strip the concrete first.

That’s it! How to stain a concrete patio in two easy steps! (Ok, three if you seal!) You can do this on any concrete surface, interior or exterior. Although the stain does penetrate the concrete to some degree, I wouldn’t drag heavy objects across it. It does hold up very well, ours has two years on it now, with little signs of wear. You can touch it up with a paintbrush and dab with a paper towel for tiny chips or scrapes. Be sure to save the can of patio stain, or record the color in the case you wish to re-coat the concrete sometime in the future.  You might also be interested in this post – DIY Concrete Patio Cover Ups. And check out our post Front Porch & Patio Ideas on our sister site OhMeOhMy!


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9 Comments

  1. Kim October 13, 2016 at 8:38 am

    Hi,
    Your patio turned out great! I have been wanting to stain our patio for several years. We just moved into a new home and I am finally going to do it!
    My question for you is, did you seal yours or leave it?
    Thank you,
    Kim ~

    Reply
    1. Kathy Woodard October 19, 2016 at 12:02 pm

      We did not seal it, but now we wish we had! It definitely faded faster than we thought it would without sealant, though it did last 3 years. We will be sealing our patio in our new house!

      Reply
  2. Summer March 21, 2015 at 9:26 pm

    This is so beautiful, I am in love with the color you picked! I have a question that might be ignorant but bear with me. :) Can you stain a patio that is not covered? Do you think it will last a good while or would it need to be restained over and over again? It looked like your patio might be covered but I couldn’t tell. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Kathy Woodard April 10, 2015 at 8:21 am

      It is covered, but still gets hard sun a good part of the afternoon… For us, it lasted several years before we decided it needed a redo…

      Reply
  3. Nayeli December 22, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    I LOVE this. I was interested in staining my concrete countertops (a project I’m currently in the middle of). I was wondering how its held up. I was reading reviews of behr’s stains and some people were complaining of chipping.

    Reply
  4. alex May 19, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    What color did u use? Having hard time w color swatches.

    Reply
    1. Kathy Woodard May 20, 2014 at 3:54 pm

      Hi Alex, Ill have to check on that, and see if we still have the color!

      Reply
      1. Tamara July 14, 2014 at 8:42 am

        Do you know the name of the color you used?

        Reply
        1. Kathy Woodard July 17, 2014 at 10:56 am

          Yep! Just checked with Steve, it was “Loden”…

          Reply

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