The Easiest Way To Stain Concrete

I am SO excited to have partnered up with my friends at HomeRight to teach you all the EASIEST (and fastest) way to stain concrete. But first lets go back to the beginning…
Remember this? Its the stamped concrete pad and path in my backyard. I wanted to stain it to match the color of the retaining wall boulders. I used Behr concrete stain products in the following colors: 1 Gallon of Old Adobe, 1 quart Industrial Gray and 1 quart Carob. After reading all of the Behr staining instructions and watching a handful of YouTube videos, I was ready to start staining. First things first, before you can stain you must prep.Grab a power washer and remove all of the dirt and gravel, and allow it to dry completly.Spray on the cleaner and etcher then distribute evenly over all the concrete using a broom. DO NOT let it dry. With a power washer and a large broom, scrub it off until the etch stops foaming. Once its all rinsed and clean, allow it to dry.This is the part you’ll want to pay attention on what NOT to do… So one of the youtube videos I watched recommended using a deck brush for applying the base coat to add texture, then follow it up by spraying on the darkest colors. Finally, after TWO HOURS of foolishly brushing on the first layer I started spraying on the next layer.
Enter our hero, HomeRight Finish Max. As I started layering the next colors I realized that the brushing on of the stain was quickly covered up by the beautiful application of the finish max. I couldn’t believe how easy and powerful this little sprayer is. Unlike the plastic pump sprayers, this doesn’t drip when you let go of the trigger. Its AMAZING! I think this is the first tool I’ve fallen in love with (thats totally a thing!) So, let me save you a couple hours of time and a sore back. Please friends, just use the Finish Max from the start.This is what the concrete looked like after brushing (for two long, grueling hours, yes I’m still slightly bitter about the time wasted) and then ten minutes of spraying on the second stain “Industrial Gray”. The key to making it look awesome is the variation and inconsistency created by layering and spraying in a circular pattern (make sure the spray is set to 360 for a cylinder spray mode.) I finished by layering the darkest color “Carob” and it really tied it all together. I think we can all agree that this color combination makes the path blend in so well with the surrounding color scheme. My husband Nick was a bit worried about me taking on this project all by myself (as he was working on insulating our basement, sheet rock is coming in this week!) but when he came out to check on me he was really impressed with how it looked. I’m SO grateful that It wasn’t just me brushing the whole thing, the sprayer made a world of difference!Now one last look at the before and after. Do you have some projects that would like to save hours of time by spraying and not brushing? You’re in luck, because I’m teaming up with HomeRight to give one of these bad boys away to a lucky winner! To enter follow HomeRight and Housewife2Hostess on Facebook and Instagram to win! Good luck!