- Reduce your tooling costs by up to 50%.

- Flatten or follow any wavy floor with 180-degree indexing.

- Accepts most standard tooling.

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Despite your best efforts, not all decorative concrete floors will turn out to be the color you -- or your client -- expected, especially when you are working with temperamental acid-based stains. The best approach is to stain a small test section of the floor before covering the entire surface. But even then, there may be times when the stain comes out blotchy or your clients simply don't like the final results once they see the big picture. Fortunately, no one has to live with a discolored concrete floor. Here are three strategies you can use to  hide blotches and streaks or change the color altogether.  

Hide blotches with a tinted sealer

To touch up small blemishes on stained floor surfaces, brush on a mixture of acrylic tint and sealer,
advises ConcreteNetwork.com troubleshooting expert Chris Sullivan of ChemSystems Inc. Tinted sealers are available with water and solvent bases, as well as multiple levels of gloss and opacity. You can buy a premixed colored sealer, or add tint concentrates to clear sealers on site. See  Quick Fix for Blemished Acid-Stained Floors.

Make the color darker with a water-based
stain or dye

If the floor color turns out to be too light, topical acrylic stains or water-based penetrating stains can be used to shift the floor to a darker color. Because these types of stains typically are very translucent, this method is limited to floors where you want to vary the color over a broad area, not where the color is blotchy or has streaks. Concrete dyes can also be used to change the floor color, as was the case on  this project when the floor owners changed their minds about the color after the floor was acid stained.

Completely change the color with a microtopping

If the floor color is completely unacceptable or the floor has been repaired or patched, consider applying a concrete overlay or microtopping over the entire slab to achieve a new, uniform surface. Ultra-thin cement-based  microtoppings and skim coats for concrete floors are available in virtually any color or can be stained after application. Most require minimal surface preparation when applied over clean, sound concrete. Another plus: Because these materials are so thin, they dry quickly. See how a microtopping and layers of acid stain added warmth and richness to this residential floor.