Ava, I think the branch manager meant, if the concrete is raw or unpainted - then it is porous, once it is painted with any type of paint including an acrylic epoxy paint it is no longer porous. Therefore the type of sealer I would use would be different than if I had used a stain on the concrete - with a stain the concrete is stil porous but with an acrylic epoxy the concrete becomes non porous. Since that time I talked with the woman who originally put this treatment on her restaurant floor and she used an oil based varathane. However, I am going to use a water based or acrylic based varathane on mine. I have talked to several people and the water based sealer has less of a tendency to yellow than the oil based. Also I am thinking if I want to change the color or redo the concrete floor in the future, then I am thinking it will be less troublesome to redo a floor with a water based product. One point - I have tried using varathane with a roller before and it tends to put little bubbles in the finish, so I am going to use a flat sponge to apply the varathane. The woman doing the restaurant floor used a flat applicator to apply the varathane too. I am going to try my garage floor this week and will let you know how it turns out.

The stain I used is Brickform Acid Stain and the sealer is Conspec Sealer. It was all purchased from a concrete supplier, any place that sells concrete will have it. By concrete I mean a big truck not by the bag. As for testing the color, the concrete store will have samples already on concrete for you to look at. If you put it on and dont like it, there is no turning back. You can apply up to 3 coats of the color, so if its not dark enough or you miss a spot you can go back and do it. As far a ease, It was the easiest thing we did. We have a custom built log home, and did every bit of the work ourselves. It took five years. The acid staining was a 2 day project and very easy. The whole house has hard wood floors, and could have done that in the basement, but thought if it every flooded mopping the concrete was an easier fix. Plus I like the look of the stain. Im in Michigan, if anyone is nearby I am willing to help. Daisy

No, never really thought about it being cold. Maybe on cold days, but concrete stays at about the temperature of the outside. We get afternoon sun, so it can heat up. I spend most of my time on the porch in the early mornings. We have been in our home almost 7 years, and just recently bought an area rug for the porch. The walls are a stucco look alike over concrete board. Re-sealing is very easy! I use a mop or sealer pad and a small jug of sealer from Lowe's. Just vacuum, clean and then mop each square with sealer, in even strokes. Let dry 24 hours and it's done.

I'm sorry but home improvement stores RARELY have professional-grade concrete floor finishes. Even their garage sealers have been known to fail inside of a few years. You will need to start over. The sealer is failing. The good news is, for every chemical finish there is a "chemical reverse" known as a stripper. The bad news is, these chemical strippers can contaminate the concrete making it VERY DIFFICULT to refinish at a later date. Mechanical removal (sanding/shot blasting) is always the best option. It will both remove the finish/stain AND prepare the surface for a new stain. If your bedrooms look great, then you will need to go back to the 'smelly stuff'. And yes. These types of finishes (concrete finishes) are smelly. They don't have as many low-VOC options as wood. Sorry this has happened. You can look at the chemical strippers, but be aware they are usually FAR MORE TROUBLE then they are worth. Good luck. Keep us posted.