How do I stain/polish/seal concrete floor?

I am planning on ripping out old carpet and want to know how to stain, polish, and seal the concrete floor. I am in a climate with high temps and humidity (long dog day summers) and I believe it will not only be cleaner but cooler to do away with the carpet. Other than the carpet removal (I should have no trouble with that) how do I begin to create my "remodeled" concrete floor?

Acid stains for concrete are available at masonry supply yards. These stains react chemically with the concrete and they are perminate (no turning back). Generally they create different hues in the work due to the differences of the composition of the concrete. Concrete sealers can be purchased at the same time, in the same place.

Through cleaning is the first step. Hot mopping with TSP and plenty of buckets of hot clear rinse water should clean things. It's important to remove every trace of the TSP, so do not spare the rinsings. The instructions for the acid stain and sealer are on the containers. Waxing and polishing with a good floor wax afterward should keep things in good shape for years to come.

Speaking of staining concrete floors, I was told by a cement contractor, that you could stain a concrete floor with Ironite( used for roses)Iit's supposed to give the floor a terrazo look. I'm going to try it with some scrap cement.

[SoFlaGuy]

A good place to check up on <a href="http://www.concretepolishing.com" rel="nofollow"> Concrete Polishing </a> is from the main industry web site that has just been launched. Check out http://www.ConcretePolishing.com They have all kinds of information on Concrete Polishing, concrete staining, decorative concrete and so much more.

It's a really helpful site to get you started. Concrete doesn't have to look ugly any more.