We first saw stained concrete at our good friend's home. They pulled up all the carpet and stained the concrete. At first I never thought Id like it for my own house but as our carpet downstairs gets older/dirtier and we suffer more each spring with allergies, the idea has really grown on me.
We cant afford hardwood floors or even cork which are the healthiest options Ive found (less toxic offgassing than laminate and new carpeting especially if you use a non-toxic sealer on the wod). But stained concrete is a VERY affordable, VERY allergy-friendly option! And we can also install something else over it later.
I found a product online called SoyCrete. Its a non-toxic, enviromentally-safe concrete stain. It comes in many different colors and its easy to apply. They also make an eco-friendly top coat called Acri-soy and another one called Poly-soy. Check out the SoyCrete colors HERE.
If we dont move before the baby comes (lots of showings, no offers yet!) we'll definitely be pulling out the carpet downstairs and staining it. I like the "espresso" and the "Leather Brown" :) Im excited there is a healthy and affordable option!!!!
(We have about 700 sq. ft of carpeting downstairs - the rest is tile. We were quote about $6k to put in laminate flooring. Installying something ourselves would still be around $2800. The cost of the stain and sealer, with shipping, would be $262!)
