Have you tried pressure washing? The next level of cleaning is sandblasting. Adding stain might improve appearance but probably won't hide the original stain, and topical stains also tend to wear unevenly over the years.

Yes I pressure washed it and it lightened but still noticeable.

Any idea how much staining would cost per square foot?

I suppose we could put down pavers as a last resort.

Oh good idea. I didn't know there was concrete paint. Can you buy it at Home Depot?

Oh duh..now I see you link.

Any suggestions for this color house? It is a bagel color.

There actually are many colors! 55 colors of browns and tans. There are 3 colors of creams and beiges. I would stick with the creams but take a look at this link and choose what you think looks best.
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Paint-Concrete-Basement-Garage-Floor-Paint/N-5yc1vZbd13

I agree with Denita. Concrete paint will be beautiful. Sandy colors like the house stucco.

A simple solution is to gray stain the entire area. Perhaps make it a darker tone then that shown in the picture.

You can have tiles laid over the lanai. Depending on the zone you live in you can go with a nice rustic slate (natural) tile for a comfortable look.

There are also concrete restoration companies (like ours) that can resurface a beautiful texture and color on top of the existing concrete in most any color that you can imagine. With a stamp texture of natural stone, cobble or hand carved finish. The material is then sealed for a very durable and beautiful surface.

The image attached has the look of wood but is indeed a concrete stamp.

What you have is discoloration, which can be caused by many reasons... it could be delayed or early finishing.... it could be job site added calcium chloride which is very difficult to dissolve in cold concrete and as a result you end up with a dark spot/s... if the concrete was covered with plastic for one reason or another it could result in dark or light spots... or it could be variations in placing or finishing operations.

There is products available to remove minor discoloration or stain removal like, but most cleaners contain bleach or acid, and you have to be real careful and follow instructions to the letter. I would suggest you call someone who has experience dealing with this issues and they will take care of it.
I can't attach the file here, but if you drop me a message with your email, I will send you a PDF which explains how to deal with common concrete stains.

Good luck

Staining the concrete is a good solution. However, the staining may come out quite mottled as a result of he underlining stains. A thorough and aggressive cleaning is required before you stain.

Google concrete resurfacing. You should come up with a number of good solutions. One of the best is a product called Jewelstone. http://www.durock.ca/jewelstone.html Ignore the really awful images of faux castles and look a the flooring options. You could turn it into quite a realistic limestone looking floor.

To clarify, Concrete paint will cover any imperfect color variations. Stain will not unless it is a solid stain.

Yes, in this case remember, keep it simple. Agree with LB Interiors. Concrete paint is really very easy to use and will do what you need it to do to sell the house.

I would try porch and patio paint. It will clean it up and make it look nice.

Good luck:)

Our chairs have the yellow tone or sand color. The house has more of a bagel color, more of an orange undertone color. I am not comfortable with grey or sand color. I would lean towards a darker tone such as brown to try and cover up the problem. What do you think?

Any 'solid color' paint will cover the problems. I would go light like the stucco because the space will feel larger. Potential buyers like rooms and areas to feel large. And it is a neutral color. Browns will be okay and will hide the soil. A painted surface will wash up nicely no matter what color it is. A light color is more cheerful, clean and fresh feeling.

I realize this is an almost year old thread but I have to chime in.

Concrete paint will generally delaminate. How long that will take depends on the surface prep and environmental conditions. It is a quick fix if you are just trying to make a patio look decent before unloading it on someone else. I would not do it if you plan on staying.

Stains are translucent. If it is opaque and called a stain it is most likely a pigmented sealer or just a paint. There is a lot of word play in this industry because they can get away with it. Any coating applied too thick will end up delaminating.

Stain and seal is a great option if you like a variegated and mottled look.

If you really just want to make the concrete look new again there are several good companies out there that offer products that can resurface concrete slabs. Duraamen, Elite Crete, and Super Krete are just a few. Construction Guaranteed touched on it. These are called micro toppings.

Micro toppings are a thin layer of concrete that can be applied as thin as 1/16th of an inch. For stamping they are applied at about 1/4th of an inch.

Elite Crete has a fast turn around time for a project like this using their Thin Finish. Clean the slab, wet the surface, apply the micro topping, broom finish if desired to match your original photo. For stain resistance and longevity apply sealer afterwards.

A micro topping would be your best value to restore the surface. It could be done in one or two days depending on the size and condition of the slab. And it would last.

Regards,

Vincent Cathcart

VC Studio Inc.

vince@vcstudioinc.com