Honestly, everyone told me to hire a pro for my concrete patio stain, but I mixed my own color for $40 and it looks perfect. | Exterior Design - The Design Community Hub
That's the way to do it. My own DIY stain job looked like a toddler's mud pie for a solid week before it dried. Guess I should have tested it on more than just a single, weirdly smooth brick.
Remember how paint colors look different in the can versus on the wall? That's the real win here. You got to test a splash of your mix on a spare block or a hidden corner first, I bet. So many store-bought stains dry a totally different shade than the sample, and you're just stuck with it. You dodged that whole mess and saved a ton of cash.