Do you think sidewalk or patio when you hear the word “concrete?” They have changed a lot in the past decade. Interior concrete floors are stylish, durable, eco-friendly and come in a myriad of colors, styles and finishes, often at an extremely competitive price.
The days of common gray concrete are over! There is such a range of options for concrete flooring if you’re in the market for a new floor. Let’s talk about the options that are available with concrete.
Types Of Concrete Flooring
There are two basic types of concrete floors — existing concrete and decorative overlay concrete. Stains and polishes can enhance your existing concrete floor. Certain types of hard-surface flooring can have an overlay installed. This offers the chance to mask damage or update your look.
There are a variety of surface textures; from smooth, polished, troweled, stamped, scored or even aggregate, which incorporates crushed stone into the finish.
Concrete can be made to look like tile, slate or marble. It can be enhanced using stenciled borders or custom graphics. No other flooring choice gives you the ability to create such unique looks.
Basement floor by Supremecrete
Colors
Color is a huge consideration in choosing flooring material. Color is added by various methods.
- Integral Color is added during the mixing process
- Stains offer a unique look through translucent finishes
- Achieve more vibrant shades using dyes, often mixed on-site
- Colored Hardeners give surface-level colors by adding it to fresh concrete.
- Paint
Concrete is the chameleon of the flooring world offering limitless design potential. Concrete can match any hue you desire. Recent advances in materials and finishing techniques have resulted in some pretty trendy new looks. This is especially true with metallic epoxies, for instance. Concrete polishing will give you a high-luster look, similar to polished stone, that will never require waxing. Metallic epoxies are a great choice for modern, upscale looks and contain the addition of metallic powders or reflective pigments that will give the look of copper, aged bronze, silver or other metallic patinas to the concrete surface.
Please come back next week for Concrete Floors Part 2. I’ll be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of concrete flooring.
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