Out Guest author today shares some great information about how concrete can transform your floors.
Tired of that same old, boring floor?
It’s about time you consider decorative flooring as another stylish option for your home interiors. Contrary to what many believe, concrete is not just for sidewalks as it offers various alternatives to homeowners looking for something extraordinary.
In general, there are two types of concrete floors:
- Existing Concrete– This is the current slab in your property which can be improved with decorative treatments such as polishes and stains.
- Decorative Overlay– This is installed over an existing hard surface floor to offer a fresh appearance or cover damage.
It all depends on the look and feel you want to achieve for your concrete floors – the sky’s the limit! To turn your dull slab of concrete into a work of art, here’s how decorative concrete can help.
1. Flexible Design
Decorative concrete is so flexible that you can apply it to new or already existing concrete surfaces. Moreover, your design options are limitless due to technological advances in concrete mixing and setting. With the help of a reliable contractor, you can create whatever color or texture you want.
You can apply a decorative concrete coating through different methods, including:
- Thin stamp overlays
- Staining
- Splatter texture
- Slate trowel down finishes
If you want, you can even make your decorative concrete resemble bricks, natural stones, tiles or wood planks. Its unlimited design potential means no constraints on locally available materials.
2. Durability
Other than its aesthetic appeal, decorative concrete coating helps in increasing the durability, longevity, and strength of concrete surfaces. It’s much tougher than other materials and deteriorates at a much slower rate. It is an ideal choice if you want your floors to be resistant to dust, heavy loads, mold and harsh weather conditions.
3. Affordability
When you work with natural stone, there are too many factors that can drive up the cost. The availability, the weight of the stones and the distance covered to transport the material can all impact the price. What’s more, stone in rare colors can be more expensive especially if you’re working on a large area.
But with decorative concrete, you can easily enjoy the beauty of natural stone in a variety of designs and patterns for a fraction of the cost. It’s also inexpensive to install and with its extreme durability, it is the most cost-effective flooring solution you can take advantage of.
4. Low maintenance
If you don’t have a lot of time on your hands for cleaning or household tasks, decorative concrete is an ideal choice as it requires little maintenance. There’s no need for regular coating or polishing as you can easily clean spills with soap and water.
Cleaning and resealing are key when it comes to concrete maintenance. For residential purposes, it is recommended that resealing be done every two years. But then again, the frequency of resealing depends on the wear and tear, and environmental conditions of the place where the decorative concrete is applied.
5. Quick Installation
You can make use of decorative concrete to restore damaged concrete slabs. This will save you the time, effort, and cost of demolition and replacement, including the at least four weeks curing time for new cement.
No need for cement trucks, jackhammers, and breaking up old concrete. You will love that decorative concrete allows you to resurface instead of needing to replace old concrete structures which, in turn, can save you thousands of dollars.
6. Safety
Since concrete floors don’t trap bacteria, mold, mildew, or dust mites, you can make your home safer for your family with good indoor air quality. Moreover, your family won’t get exposed to toxic chemicals as it contains no harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and can be finished using zero-VOC sealers. You can prevent diseases at home as you can easily keep it clean with occasional dusting and wet mopping.
7. Eco-friendly
Using decorative concrete is good for the Earth as it doesn’t exhaust natural resources and requires less energy to produce than other floor types. You can recycle crushed concrete and use it as dry aggregate for new concrete or as a base layer for your asphalt paving.
Furthermore, using concrete minimizes the need for cooling and heating as it has the ability to absorb warm and cool air.
There are many things to love about decorative concrete and it would be quite a waste not to make the most out of it. Make sure to work with a professional contractor to achieve the full benefits of this beautifully awesome flooring option.
AUTHOR BIO
Ralph El Eid is the Business Development Manager at COLORTEK – Wall & Floor Fashion. EQUIPAINT is the franchise owner of COLORTEK in Dubai (U.A.E.) and Doha (Qatar); an international paints manufacturer specializing in the widest range of decorative paints and seamless concrete & resin flooring, with a unique showroom concept, and thus an ideal destination for homeowners, consultants, architects, interior designers and paint applicators.
