Coverings for Concrete Floors

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The simple act of looking for coverings for concrete floors will take you through the gamut of such things as rubber flooring utilized for working out in a gym, to rubber floors that have the alphabet printed on them to be used in children’s play areas, to any number of various carpeting, glue-on floor tiles, actual ceramic tile, marble and even faux marble simply created from concrete overlays. There may be 50 ways to leave your lover as the song goes, but there basically are only four distinct ways to cover concrete flooring.

Utilizing concrete and then decorating it began only about 20 years ago. Everything changed with the advent of polymer technology, and now they can utilize material overlays so that they are basically the thickness of a credit card, yet those same materials can actually totally protect concrete.

Various textured coverings for concrete floors came next, with things such as stampable overlays, and textured surfaces that could mimic wood, brick, tile and even any number of natural stone. Curing of these ordinarily takes 24 hours, thus they are not usually considered the best coverings for concrete floors in ongoing businesses. Because surface preparation is so important for the success of textured coverings, grinding may be accomplished mechanically, which is also referred to as profiling of the floor. Granted, some prefer to utilize an acid etching or other chemical surface profiling. Your textured covering contractor is the best judge of what to use with any particular product.

A newer thinner textured covering is now a product that requires what is known in the business as “micro topping,” so called because it is truly incredibly thin. The result is decent abrasion resistance, some durability and a pretty strong finish, however the negative side is that it usually takes more than one application especially if concrete stains are utilized, and foot traffic can usually only resume after 36 hours following application. This type of finish is however, also porous, thus it tends to accumulate dirt in it, which many find to be a huge negative.

Stenciled concrete is yet other kinds of coverings for concrete floors, but this is more commonly utilized outside perhaps around pool areas and the like. It does produce a somewhat rougher, and grittier finish than the micro topping in that more sand is utilized. Usually, a clear coating of some sort then tops the entire thing. Curing may take a good while, depending on how many steps will occur to get the correct desired effect.

Saving the best for last is Silikal coverings for concrete floors. It sets up within one hour of application, will outlast the building it is applied into, and remains as beautiful as the day it was laid, regardless of any punishment the floor receives. The colors are positively amazing, and nothing but nothing beats Silikal for concrete flooring.