Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Finished concrete floors

A commenter and fellow Oklahoman asked about our finished concrete floors. Our floors on the main level are finished concrete everywhere except the tiled entryways (front and back) and bathroom, and the carpeted bedrooms. So, hallway, dining area, kitchen, and living area are all finished concrete.

The previous owners pulled up the carpet and (a guess) linoleum in the kitchen to expose the foundation concrete. I did some online research and learned that the process is to lightly acid-wash the concrete, then stain it the color or combination of your choice, then seal it. The previous owners then had the concrete scored in a pattern of random rectangles and squares. The scoring is actually a straight-sided groove cut into the concrete about 1/4 inch deep (I'm guessing; I'm upstairs and not bothering to go look at it, LOL).

The combination of the scoring pattern and the stain color they chose gives the impression of a slate floor when you're NOT looking at it. When you're looking at it it's definitely not tile or stone, and if you've heard of finished concrete floors you'd probably figure it out quickly. We love it.

The finished concrete floor sealant lasts about 10 years before you need to do any special care kind of thing, and I forget what that is. So this is a very hard-wearing surface -- perfect for kids!! The diecast cars roll really fast on this floor, tops spin nicely, and dinner plates break really well... As far as breakage goes, it's a lot like a ceramic tile floor.

Another of my favorite things is that spills are no problem. Orange soda spill at a party? Wipe it up and swipe the floor with a wet rag; all done. Kids come in from the sprinkler or a ball game all wet, grimy, and/or muddy? Deal with it in the tile entry (simply for containment of mess) and march them to the bathroom. Floor wipes clean.

Also, and quite wonderfully, the concrete is cool to bare feet, a gift in the blazing Oklahoma summer. In winter we wear socks and slippers. Oh! The floor is quite slippery in socks. That can be fun, or dangerous. So I encourage slippers, and if they want to play, they can still slide around in their socks...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

we have an ugly white substance forming in different places where we had the stained concrete done, the stained concrete company says its coming from our foundation but i think they are lying, it's ugly and i regret doing the stained concrete, we did it 2 yrs ago and it looks horrid

Barbara said...

Anonymous, you might do some research on that white substance to find out the truth of the matter.

Unknown said...

concrete floor have become increasingly popular in homes. concrete flooring is one of the most cost efficient flooring techniques..one thing i like about this is that is durable.
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