If your dull home is looking for a revamp and you are looking to add a layer of concrete to the floor, it is not necessary that you have to hide it completely from guests visiting the house. There are certain people who will prefer to cover the concrete with one more layer, but this is a waste of money and resources, unskilled floor work. Considering the wide number of products that are available in the market, it is very simple for the homeowner to convert dull looking gray concrete floors into very attractive looking floors.

Most difficult decision to take is to choose the best-colored floor option because of the number of options that are in the market. Starting from bright red colors to metallic shades that provide a metallic effect, there are a number of colors out there. In order to help one to make the right kind of choice when it comes to decorative coatings, here are some of the tips on how to improve the look of your concrete floors.

Colored Concrete Coatings

Stain-Based Concretes

The most well-known and popular method of decorative concrete coatings is the method of staining the concrete floor. This method helps in achieving the exquisite look based on your budget and tastes. Instead of a dull solid looking color, the stained effect will provide a coloring effect that resists fading and has a rather permanent-based color.

Depending on the preference of the homeowner, one can either choose an acid stained floor or a water-based method of staining. Stain-based colors penetrate chemically into the decorative concrete coatings and a natural color variation is formed. This variation is very similar to the appearance that is seen in the wood texture. The only disadvantage of acid-based stained colors is because only colors like soft blue-green, tan, browns, and terracotta are available.

If one wants to try something that is out of the box, one can opt for a water-based stain method. This is available in an entire spectrum of colored hues. One can mix a lot of the colors, like paints that are water-based, to improve the color options.

Colored Concrete Coatings

Curing the Concrete Floor

Before opting for the curing of the concrete floor into decorative concrete coatings, one should ensure that the concrete layer applied should be allowed to cure properly. The curing should be done properly because improper curing can cause cracking, shrinkage, and reduce the overall strength of the floor. It is equally important or colored concrete because improper curing results in an inconsistent coloring effect.

Even though the color differences might not look very pronounced, these defects usually grow into something big and weaken the overall strength of the floor. This may lead to the complete removal of the floor and re-pouring of the decorative concrete coatings. In order to avoid potential problems like this, it is best to use color wax that matches the color of the floor.

Manufacturers in the market who provide colored cards with samples that are provided with the final finish that is provided to the customer. There are a number of seal and cure kind of products that are available in the open market. While checking these samples, one should check to ensure that the samples are not yellowish, have a resistant towards blush, and can be used as a decorative concrete as well. This helps in uniform spreading of the decorative concrete coatings. One should avoid the use of polyethylene sheeting. If there are wrinkles that are in contact with the concrete, the color effect is different at the contact points.