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Concrete has long had a place in our driveways, garages and basements. But what about letting it through the front door and into our living spaces? Concrete floors are gaining popularity because of their affordability and as reported on ConcreteNetwork.com, concrete is a good flooring material because it is “high in durability and low in environmental impact.” Not to mention, concrete floors are low maintenance when it comes to upkeep and highly attractive when you check out the endless possibilities for design.

There are plenty of options for redoing concrete that is already underfoot or for pouring new concrete floors and decorating as you go. Here’s an overview of concrete flooring options.

• Stains and Dyes
• Overlays
• Engraving or Etching
• Inlays
• Stenciling

Stains and dyes give you options to add color to that dull gray flooring. Acid stains, although colors are limited to mostly earth tones, offer a more natural look than dyes and water-based acrylic stains. Acid stains give a mottled look that when polished resembles expensive natural stones like marble and granite. Dyes are getting attention because of their broader selection of more vibrant colors and their claim of being easy to use. Water-based acrylic stains offer a wider variety in colors as well. Water-based dyes can look variegated, like stains, whereas solvent-based dyes are usually consistent in color.

A concrete overlay is basically resurfacing your concrete with more of itself. You can change the floor color with an overlay, add decorative finishes or create stamped concrete, also called patterned or imprinted. In this process, stamps are used on the concrete to make it look like something different, like bricks or stones.

Engraving or etching concrete floors is more permanent than overlays since the pattern will never chip off or wear away. That’s because it has been cut into the concrete. After the concrete has been colored and the design is cut out, the lines are uncolored and look distinctive like grout lines. Sometimes floor designers will fill the outline with resin to darken it and create a more dramatic look.

And while professionals are chiseling away at your concrete, why not cut a place for a tile design? Concrete inlays, a stunning and attention-grabbing look, are tiles that find their way into cut out places in concrete.

Finally, stenciling is another method of adding color and character to concrete floors. The stencil can be a free-flowing pattern or actually mimic a decorative item like a Persian rug. For the best of both worlds, concrete and comfort, fashion your floors so that the concrete design complements the coziness of your much-loved furnishings and rugs.

Resource:

http://www.concretenetwork.com/index-s.html