Today’s concrete flooring options are wide-ranging. From polished surfaces to resinous flooring, businesses and homeowners alike can choose from various styles that best fit their building and their budget.
Paul Garibotti
Paul Garibotti, the founder and CEO of Northfleet Concrete Floors Inc., believes that concrete flooring is one of the best options for buildings of all kinds. His company strives to provide excellent customer service. They succeed because they treat their employees like family. At Northfleet Concrete Floors, the motto is “Our strength is our people.” This motto shines through in their daily activities.
Advantages of Concrete Flooring
Concrete floors can require a large up-front cost. However, they have a low life cycle cost due to their durability, low maintenance, and serviceability costs, unlike many other types of flooring. The floors can be designed creatively, with many options for color and included materials.
The floors require a very low level of maintenance and will keep their beautiful finish for over 50 years. When sealed properly, the surface resists stains and moisture.
It is also possible to heat concrete floors using a radiant system. When used ina home, they increase overall comfort and creates efficient heating of your home when installed properly. In colder climates, radiant systems in concrete floor application are also used in snow & ice melting system to prevent slips and falls in the winter.
Customizing Your Concrete Floor
Concrete floors can be enhanced by a variety of decorative processes. One of the most attractive is staining the floor. When contractors stain a concrete floor, they use water- or acid-based preparations. Stains enhance the existing concrete surface rather than covering them up. Dyeing concrete floors are also possible. This is accomplished when colour packs are mixed into the concrete at the plant to create a consistent colour throughout the floor.
Floors can also be stenciled. Stenciling and staining bring an artistic quality to the floor and is especially attractive in a company’s lobby or hallways. It can also be done in homes.
Metallic dust mixed with epoxy resin can also be used to bring a shiny appearance to the floor. Epoxy is also used for durable garage and basement floor coatings.
Types of Concrete Flooring
Here are some examples of the types of concrete flooring you can choose for your building, together with some of their most popular uses.
Polished Concrete Flooring
The look and feel of polished concrete flooring are achieved when special machinery is used to grind a concrete surface down to the right level of smoothness and shine. The process is not unlike sanding wood, but the polishing discs are made with industrial diamonds.
Polished concrete floors have an attractive, mirror-like surface. They are easy to maintain with regular dust mopping and the occasional wet mop with a cleaning solution.
Customizing a polished concrete floor gives you a palette of colors to choose from. You can customize the floors using patterns of saw cuts. You can also modify the aggregates in your mix for an exciting, unique look.
Another member of the polished concrete floor family is the polished topping. This allows buildings with imperfect or uneven concrete floors to take on the beauty of polished concrete. Not all existing concrete floors can be polished since some have blemishes that would interfere with the shiny surface. In this case, creating an overlay of polished concrete solves the problem.
As with traditional polished concrete, it is possible to create attractive patterns with saw cuts or to include other materials like aggregates to enhance the look of the floor with a terrazzo-like finish. These floors can take on any color that the building owner desires.
Concrete and Epoxy Floors
Coating your concrete floor with an epoxy coating is another popular option for creating a smooth, durable floor surface. Epoxy coatings are created by applying a coating of polymer resin and hardener to the top surface of the concrete, creating a chemical bond. Epoxy floors are even more durable than polished concrete, and they can take on a beautiful variety of colors and decorative variations.
Epoxy floors are relatively easy to install and require little downtime. The first step is preparing the concrete slab. The surface must be cleaned and ground with any dust taken care of. A primer coat is then applied. The two-part resin is then mixed and applied to the slab using a roller. Finally, a seal coat is applied that prevents damage from chemicals, water, oil, and grease.
A popular option of epoxy floor is that metallic dust can be introduced, giving the floor a shiny, pearl-like appearance.
Epoxy floors, together with polished concrete floors, are beginning to have an impact on the residential flooring market. As businesses and homeowners discover the beauty and easy maintenance of the concrete floor, these floors will become popular as a remodeling alternative.
Choosing the Concrete Floor That is Right for You
Concrete flooring is attractive, durable, and easy to maintain. The advantages of concrete flooring mean that both homeowners and businesses are looking into this option for their building or renovation needs.
Considering all of these options for your concrete floor can be overwhelming. Consulting with a concrete expert like Paul Garibotti of Northfleet Concrete Floors Inc. can help to narrow down your options and decide what type of flooring is best for your project.
| By Deborah Diaz
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