Decorative Floors and Other Flatwork
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floors The Inside Track to Attractive
Floors
 Stamped
and colored concrete has a long history of use for exterior pavements.
However, decorative concrete can be as pleasing indoors as it is
outdoors. Colored and imprinted concrete combines an aesthetic finish
with the economy, durability, and strength of concrete.
Decorative concrete surfaces present an affordable alternative to
many other materials. Using stains, stamps, dyes, colored pigments,
white cement, textured patterns, ornate sawcuts, epoxy overlays,
and more, designers and installers can create increasingly attractive
floors inside homes and other buildings. Concrete’s versatility
allows it to take on the appearance of other materials or create
its own unique look while providing good long-term performance.
As techniques for decorative concrete finishes evolve, they are
supplanting other decorative floor coverings, expanding the market
potential for interior floors made of concrete.
Concrete floors provide an alternative to moisture-sensitive flooring
materials. Using concrete as the exposed finish offers several benefits.
With fast construction schedules, concrete may not have time to
dry adequately prior to placing an adhered finish. If that finish
is impermeable or is applied with moisture-sensitive glue, there
is a potential for failure: debonding, delamination, blistering,
and expansion are a few problems associated with moisture in floors.
There are environmental benefits to decorative concrete floors,
too; they do not harm interior air quality as some other finishes
might. Concrete floors contain no volatile compounds to pollute
the air. Nor do these finishes contribute to microbial growth or
staining inside the home. For more information about the issues
related to floor moisture problems, see PCA’s Concrete
Floors and Moisture.
Another environmental benefit of growing importance is the sustainability
of concrete in all applications. Owing largely to its durability
and recyclability, decorative concrete is a sustainable material
for interior floors. See www.ConcreteThinker.com
for more information on the sustainability of concrete.
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