Stained and polished concrete in a residential office. By Liquid Stone in Warminster, PA
Most people think of concrete as a base for other floor coverings like carpet, tile, and hardwood. But few are aware that by leaving the concrete exposed and giving it a beautiful finish, they can eliminate floor coverings altogether while producing a floor that is distinctive, long lasting, and easy to maintain.
Decorative finish options for concrete floors range from smooth and polished to textured, troweled and stamped surfaces. You can also color or stain a concrete floor to match any hue, give it a finish that resembles wood or marble, and enhance the floor with decorative stencils and custom graphics. What’s more, many floor finishes — including staining, dyeing, polishing and decorative coatings — can be applied to new as well as existing concrete.
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12 CONCRETE FLOOR FINISH OPTIONS
Hyde Concrete in Pasadena, MD
1. Stained Floors
Stains are by far the most popular method for enhancing concrete floors, not only because of their rich, semi-transparent color tones but also because a stained finish is permanent and will not flake or peel away. Depending on the look you want to achieve, you can choose from acid stains, which are generally limited to earth-tone colors, or water-based stains, which offer a broader color palette. To learn more about your design options, see Stained Concrete Floors.
Artistic Surfaces Inc in Indianapolis, IN
2. Dyed Concrete
Ideal for artistic concrete floor designs, concrete dyes offer more vibrant colors than concrete stains — like red, blue, yellow, and orange -- and can even be mixed to create custom color blends. Both water- and solvent-based dyes are available, with each type having unique qualities. Dyes work especially well on polished concrete floors because they can be applied during the polishing process.
Sundek of Nashville in Goodlettsville, TN
3. Faux Wood Finish
You can transform concrete in a variety of ways to replicate the look of wood while creating a floors that’s easier to maintain and more resistant to moisture and abrasion. Some contractors use stamps, others use scoring and staining, and still others use the natural grain of real wood boards to leave an imprint on the concrete surface. For ideas, check out these faux-wood concrete projects.
FLORTEK LLC in Glendale, AZ
4. Stampable Overlays
Stamped concrete overlays can be used to add texture to existing concrete floors and give them the look of natural stone, brick, slate, wood, and other materials. Applied at a thickness of about 3/8 inch, they are thick enough to accommodate most standard imprinting tools, giving you a wide array of floor pattern options. They also work well with seamless texture skins if you want to impart a stone-like texture without pattern lines.
SUNDEK Products USA in Grand Prairie, TX
5. Polished Concrete
Polishing and burnishing are great alternatives to textured concrete finishes if you prefer a sleek, smooth-as-glass floor with high light reflectivity. Polished concrete has been popular for years for both residential and commercial floors because of its beautiful sheen, ease of maintenance, and durability. But you can also achieve a similar level of shine and beauty, often at a lower cost, by burnishing the concrete rather than polishing.
Westcoat in San Diego, CA
6. Metallic Coatings
Nothing gives a concrete floor more razzle-dazzle than a metallic coating. These epoxy-based systems contain real metallic powders and special reflective pigments that replicate the look of copper, silver, aged bronze, nickel, and other shimmery patinas. To see the unique effects possible, check out these ideas for metallic epoxy floors.
Modello Designs in Chula Vista, CA
7. Stenciling
Creating patterns on your concrete floor using adhesive-backed stencils gives you an infinite array of design possibilities, ranging from faux area rugs to intricate borders and medallions. A variety of techniques can be used to add depth and color to your designs including stains, dyes, embossing with a spray-down topping, and acid etching. Learn more: Stenciling Concrete Floors.
Westcoat in San Diego, CA
8. Epoxy Garage Floor Coatings
Epoxy floor coating systems formulated specifically for concrete garage floors allow you to turn a plain garage floor slab into an extension of your living space while giving the floor greater resistance to oil and grease stains and hot tire marks. These durable coatings come in a wide variety of color options and can be accented with decorative quartz or vinyl color chips to produce a look similar to granite or terrazzo.
Bella Tucker Decorative Finishes in Franklin, TN
9. Microtoppings
Also called skim coats, microtoppings can be used to create a clean canvas for a variety of decorative treatments, including stains, dyes, and stenciled patterns. They are easily applied with trowels, squeegees, brushes, or rollers, depending on the desired look. You can also put down several coats to create a textured broomed or troweled finish.
Stone FX in Humble, TX
10. Marble-Look Floors
Concrete floors made to look like marble are a budget-friendly alternative that offer all the beauty of real marble at a fraction of the cost. There are a variety of ways to achieve the amazing transformation from concrete into marble, and most methods can be used on new and existing concrete floors as well as concrete overlays. Here’s a look at how to make concrete floors look like marble.
ConcreteNetwork.com in Calimesa, CA
11. Painted Floors
One of the easiest and most affordable ways to spruce up a concrete floor is to simply give it a coat or two of paint. Many of today’s concrete floor paints are water-based so they are easy to work with and safe to use indoors, allowing you to turn a drab concrete floor into an attractive surface in just one weekend. See our guide to painted concrete floors.
Brickform, a division of Solomon Colors, Inc. in Springfield, IL
12. Diamond-Cut Patterns
Cutting diamond patterns into a concrete floor is an easy, cost-effective way to give a plain concrete slab the look of an upscale tile floor. This decorative scoring technique is accomplished using simple cutting tools to create a grid of intersecting diagonal lines in the concrete surface. Instead of cutting the lines, you can also create a diamond design by using concrete stains or paints along with stencils or even painter’s tape laid in a diamond-grid pattern. For ideas, check out these diamond-patterned floor projects.
