How to Design Interior Concrete Flooring

Concrete floors can be made to resemble marble.

Interior concrete flooring is exploding with innovation. Plain, gray concrete is no longer the inevitable choice. With many possibilities to choose from, you can design concrete floors for almost any room in your home, whether it's a formal living area, bathroom or kitchen.

Instructions

1. Research your options. The possibilities for coloring concrete are nearly endless if you use acrylic dies for your concrete. You can also choose painted-on surfaces that resemble stone or marble. Maybe you want a faux-rug painted on a laundry room floor or even a kitchen floor, or a geometric design on a family room floor. Warm-colored acid stains and textured overlays can be applied to existing concrete floors. Write down your favorite ideas.

2. Write down the dimensions of your floor space and the current color scheme. Purchase a sketchpad and colored pencils and begin experimenting with shapes, colors and designs. Put the ideas you've written down and the sketches aside for a day or so. The best choices for your interior flooring may occur when you set the project aside for a brief time.

3. Contact a reputable concrete flooring contractor and tell them what you've planned or what your concerns are. Arrange a cost-free visit from the contractor.

4. Concrete flooring can be cold on winter days, so if you live in a colder climate, consider whether you want to add radiant heat to it when it's poured, and if not, where concrete flooring will work best in your home.

5. Check the price of the various concrete treatments. You most likely already have a solid concrete floor under your current flooring. It may be less expensive to remove the tile, hardwood or carpet, and apply a treatment, such as an acid stain, to the existing floor.

References

• Concrete Floor Ideas
• Choosing Concrete

Resources

• Acid Stain Information
• Concrete Samples