Decorative concrete floors greatly enhance the look of your garden, walkway or even the inside of your building. There are four types of overlays used to create unique concrete flooring designs and looks. As David Blasdel notes at Butterfield Color, each overlay system has its own characteristics.
- Microtops
These overlays are typically used to resurface old or unattractive concrete floors. With coatings ranging from fine grade to coarse and colors ranging from gray to white, microtops rejuvenate concrete surfaces by filling in damaged spots and smoothing out the surface for stains and saw-cut designs.
- Stampable
If you have concrete surfaces indoors or out, but want to gain the appearance of wood, tile, brick or stone, stampable overlays can achieve that. Since these overlays are cementitious-based, they’re easy to use with stain. These overlays require a high quality concrete surface to already be in place, however, and shouldn’t be placed on surfaces with cracks or other uneven damage.
- Multipurpose
While stampable overlays typically come out fairly uniform, multipurpose overlays allow for more creativity. They have a large-sand makeup and are great for rebrooming, spray textures, texture troweling and can even be used as an underlayment.
- Self-leveling
These overlays live up to their name and will flatten out without the use of a metal squeegee. They can be temperamental, however, as using too little liquid will prevent them from setting while using too much could cause cracking. If you closely follow the manufacturer’s specifications, self-leveling overlays work great as a floor refurbishing or as an underlayment for other products.
With any overlay for decorative concrete floors, it’s important to take the proper preparation steps and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. Doing so allows you to create beautiful concrete surfaces both inside and outside your building.
When you have a need for overlays and similar cementitious products, contact Maxwell Supply in Tulsa or browse through our inventory online.