Concrete Experience - Part 1

Using the concrete slab as the finished floor of the house is a choice we have made several times, and will be happy to make again. I love the idea of using a structural element as a finish material. Why add a costly layer of carpet, tile, wood or vinyl? Concrete floors are very livable and easy to care for.

In 2002, we tried out a concrete floor for the first time, without knowing what to expect. The foundation contractor suggested that we “burn the concrete.” By burning he meant giving it a burnished, or hard troweled finish. There is a small window of time to do this. The minute the concrete can be walked on, they go over it with a machine that polishes and closes the pores of the surface. Think of a fan with four rotating paddles that scrape and smooth the surface.

After the house was framed, we took the next step with the floor. I went to Cornerstone Hardware and bought a gallon of “Kemiko” stain. This is a reactive stain – meaning that it reacts with the lime in the concrete to produce a color. The solution is clear, and has no resemblance to the color that it produces. I tried it out in an area under the cabinets, and the concrete fizzed a little when it was put on. Then it turned an orange color, which I did not like. I decided to forego the stain, and just let the floor be a natural concrete color. Generally, our style is to allow the floor and walls to be in the background, and bring in color from furniture and decorative pieces in the house.

To seal the floor, we bought five gallons of “Kemiko” wax from Cornerstone Hardware, and rented their polisher. The polisher was a very heavy machine with a stiff bristle brush. It took two of us to carry it into the house. The machine rubs the wax into the pores of the concrete. Jim poured about ˝ cup of wax on a spot, and burnished it into an area of about 3 x 3 feet. Our kids took turns with the machine, and we paid them with a taco lunch.

The floor came out nice, with a grey stone-like quality. It had dark grey swirls in the concrete, which I would have preferred not to have. After waxing, we covered with floor with some leftover Masonite, given to us by another builder. We were careful to remind each contractor, especially the painters, that we had a finished floor under the fiberboard.

Later, the walls were painted white. When we removed the Masonite, I was not happy with the color combination. The concrete gray floors and white walls were just too sterile and cold. I had the walls re-painted a warm yellow-beige to counteract the cool gray of the concrete. Later when we used concrete floors, I was careful to consider the how the wall color would work with the gray floors.