Whether you’re a homeowner who’s looking to remodel their home or someone who’s gotten tired of how their kitchen looks and wants to make a change, you’ll want to hear about all the magical and practical things decorative concrete can do. What’s best about this product is that it’s so easy to find. All you have to do is drive down to nearest builders store, and you’ll be able to find a whole ton of options ready for you to choose and bring home. Aside from this, you should also know the following things about decorative concrete:
Decorative concrete makes redecorating your home more comfortable. Before undergoing a renovation or building project, you’ll have to make all sorts of plans and hire experts. And while there’s always going to be some challenges you have to overcome to get things right, decorating shouldn’t be one of them. In the decision-making process, you should always go for decorative concrete. If what you want is a home or, at the very least, a room in your home that captures a visitor’s attention, then you should definitely choose this type of product.
The average concrete contractor can expect to charge between $6 and $10 per square foot (source) for a basic patio or driveway, with no or minimal decorative touches. Just by upping your decorative game a little – some stamping, stenciling, the use of a couple different stains for highlighting or mottling, decorative saw cuts – you could almost double your asking price. Go to this website to learn more about local quotations.
Decorative concrete will not cost you a lot of money. A typical part of any home project is the budget. When looking for decorative tools or products, you have to be ready to spend to achieve your goal. When you make use of decorative concrete, you will be the exception to this rule. Opting for this route would make you save a lot of time and money in decorating your home.
The possibilities are limited only by creativity of the designer and concrete contractor, yet it’s that very creativity that makes using decorative concrete so attractive. The problem is that concrete is very sensitive to a wide range of variables that can negatively impact the outcome. Find out more about decorative concrete at https://www.bdcnetwork.com/5-things-you-should-know-about-decorative-concrete.
Decorative concrete is a joy to look at. Your home is your sanctuary; therefore you don’t want anything in it that’s going to cause you stress or bother like those dull colors in the living room or the poorly-lit bathroom area. You won’t worry about those horrible throw pillows in your bedroom too. Decorative concrete can create so much life and color in your home that any problems regarding aesthetic will indeed be forgotten.
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| Do Concrete Patios Crack? | Concrete is good for warm climate landscapes that do not experience the extreme freeze-thaw of the northern states, which is the cause of uncontrollable cracking. Chris Major of Blue Ridge Landscaping in Holland, Michigan says, “Concrete is great and cheaper at the start, but it cracks.” Trust a Michigan landscaper to be forthright about the problem that does and always has afflicted concrete patios. The radical pressures of freeze-thaw make this a problem in the north, but other factors can lead to cracking too.Virginia marl is a unique soil condition that afflicts projects by Adam Heath at Mid Atlantic Enterprise. “Marl makes our soils unstable, causing big problems with paving. This is a mushy organic soil composed of silt and sediment that is very expansive. You literally can’t build on it. We have to excavate all our patio spaces to remove all the marl then backfill it with specific crushed stone to obtain the solid compaction we need.”
Similar problems are experienced by Matt Schmuke of Arcadia Design Group. “In Colorado you’re guaranteed that a slab will crack. Plasticity of the clay soil is the problem. With pavers we have an infinite number of joints so you’ll never see a crack.” Read more: https://www.landscapingnetwork.com/patios/concrete.html. |
| Concrete Sealer Pros and Cons |  There are two ways to use sealers on your concrete patio. One is as a standalone sealer over bare concrete. The other is to use the sealer on top of a concrete stain or paint, says Kerri Schlenker, Rust-Oleum brand manager for high performance coatings. “A stain isn’t going to offer protection, only color, so the sealer over it would protect the color and the concrete in general, ” she says.Sealers that are film-forming (meaning they leave a sheen on the surface) come in two types — solvent-based and water-based. According to ChemMasters, a manufacturer of concrete coatings, solvent-based sealers are high gloss and darken concrete, while water-based sealers are low gloss with minimal darkening and/or color change.
If you’d like stain protection from food, fire/water features or flower pots and planters, choose a film-forming sealer. However, one drawback is because these sealers form a film, they may create a slippery surface on the concrete. Consider them for stamped concrete and broom-finished concrete patios. And to prevent the sealer from yellowing your concrete due to excessive UV exposure, look for a film-forming sealer with UV stable resin. A second class of sealer is known as a penetrating sealer, or a water-repellent sealer. This type seeps into the concrete surface and is best for smooth concrete and broom-finished concrete. Penetrating sealers will offer freeze/thaw protection and, of course, prevent water absorption, but do not offer stain protection. Penetrating sealers give a matte finish to concrete and do not add slippage to the surface. Both film-forming and water-based sealers come in acrylic and epoxy varieties. Generally, epoxy sealers are applied to extremely high-traffic areas and to prevent chemical spills because they offer excellent protection. Acrylic sealers are often used to block water penetration for residential applications and decorative concrete. Keep in mind that applying any solvent-based sealer will require chemical clean-up, while water-based are easier to clean with soap and water. Choosing which type can be a tradeoff between long-term maintenance and ease of application. Schlenker says that the “easiest product to use and apply is water- or latex-based, but an oil-based or solvent-based [product] will last longer over time, requiring less maintenance.” |