Decorative concrete overlays are a thin layer of concrete poured over a structural slab to modify its appearance. Concrete overlays are a decorative and efficient way to resurface a concrete slab, with typical thicknesses ranging from 3/8 to 1/2 inch. After being poured, concrete overlays are typically polished–just like polished concrete. Concrete overlays can be used to adjust the height of a floor so that a polished concrete floor can match the height of other types of flooring–such as wood or tile.
A Craftsman Concrete Floors decorative concrete overlay with embedded metal strips and a dyed logo. This project is on South Congress in Austin.
Craftsman Concrete Floors provides innovative, eco-friendly concrete flooring services for both residential and commercial projects across Texas. Whether designing a new build or renovating an existing space, our experienced team is committed to delivering meticulous customer service and satisfaction, segment-leading expertise, and an equally stunning and sustainable finished product.
WHAT IS THE CONDITION OF THE CONCRETE SLAB?
A concrete overlay is only as durable as the concrete it’s installed over. Overlays installed over slabs with extreme cracking, heaving, or moisture issues will likely fail. Even minor cracking is likely to transmit through the overlay over time as the underlying concrete slab changes dimensions with temperature and humidity changes. The moisture content of the slab should always be tested before installing a concrete overlay. Concrete overlays will delaminate from slabs with excessive moisture content. If high moisture content is found, a moisture vapor barrier must be installed below the concrete overlay to mitigate any issues.
WHAT CONDITIONS WILL THE OVERLAY BE EXPOSED TO?
There is a wide variety of concrete overlay products, from thin trowel-down ‘skim coats’ to full-thickness, poured, and polishable concrete overlays. Different systems provide different amounts of resistance to wear exposure. For high-traffic installations, a poured polished concrete overlay is required to meet the foot traffic demands of the floor. For this reason, products like ‘Rapid-Set TRU PC’ are the industry standard for retail installations. Further, these products are durable enough to support vehicle and forklift traffic. For low-traffic installations such as residential living spaces, a thinner skim coat product may provide the durability required to achieve an acceptable service life.
For extremely high wear use cases, such as breweries, distilleries, and waste management facilities, a urethane cement floor should be considered. While very similar to a polishable concrete overlay, a urethane cement floor uses polyurethane rather than water. This creates a floor that is both highly chemical and thermal shock resistant. Further, urethane cement floors can take extreme vehicle traffic.
WHAT LOOK ARE YOU GOING FOR?
If you’re looking for a floor that gives you the modern, polished concrete overlay appearance, only a full-thickness polished concrete overlay will suffice. For a more rustic, stained concrete appearance, thinner skim coat products may be sufficient. For the highest quality appearance, a terrazzo overlay is usually the best option. These floors are commonly used in high-traffic installations, such as stadiums and courthouses, and are a mixture of epoxy binder and marble aggregate.
A poured decorative concrete overlay during the installation process.
Get a specialist to help you with your flooring projects.
At Craftsman Concrete Floors, we specialize in commercial flooring installations. With nearly 25 years of experience installing polished concrete flooring and terrazzo, we’re the preferred installer of countless contractors and builders.
Our in-house design team is available at no cost to help you achieve your project’s desired goals. We employ well-known veterans of the commercial coating industry, many with decades of experience. Proudly, all our employees are full-time W-2 employees receiving a living wage. At Craftsman Concrete Floors, we never subcontract jobs.
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