How To Finish A Concrete Slab Floor

Several passes should be made in each direction for a smooth finish.

How to finish a concrete slab floor.

The water that is inside the concrete will come up into the colored hardeners and the moisture will bond with them to create a unique look in the concrete. Use tape to create the design of your choice on the concrete floor. This can cause dusting scaling and craze cracking. When painting a concrete floor be sure to use paint designed for concrete floors.

This gives you the ability to expose concrete floor slabs hidden by other floor coverings such as carpet or vinyl tile or add a finish to a concrete basement floor. For monolithic slabs there may simply be a turn down edge but for many buildings a spread footing is poured then cmu concrete masonry units commonly called block are layed up to finished floor grade. Finish options for concrete floors. Use an edging tool to consolidate and shape the edges of the slab.

3 set the forms for your slab. A 3 1 2 foot wide magnesium bull float is the first tool to clean up the surface. If you are unfamiliar with pouring concrete follow the linked instructions to ensure you do so correctly. Allow the floor to dry before adding a second coat of paint.

Paint can be applied with a roller or brushes. Dont finish the concrete while there is bleedwater on the surface. Step 1 pour the concrete. Concretefinishingtechniques howtofinishconcrete finishingconcreteconcrete finishing techniques.

The salt finish concrete surface is obtained by inserting coarse rock salt crystals using rollers on the freshly placed concrete surface and washing it off with streams of water after the concrete is set. Step 13 freshly placed concrete should be water cured for a minimum of 3 to 5 days with a fine water mist. Using lower quality paint will result in poor adhesion. The first finishing tool on the slab pushes down rocks and brings the cream to the top of the concrete surface after pouring the concrete and screeding it level it is time to begin finishing the slab in this case a small driveway addition.

Using a finishing tool while there is water on the surface increase water cement ratio by working the water back into the concrete instead of letting it evaporate. If you do decide to tamp. Many floor finishes including staining dyeing polishing and decorative coatings can be applied to existing concrete as well as new concrete. Read other tips on building a high quality slab on grade.

Form and place any concrete foundations which will be below the slab. Colored hardeners typically come in powder form that you sprinkle on top of the concrete while it is still wet.