When it comes to traditional flooring available to be installed on wood sub flooring there really are no limits other than weight and how much flex there is in the sub floor.
A common misconception is that concrete is too heavy to place on a sub floor in a home that was not engineered for concrete. This is true when it comes to conventional concrete but recent advances in technology have allowed for lightweight troweled or poured concrete overlays to come to the residential and light to medium commercial markets.
While this type of material does not look like conventional concrete on its own, there are many techniques and additives that can be employed to create a near perfect match to either exposed aggregate concrete or a troweled concrete slab look.
A new technology recently developed for the polished concrete industry is also available on some wooden sub floors.
If you want a polished concrete look for your floor but don’t have the weight allowance or height variance, products such as a self leveling polished concrete overlay from Mapei and TruCrete self leveling polishable overlays allow just about any structure to have a modern polished concrete floor in just about any colour or finish.
There are other additives that are available for concrete overlays such as powdered or sprayed stains which allow for a multitude of variations in colour and colour realness.
Since concrete overlays are now flexible due to the polymers added to give them strength, they are well suited for use on a surface that may flex in the future. Overlays are extremely thin compared to a concrete slab, in fact, they are rarely as thick as a standard porcelain or ceramic floor install.
Another added benefit to a concrete overlay is; unlike tile floors, they contain no grout lines even when finished with a grouted look. They can also be tapered or graded to meet flooring in adjacent areas without the need for an unsightly step up or down doorway transfer.
Certainly one of the least recognized benefits of having an overlay in your home or business is the ease of cleaning and comfort under foot as compared to traditional flooring of all kinds.
Custom designs can be ordered or templates can be picked out online and incorporated into your perfect dream floor.
Contact one of our sales department representative today for more information on troweled concrete and decorative concrete overlays for your sub floor application.
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