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DECORATIVE FLOORS
WITH POLYMER OVERLAYS
By Tom Ralston
Tradesmen
have been applying decorative finishes to freshly placed concrete
for as long as the material has existed (see "Decorative
Concrete," 1/03). By coloring and texturing concrete
surfaces, skilled applicators can produce concrete floors
that are indistinguishable from stone, brick, tile, and slate.
Dyes and stains can create murals or abstract patterns while
maintaining the look and texture of a monolithic pour. The
color typically goes into the surface of the concrete, so
the finished product is as durable as a conventional slab.
In recent years, the development
of new polymer-modified concrete overlays has made it possible
to apply decorative finishes to existing slabs. It has also
made it possible to put concrete floors in structures that
won't support thick layers of conventional poured material.
Our company has been using these thin toppings to produce
decorative finishes for more than ten years. Polymer materials
allow us to create decorative concrete floors in rooms where
it's neither practical nor economical to use conventional
concrete.
What Is Polymer Concrete?
Conventional concrete contains Portland cement, water, and
mineral fillers such as sand and aggregate. When the cement
hydrates, the ingredients bind to form a solid matrix. Polymer-modified
cement concrete is concrete that has been modified by replacing
some of the Portland cement with ingredients that react to
form a synthetic organic polymer when the material is mixed.
(A polymer is a type of plastic that is produced by chemically
linking a large number of chemically separate molecules into
larger stable molecules.)
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