Concrete Flooring Options

Concrete flooring can be an excellent porch floor material and can make a stunning statement. Steps and walkways can also be poured to match the porch.

Let's explore the options for finishing these beautiful and durable floors.

Concrete offers excellent durability along with several decorating possibilities like stamping, painted concrete floors and stenciling to name a few.

• Standard concrete: Whether poured over a gravel foundation or a wood form, a concrete floor is very versatile. It can be painted easily to match your porch decor. When you want to change colors painting over your porch is easy.
  
  
  Our friend, John, has done remodeling for many, many years and is a perfectionist; his work is very, very good. I had a concrete issue at one of our previous homes and asked John one day "What do you know about concrete"? He replied: "I know two things. One, it's hard and two, it cracks!" He wasn't much help.
  
  John is right, concrete does crack. However, you can minimize this issue if you pay particular attention to the foundation upon which it sits. The better drainage it affords and the depth of the foundation (based on your frost line) are crucial factors related to a long lasting concrete porch. This also applies to concrete walkways as well.
• Acrylic sprays: Acrylic sprays turn unsightly concrete porches, steps, and walkway into appealing upgrades for your home. Acrylic spray application uses color, patterns, and textures to create unique decorative finishes.
  
  Acrylic sprays repel water and are resistant to grease and oils. They are economic as compared to some other concrete rehabilitation methods and are easy to maintain. Another great feature is that it will remain cooler to the touch than standard concrete making your porch a little cooler.
• Acid staining: Acid staining is a relatively low cost option to concrete stamping. You can choose both the decorative pattern and the colors to create a custom look. It's a great way to design your porch floor to match your home and decor. Usually, a sealer is used over the acid staining to protect the finish.

  Acid staining works by reacting with the minerals in concrete to give it a look of natural stone. Because the stain penetrates the concrete in varied intensities, the concrete will take on marbled look. You can choose from several different colors and the stained surface will last indefinitely.
  
  Carefully read any products you use for the manufacturer's instructions for how to stain concrete floors.

• Stamped concrete: Stamped concrete, also called patterned concrete or imprinted concrete, is imprinted with designs to resemble the look of stone, tile, brick, slate or other material.
  
  Kimberly, author of Old Road Primitives, shares pictures of her beautiful country porch with us. Look at the amazing stamped concrete floors. They really add a lot to Kimberly's awesome porch.



The stamped design adds a lot to Kimberly's pretty porch







Fabulous looking floor!







Even the curved sidewalk leading to her porch is stamped concrete. The fresh white porch railings and gorgeous spring garden sure add a lot of charm to Kimberly's home.

Thank you for sharing your pictures with us, Kimberly. See her country porch at Christmas.



• Clear coating: Clear coating is a system that uses acrylic to extend the life of concrete. It is an excellent option when used over new concrete to make it more resistant to dirt, stains, and mildew.







• Ceramic and porcelain tiles: Ceramic and porcelain tiles are great materials for re-surfacing a concrete porch. They will give you many decorative options based on a wide variety of colors and patterns available.
  
  A word of caution when selecting tile for your porch: Exterior use of tiles requires you to pay more attention to heat, moisture, and expansion between the tiles.

  Also make sure it is compatible with your geographic location as some tiles are susceptible to freeze-thaw conditions.

We don't recommend this as a DIY project unless you have had some experience laying tile and are comfortable with the process from working with mortar to cutting tile. There is little room for any error as any mistake you make will be visible for years.





• Painted concrete floors: Painting your concrete porch floor is perhaps one of the easiest, quickest, and least expensive method of improving your concrete porch flooring. Be aware of the new EPA lead paint laws.
  
  Preparation is key to painting concrete. There are products available to prepare your concrete to receive paint. Doing so will result in a long-lasting paint job.

To our surprise however, they textured the surface. The texture was so rough and unattractive that it was almost impossible to walk on without shoes. Suffice to say, no one ever slipped on our porch.

So if someone is going to texture your porch make sure they don't get carried away; a little texture will suffice.

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