we plan on building the 20x34x universal cottage. here in texas stained concrete slabs have become very popular. does anyone have any thoughts on this?
I have a friend near here with a straw bale house. He has stained concrete floors polished to a nice shine. They look great. He has one turquoise and one golden color as I remember. Another interesting concrete floor I noticed was in a supermarket I worked on. It had white concrete with white sand and white aggregate (as they were pouring it). They said the white Portland cement is readily available. That way if it got scratched etc. there was nothing much to fix and a shiny sealer/polish was all it took to keep it looking good.
Glenn
Just an FYI to the original poster--you might want to look at a recent thread on this forum called "Which foundation type?," where we discussed concrete flooring in the context of a discussion about concrete foundations, etcetera.
I, too, like the idea of concrete flooring, because it offers the advantages of tile but without some of its disadvantages (such as grout, which appears difficult to clean). More and more these days, I've noticed concrete flooring in commercial establishments, like restaurants.
Lady Novice
If you use stain you must be fanatical about keeping a sacrifice sealer on top. The stain doesn't penetrate that far. Can be worn away in high traffic areas.
I much prefer colored concrete. How to get that lovely mottled, not-one-color look of stain? Power trowel. The heat creates the look. Look at the floor next time you're in HD. Not colored, but you'll get the idea.
Also, the dropped hammer/tool that causes the concrete to flake doesn't reveal grey underneath.
And/or use a combo. A 1-2 lb mix of colored with stain on top. If you still want to explore stain, visit www.fauxrealfloors.com (//www.fauxrealfloors.com). The owner has instructions for contractors/architects that explain how the floor has to be protected between pouring and staining.