Decorating Your Concrete Surface Yourself
One of the many reasons a majority of homeowners are doing home improvements by themselves is due to the declining consumer confidence in the building and construction industry coupled with rising costs. The additional savings on labor and consultancy costs is a huge bonus and the opportunity to unleash our creativity and put our personal stamp on the work is the clincher to DIY home improvements.
Many construction workers with little or no experience in construction or home maintenance are out there doing a shoddy job and even charging for services that do not get done. Sometimes, they start charging extra for doing certain things, which if they were true professionals, would have been done free of cost. This attitude has disillusioned a lot of homeowners who are now turning to do-it-yourself home improvements.
A little knowledge of the technical aspects combined with an eye for creativity is enough to do the home improvement on your own.You do not have to rely and pay someone to improve your home. Why not try to do it yourself? Change that dreary gray concrete and give your patio, driveway, garage a refreshing new look by following some simple guidelines.
Not everyone can afford decorative concrete work that costs double or even triple of regular concrete. There are inexpensive ways to decorate concrete after it has cured without paying for the services of a skilled tradesman. You can enhance your home’s existing concrete surfaces using acid stains, acrylic stains, epoxy paints, and scoring techniques.
Acid based concrete stains are becoming more and more popular for coloring concrete surfaces. They chemically react with the cementitious material to produce permanent color with variegated or mottled appearance like that of marble. This results in a natural, elegant looking surface. The downside, take adequate precautions, as you are working with acids which need very careful handling. Also, you are limited in your choice of colors.
Water based concrete stains are an alternative to acid stains and are much more user friendly because they’re much less toxic. These stains do not chemically react with the concrete but are absorbed into the surface pores and act like a dye. The big advantage of water based stains is the wide array of colors available.
If you want to venture beyond the basic staining of concrete, consider using some scoring techniques to create patterns on the surface. You can make your concrete look like a tile floor for example. It is up to your imagination. An angle grinder with a 4 inch grinding or cutting wheel is the ideal tool for this.
A precaution to take when scoring is to draw the pattern on the concrete first and make sure you are satisfied with the way it looks because scoring is irreversible.
Epoxy paints make an excellent coating for garage floors and basement floors. Many commercial floors have epoxy coatings because of their durability and resistance to chemical spills as well as their appearance. In recent years, however, it has become very popular for residential use with an increasing availability of different colors. This is not a difficult project, but the key to successful application is surface preparation.
Epoxy paints have also become available in a water based form making it safe for the do-it-yourselfer and ideal for indoor applications. They cost a little more than stains. For a 400 square foot garage, you’ll spend about $200 for the materials needed for this project.
Go ahead and do the next home improvement project yourself. It is easy, preferable and highly satisfying. And, yes, do let us know how you will use the money saved?