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Anyone have a dyed concrete floor?

16 years ago

In the new house we're building we've decided to install radiant heat in the walk-out basement/family room. We plan to dye the concrete floor when it is poured. The plan is to score it to resemble large tiles, then apply a polished finish. This will be done professionally.

Does anyone have a dyed concrete floor? I would love to hear if you are happy with the result/what color you chose/if you have any tips or advice to share. Thanks!

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Comments (4)

cork2win
16 years ago
I think there's a difference between "dyed" and "stained" concrete. Dyed concrete is where the color is added to the concrete when it's poured (I think) and stain is applied to the top after the concrete has been poured. We're doing stained concrete in our new house and there have been some good threads on here lately regarding the topic.
Stained Concrete

Stained concrete

Stained concrete

Stained concrete

Search results for stained concrete

Hope that helps!
amck2
Original Author
16 years ago
cork2win - Thanks for the response. I was wondering specifically about dyed floors, as I haven't heard any first-hand testimonials from anyone who has one.

It's far less expensive and more efficient for us to have the floor dyed. My general contractor and the concrete contractor are working together to make sure the timing is right for the concrete to be able to be poured and left undisturbed for the time it takes the concrete guy to do the work. This requires the space to be left undisturbed for a far shorter time than it would if we were going to have it stained.

If we were going with stain, the concrete would have to cure for at least one month's time before that could be done. In that time, it would have to remain free of anything that might damage the surface (glue, paint, drywall materials, etc.)

Since the plumber has already put down the tubing for the radiant heat, we want to get the concrete down ASAP. We are not being super fussy about the color of the finish. We are aware we can get a more artistic, real stone look by staining later, but for our purpose of a casual entertaining space, the dyed look sounded fine.

I still would love to hear from anyone who owns, or has seen a dyed concrete floor. I've only seen photos.
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Thanks for your response vineyardflute. We ued a similar product for our garage, but didnt have good luck with it. It peeled. But maybe a basement would not get the kind of abuse a garage does. We stuck with the proper preparation, but it still peeled. The product we used was rolled onto the cement, so maybe your product is different. I will look into it. Thanks Diane
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Please don't take this the wrong way, but I can't see how anybody could see that pic and be inspired by it. Maybe if you have an ultra-modern condo or contemporary architecture house it would fit in, but if I were shopping for a house having a concrete floor in the bathroom would be a huge strike against it and I would mentally discount my asking price by the estimated cost of having something else put in. I'm not trying to be harsh, just wanted to give you my unvarnished reaction which some might be unwilling to do.
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Comments (25)
"Thanks Jmagill, that's what I was intially thinking - but when there is living space underneath, there by code, needs to be a whole lot of extra support. I am still looking for the actual cost. Thank you for yout time.' First there should be no different code for above living space or above crawl space. It has to be enginnered for the weight the floor will be. No one here will be able to tell you the cost because they have no idea on size, where your supports are now etc. I can tell you that we went from floor joists on 16" centers to 12" centers and deeper joists. That will add about 1/4 -1/3 extra on the cost of the floor joists. The factor in concrete and finishing. Concrete and the flat work varies from place to place(maybe 1.50 to 3.00 per square foot for a 2" depth) Staining I have no idea on the cost because we did our own. Then factor in how much you will not spend on carpet, wood floor or tile. For us it ended up less than regular floors. That includes the extra cost of floor joists. Yours will depend on where the floor is supported on your design.
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I've admired polished concrete floors and decided to ask about it at a home show. While the stamped and the acid stained get a lot of attention, they all said they could do the polishing. I think it runs about $9 sq ft, when I asked.
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gardengalal
16 years ago
You do not want concrete floors. If you are building a house, when the foundation settles, there are horrible cracks in the floor and no way to fix them. The concrete floors look beautiful at first. Over time they look horrible -- better to just go with tile.
walkinghorselady
16 years ago
When the concrete is scored about 1/8th inch deep to create tile shapes, these lines give the concrete a "place" TO crack, therefore hiding same.

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