Shown here is the stunning deep blue cement floor. The entire house has a mono pour cement slab with polished finish to serve as the final flooring. As we often do, we added in floor radiant heating which runs off of solar hot water panels located outside the home in a large rack/array. The end result of this simple system (see our video on this topic) is a self running heating system which heats the body from the feet up. Which we find to be a much more comfortable heat than blown forced air. More efficient as the body feels warmer instantly.
The goal with this floor was to create a tone that was as deep rich and dark blue as we could create. Acid stain tints were not getting the rich tones our client desired, so we switched to a water based pigment application. It took a bit of learning, trial and error with samples, but over time we achieved the desired effect. Becoming proficient in this methodology in the meantime. We learned how to layer and control the application and mottling of the pigments, something that can be a bit – hit or miss with acid stains. We have often felt we didn’t have the control with acid stains that we would like. After applying this water based product over the entire square footage of the home, we definitely feel we have a handle on the procedure.
And we enjoyed the lack of potential health issues with this particular method. As would be imagined, we need be very careful to not breathe in the acid residue during the application process when working with acid stains. This product allowed us to be less rigid and use less safety gear when applying it, which is always nice.
Following the color application we then applied an acrylic sealant to the flooring to set the colors in and provide a nice sheen to the flooring. Our client/friend really loved the end result, which made us happy after a few nervous moments while we were in the learning curve. We would use this product again, most certainly.
(please note: at the time this photo was taken, the wall to floor trim had not been applied)