Cement the deal

We’ve removed the tiles in our house and would like concrete floors, but our budget is tight. We don’t want raw cement but rather a white, grey or light blue floor. And what can we seal it with to make it shiny? Any advice?

Karin Cronjé of Hands On Creative Building & Management replies

There are different ways of achieving an attractive concrete floor. It won’t be a good idea to add a colour pigment to the concrete mixture. These colour pigments are too light to make the colour of the concrete lighter. So you have two choices:

Option 1 Spread a layer of white cement, mixed with a blue or black pigment, onto the concrete slab with a trowel. This layer can be treated with a polyurethane sealant to give it a shiny finish.

Option 2 Alternatively, you can paint the floor with water-based Dulux Trade Tuffcote, available in white or light grey. For a solvent-based alternative, use Dulux Trade Floorcote.

Regardless of the option you go with, you must first prepare the floor. If you’ve removed the tiles and tile adhesive and the surface is very bumpy with deep gouges, you can apply a layer of self-levelling screed on the surface.

If the area is very uneven you should first apply a 20–25mm layer of cement and sand mixture (topping) for a durable surface. Once your floor is smooth, even and dry, you can follow either method.

CONTACT info@handsoncreative.co.za

It’s worth getting a specialist to apply a layer of cement smoothly for you!