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This conference room floor was finished with Ardex SD-T Gray, a self-drying, self-leveling topping. Photo courtesy of Ardex
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Concrete Overlay
Choosing a decorative concrete overlay: Be sure to match product attributes with the substrate
and the desired outcome.
by Susan Brimo-Cox
there are for you to choose from these days?
As Ken Freestone, director of technical engineering at Elite Crete Systems Inc., aptly observes: “It seems like every year there are new overlay products released to the industry. Where splatter textures and plain gray restoration coats once dominated the concrete overlay industry, consumers now have virtually unlimited choices of color, texture, and thickness.”
There are self-leveling products, microtoppings, trowelable mortar toppings, epoxy mortar toppings, stampable products, stencil-grade products, splatter/ knock-down products, and more. How do you choose?
“The primary considerations will relate to the look the customer is trying to achieve and the substrate that the installer is working with,” says Ben Mack, manager of national accounts at Ardex Engineered Cements.
Parameters of the project will also help narrow the selection. For example, “Over large areas, a self-leveling topping may be used because the installer can cover a large area as each batch of material is poured,” Mack explains. In other situations a self-leveling product may not be appropriate, as on stairs.
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