Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

tony

Jul 1, 2006, 4:07 PM

Post #1 of 9 (1074 views)

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Slab Floor Idea

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Hello,
In order to cut cost and not hold up construction, I am thinking os doing a stamped ,colored and
sealed cement floor thoughout most of the house. Anybody have thoughts or comments? My
first thing to do is check the skill of our floor guy - if he cant do it - I may pass Tony

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are."

Rolly / Moderator

Jul 1, 2006, 4:15 PM

Post #2 of 9 (1072 views)

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Re: [tony] Slab Floor Idea

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I have seen some very fine concrete floors. In th hands of the right guy, they can be lovely.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
This is a good time to be living in Mexico.
A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.

punta4

Jul 2, 2006, 4:34 PM

Post #3 of 9 (1041 views)

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Re: [tony] Slab Floor Idea

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Considerations regarding coloring concrete:

1. What products are available to you? Admix powders, dust on powders? Do you have access to US products such as concrete stains that are applied after it's poured?

2. How finicky are you about the color?

3. What color is the sand you’ll be using?

4. Will your floors be done in all one “pour”?

In our Baja Sur location our choices were limited to a few basic, not very attractive colors of admix (integral) powders from the paint store.

I gave our mason a photo of the tan/buff color I was thinking about and he took it to the Comex store and asked the guy "how do I get this ?" He came back with bags of yellow, red oxido, and black powders and I panicked ! He tried several test batches and we came up with a nice color. I left it up to José to adjust the recipe for the floor of our 550 sq ft guest casita.

He laid a non-colored base layer first, followed by the colored concrete layer. The base layer ended up wetter than he had expected which required them to pour the colored batch at 11 pm so José was doing the color mixing of each wheelbarrow load by flashlight. He told my husband that he hardly slept that night because he was worried I wouldn’t like the color. I was looking for a mottled, stone look so I think it’s great.

Normally the local sand used for construction in our area is very dark grey/black volcanic found in the nearby riverbeds. Our mason had some arena blanca “imported” from La Paz to use for the floors because he feels there’s less cracking of the concrete. The “Blanca” is derived from more of a granite base and is very light in color and I’m sure our color recipe would have been much different with the black sand.

Here’s a photo of the floor about 4 days after the pour. I was told it takes up to 3 weeks to cure and it should be mostly the lighter tan color by then.

I should add that we are very lucky to have José who is an excellent mason, which as you mentioned Tony, would be a key factor in deciding whether to mess with coloring your concrete floor.

Cynthia7

Jul 2, 2006, 9:12 PM

Post #4 of 9 (1014 views)

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Re: [tony] Slab Floor Idea

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This is one of my favorite floor subjects. I have used acid stains with good results. My first floors were using Kemiko brand acid stain. I did a 27,000 foot road machinery company copying the E C Dickens - Kittinger showroom in Dallas, texas. I used a brown stain with a black wax for a mottled tortise shell effect. It was wonderful. Next I did our patio in our condo in Arkansas using a deep beige - a color in our brick wall. It turned out fine. Sherwin Williams is making an acid stain..I think..KC something. Look up acid stain on google. It fizzes like soda water..Kind of fascinating. I am always asking if you can get your contractor to slope your floor a tiny bit so it wil drain..same thing in the shower..so far I have never seen this done. My contractor said to get Rosa the maid to sweep it in the drain. I said Rosa is not here in the tarde or in the noche when it rains!!! Go for it ..what have you got to lose!!

tony

Jul 9, 2006, 4:39 PM

Post #5 of 9 (948 views)

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THANX Slab Floor Idea

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Thanx to all that replied. I will not be doing the stamping due to the masons
lack of experience. My wife had a great idea - buy a tile we like and have them attempt to match it.
Punta - your pix is just about what we want. We have seen enough floors here to adjust my expectations. We dont know if we will do everything in one pour.
There are advantages of doing the roof in one pour but I dont know if the floor
matters. Plus we may want some different colors in other rooms. tony

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are."

Cynthia7

Jul 10, 2006, 1:12 PM

Post #6 of 9 (919 views)

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Re: [tony] THANX Slab Floor Idea

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Do you pour the floor and then later apply the colored cement? Or do you pour the floor with the color mixed in the whole floor?

punta4

Jul 10, 2006, 3:52 PM

Post #7 of 9 (910 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] THANX Slab Floor Idea

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Our mason chose to lay a base of plain concrete and then top it with the layer that had the colored powder mixed in. I think it was because he felt that coloring the entire 4½"(+) slab wasn't necessary and he thought he had better control of his color mixture by doing a smaller batch for the topcoat.

I have friends that have done the "dust-on " technique where you spread the colored powder over fresh wet concrete but have only seen this done when one stock color of powder was being used. I don't don't know how well this would turn out if you were trying to customize by mixing different colors together. Dusting the powder color on top only will work, but doesn't have depth that mixing in the colors does.

Rolly / Moderator

Jul 10, 2006, 4:07 PM

Post #8 of 9 (908 views)

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Re: [punta4] THANX Slab Floor Idea

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The two-layer technique for making even plain floors is not uncommon. All my projects have been done that way. The masons tell me it is easier to get a smooth, level floor by using the topping layer method even if it is to be covered with tile.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
This is a good time to be living in Mexico.
A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.

tony

Jul 11, 2006, 2:59 PM

Post #9 of 9 (877 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] THANX Slab Floor Idea

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Hello
Our guy is going to do the same thing as punta. No need to mix 5 inches of colored cement
when .38 inches will do. We are having the guy mix it with grey cement instead of white to
knock down the tone.

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are."