Install a Concrete Floor for Lasting Durability and a Beautiful Look

When installing a floor, homeowners and businesses have many materials to choose from. Few, however, provide the lasting durability and versatile beauty of concrete flooring. Concrete is far from a bland grey surface that crumbles over time. It’s a long-lasting building material that, once finished, can look just as good as the finest stones.  Concrete Provides Lasting Durability  Concrete is used in many building applications, because it’s a strong, durable material. According to Houzz, when concrete is properly installed by a concrete floor contractor and correctly maintained it can last for a century or more. In many cases, a concrete floor can outlast the building it’s in or near.  Concrete Provides Customizable Beauty  Concrete itself is drab and grey. A skilled concrete floor contractor can transform an ordinary slab of concrete into a beautiful surface that’s worthy of being the focal point in a room or yard. Depending on the area the concrete’s being installed and what you want it to look like, a concrete floor contractor might:  apply a non-slip epoxy coating (e.g. in a garage or around a pool)  stamp a decorative overlay (e.g. to make it look like stone or brick)  use a hand trowel to create a customized, textured design  Talk with a Concrete Floor Contractor  To learn more about concrete’s durability and versatility, talk with a local concrete floor contractor in your area. If you live in Phoenix, concrete floors can be installed year-round, including in the heat of summer and cool of winter, so there’s no reason today. Contact the top concrete coatings contractor today.

Benefits of Epoxy Garage Floors - How to Choose the Right Contractor

Compared to basic garage floors, which are nothing more than a slab of concrete, epoxy garage floors look great. They come in many different colors, and they can either be one solid color or have chips of different colors. Epoxy coatings don’t just cover up old stains in garage floors, though. They also have many practical benefits when they’re properly installed. Here’s why you might want to consider hiring a contractor to install an epoxy coating over your garage floor.

The Benefits of Epoxy Garage Floors

Epoxy garage floors create an impermeable seal over concrete, protecting it from several potential risks. Because liquids can’t seep down into it, an epoxy coating will bead up moisture and resist oil stains. In fact, cleaning an epoxy floor is as easy as wiping off your kitchen counter. It might actually be easier, depending how many crumbs are on your counters.

Some homeowners are concerned about slipping on the moisture that beads up, but many contractors that install epoxy coatings in garages add a slip-resistant coating. Providing traction, even when the floor is wet, this coating will help you stay on your feet when getting into and out of your car.

The Traits Contractors Should Have

When looking for a contractor to install an epoxy garage floor, you should first look for one near you. It doesn’t make sense to call companies in Florida about epoxy flooring in Phoenix. Unless you live in an extremely rural area, though, you’ll likely find several contractors who will do the job for you. Because the equipment required to install an epoxy floor can be transported, many contractors cover a wide region. In fact, one contractor who specializes in epoxy flooring in Phoenix will go to any home within 100 miles of the city.

If you have several contractors to choose from, you can how good a job they’ll do by asking about the preparation methods they use. A good contractor will customize the preparation to your specific garage floor, and the preparation might include:

• etching or grinding to ensure proper adhesion
• removing an existing coating
• treating any cracks in the underlying concrete

If you’d like your garage floor to look great, resist spills and be slip-resistant, contact an epoxy flooring contractor in your area. They’ll be able to explain the process of applying the coating and schedule to do the work soon.

Make a Statement with a Stamped Concrete Entryway

Your home’s entryway is one of its most noticeable features -- if not the most noticeable 

one. It was the first thing you saw when you initially looked at your home, before you 

even purchased it. It’s also the last thing guests see when they leave. Don’t leave the 

most prominent part of your home plain. Instead, make a statement by installing a 

stamped concrete overlay in your home’s entryway.

Stamped Concrete Overlays are Practical

When considering any home improvement, it’s important to think first about the practical 

aspects of the upgrade. In the case of decorative stamped concrete and stamped 

concrete overlays, the practical considerations are all good. Houzz summarizes the five 

main advantages of stamped concrete overlays. They are:

• sustainable, as you can use recycled concrete
• easy to maintain, as they can be mopped just like a kitchen floor (or hosed off if they’re outside)
• inexpensive, with even finishes costing from $2 square feet
• durable, lasting for a hundred years when properly installed and maintained
• versatile, with many different looks available

When considering the cost of concrete overlays, keep in mind that Houzz’s estimate of 

$17 per square foot is for an extremely high-end concrete overlay. You can find a fancy 

one for much less than that. Additionally, remember that entryways aren’t that big, so 

splurging on a nice concrete overlay won’t actually cost too much.

Stamped Concrete Overlays are Versatile

As Houzz mentions, stamped concrete overlays come in many different colors, patterns 

and styles. Even if you decide to stick within stone overlays, there’s lots of variation.

If you live in Phoenix, you might want to draw on the pink colors that are common 

throughout Arizona by opting for a pink flagstone or granite overlay. A pink granite concrete overlay with black grout

brings in the area’s natural colors while still making a bold statement.

Should you want to work with other colors, there’s many different granites, slates and 

flagstones to choose from. No matter how you want your home’s entryway to look, 

there’s a stamped concrete overlay that will be perfect.

Few improvements will make a statement like installing a stamped concrete overlay in 

your home’s entryway. To see what other homeowners in your area have done, or to 

learn more about stamped concrete overlays, talk with a contractor in your area.

Epoxy Garage Floors

After years of being parked on and used for all manner of purposes, garage floors will show wear and tear. Installing a new garage floor is usually impractical and cost-prohibitive, but epoxy garage floors return garages to like-new splendor without ripping up all the concrete. If your home’s garage has seen better days, consider giving it a makeover with an epoxy garage floor. They’re affordable and have several benefits.


















The Benefits of Epoxy Garage Floors

Garage floors can have three different finishes: plain concrete, paint or epoxy. If you want to protect your garage’s floor, you’ll want to either paint it or cover it with an epoxy coating. Paint is the less expensive of the two options (although epoxy garage floors are affordable), but epoxy provides more protection and lasts longer. As many realtors and expert conclude, applying an epoxy finish is a better investment than simply painting your garage floor.

Epoxy garage floors will:

• bead up moisture
• wipe clean like a kitchen counter
• resist oil stains

Possible Designs of Epoxy Garage Floors

Unlike plain concrete garage floor, epoxy flooring finishes don’t have to look mundane, worn and gray. They’re available in many different colors and patterns. No matter what your house’s colors are, you can probably find an epoxy finish that matches it.

Incorporating colors and patterns into an epoxy coating isn’t merely cosmetic. When done well, an epoxy coating can mask minor imperfections in the underlying concrete slab. The finish will disguise your garage floor’s faults, and make sure water and oil don’t seep down into any cracks.

Textured Epoxy Floors

Even though Phoenix doesn’t see much rain, some residents are concerned that epoxy is too slippery when it’s wet. Modern epoxy garage floors, however, have antiskid additives that provide grip. With an additive included, you’ll not have any problem walking on your garage floor -- even when it does rain, and the floor becomes wet.

If you’re tired of a drab garage floor that shows years of wear and tear, invest in an epoxy garage floor. You’ll be amazed at how sleek it looks and how well it holds up. It’s not a huge investment, and you’ll have a like-new garage floor for years to come.

 

Decorative Concrete Patio

 

When you're looking to install or update your exterior entertaining areas, consider the resilient beauty of decorative concrete patio options that include stamping and coloring. Stamped and colored concrete combines the stunning appearance of an indoor floor with the weather resistance and durability of exterior concrete in an affordable and long-lasting material. Benefits of a decorative concrete patio

One of the top benefits of a decorative concrete patio is that it offers options that impossible to achieve with other patio materials. Concrete is fully customizable because you can pour it into any size or shape to fit your exact space. The options for concrete stamping and coloring include brick, stone, and wood grain textures. Professional installers color your decorative concrete patio to complement your exterior details and landscape with a natural appearance similar to wood, stone or brick. To frame the concrete patio, professionals can install a decorative border that has a contrasting pattern and/or color. Achieving those results with true brick, stone or wood would be more expensive and labor intensive.

Designed for exterior entertaining

A decorative concrete patio is the ideal surface for exterior entertaining including eating, relaxing, and socializing. With an outdoor kitchen and different areas for conversation and dining, a concrete patio provides a durable, beautiful floor your guests will admire. With additional concrete features including a concrete walkway leading down to another patio area featuring a fire pit or fireplace, you create a unique backyard oasis. 

Mimics grouted stone

You can take a decorative concrete patio to another level by creating a tiered concrete patio that mimics the appearance of grouted stone. Stamping concrete in the form and color of slate gives a tiered patio a hand-laid stone appearance. By using a concrete base colored in a pale blue color then accenting with highlights after hardening, the material appears to be slate and adding imitation grout lines completes the stunning illusion that ensures no one but you will know it's stamped concrete, not slate. 

Obtaining the stone, wood, or brick appearance you've been dreaming of for your exterior entertaining area is easy with a decorative concrete patio. It's an affordable and durable option with nearly endless versatility. According to ConcreteNetwork.com, achieving the high-end look of natural stone is easy and affordable with a decorative concrete patio, which frees up money in your budget for other exterior enhancements such as an outside kitchen or fire pit.

Building a Backyard Patio Made Beautiful with Stamped Concrete

A backyard patio is the perfect place for sitting beside the pool, having a cookout, 

or just lounging and reading a book. In order to fully enjoy your backyard, though, 

you need landscaping that creates a relaxing atmosphere. Specifically, your patio 

needs to be inviting -- beautiful and attractive, not cold and grey. With stamped 

concrete, it’s easy to transform an otherwise plain slab of concrete into a 

stunning backyard patio.

Stamped Concrete is Beautiful

A well-designed stamped concrete patio will dismantle any misconceptions that 

concrete is merely a utilitarian building material. Stamped concrete is still an 

affordable, strong and versatile building material, as all concrete is. It’s also 

aesthetically pleasing, though.

Stamped concrete is available in any number of colors and patterns. For 

instance, a stamped concrete patio might resemble:

• large, pink blocks of granite
• subdued, non-uniform pieces of flagstone
• square, grey sections of slate
• uniform, patterned bricks

Alternatively, bolder colors or more abstract designs can be worked into stamped 

concrete patio.

Create a Customized Stamped Concrete Patio

With many colors and patterns available, the possibilities are virtually limitless. 

Working with a creative contractor that has installed many stamped concrete 

patios, you’ll be able to design something that is practical, beautiful and unique to 

your backyard. No other building material makes building an inviting backyard 

patio easier than stamped concrete.

Your Backyard: A Better Alternative to Pavers!

Don’t be too hasty to chose pavers or bricks for you backyard!

2. Stamped Concrete Contractors are less costly than Stone/Bricklayers and Masons:

Brickwork and stone masonry are beautiful, but they’re also costly. Depending on the scope of a landscaping project, hiring someone to lay bricks or build a stone walkway could cost as much as, or more than, the rest of your project. For homeowners in Arizona who want an affordable alternative that looks good and withstands the state’s harsh climates, stamped concrete contractors can make concrete look like carefully laid bricks or imported stone.

2. Stamped Concrete is an Affordable Alternative:

The initial phase of installing a decorative concrete patio or walkway is the same as all other concrete work: The concrete is poured. Before it dries, though, stamps are pressed against the concrete so that it takes on the pattern of the stamps. Once the stamps are removed, the concrete’s power washed and coated with a protective concrete sealer.

Because all of this work takes significantly less time than laying bricks or stones, stamped concrete contractors are able to charge significantly less than bricklayers or mason for the same quality of work. Additionally, concrete’s easier to maintain, since it’s all one slab, not multiple pieces fit together in a carefully arranged puzzle.

3. Stamped Concrete Looks Like Brick or Stone:

Stamped concrete contractors can make decorative concrete look like almost any brick or stone you’d like. They can color the concrete so it matches another building material, and they have a variety of stamps to choose from. A few common stamps include:

• large, irregular stones
• square, adjacent pieces of stone
• nicely ordered bricks

For some ideas on how to implement these patterns, check out the pictures on a top Phoenix stamped concrete company.

Talk with a Stamped Concrete Contractor

If you’d like a brick or stone patio or walkway, but don’t have the budget for it, talk with a stamped concrete contractor about using stamped concrete to create the look you want. No matter what look you’d like, they can likely make your dream become a reality, right in your yard.

Need some extra Color in your Life???

Add Color to Your Pool Deck with Decorative Concrete

The main feature of many backyards in Arizona, pools are much more than a place to go for a swim. When properly incorporated into well-designed landscaping, they can be transformed into a backyard oasis. Specifically, decorative concrete can frame a pool so that it invitingly entices people to relax and refresh. As the heat of Arizona’s summer begins to set in, think about how a stamped overlay could give your pool a new, welcoming feel.

Decorative Concrete Frames Pools:

Like a photograph or painting, pools look best when they are well framed. Obviously, they can’t be mounted in an 8-in. by 10-in. wood frame and mat, but they can be nicely set within a border of decorative concrete. Stamped overlays, as decorative concrete is sometimes called, come in a wide range of colors and designs. Depending on the shape of your pool, size of your yard and other landscaping, you might:

• use light greys and blues to match the pool’s water
• opt for light, sandy colors that reflect the sun’s heat
• have a pattern stamped only into the pool’s border
• incorporate a pattern throughout the entire pool deck
• create a separate sitting area on the pool deck with a different color of concrete

The possible ways to frame a pool with stamped concrete are innumerable, limited only by your imagination. (If you’re lost for ideas, Houzz has some beautiful pictures. Can you believe these are all concrete!)

Stamped Concrete is Pragmatic

A highly practical solution, stamped concrete doesn’t just look good around a pool. It’s also easy to walk on, provided you don’t include deep grout lines that can collect pool water and be uncomfortable in bare feet, and highly affordable. Installing a stamped overlay is less labor-intensive than laying individual tiles, and the materials typically cost less as well.

All in all, decorative concrete is practical, less expensive than other options and looks just as good. If you’d like to turn your pool into a haven of refuge from life’s worries, where you can swim, relax and chat with friends, talk with us at Ultimate Concrete Coatings to see how decorative concrete could transform your pool from a raw piece of artwork into a finished masterpiece. It’s all in the framing, and we can help.

Improve the looks of your pool with COOL Cool Decking!

In the hot temperatures of Phoenix, a pool is a must for cooling off and relaxing. Having a unique, high-quality pool deck around this essential water feature enhances the beauty of the home and increases year-round enjoyments. With pool resurfacing from Ultimate Concrete Coatings, homeowners can have the pool deck of their dreams that's safe, long lasting, and cooler to the touch in Arizona temperatures.

Style and comfort

Phoenix temperatures can reach over 100 degrees for at least half the year so it's vital that all exterior surfaces withstand and resist that heat effectively. An ideal product for pool resurfacing in Phoenix is Kool Deck by Mortex. Sometimes mistakenly called "Cool Deck" (or Kool Deck), this material creates a stunning surface for patios, pool decks, walkways and other landscape paths. Kool Deck is a cement surface as strong as the base concrete and is available in various colors and textures. It lowers the surface temperature of concrete significantly, is environmentally safe, and withstands thermal expansion and contraction better than concrete. Kool Deck is also easy to clean and complements the style and shape of any pool.

Surface versatility

Concrete has evolved into an extremely versatile surface, especially for pool resurfacing in Phoenix. With concrete overlays, pool decks obtain the appearance of slate, flagstone, granite or other hand-troweled textures. Grout lines and grout in the surface add to the unique beauty of concrete overlays and the color options available make the surface adaptable to the homeowner's desires. Each pool resurfacing for Phoenix application is custom designed by experienced professionals who understand how to achieve the appearance of river rock, tile, brick and cobblestone with concrete. By layering the colors, the concrete gains a natural stone depth and appearance that is easily cleaned and is nonskid for safety.

Fresh look

Even the most durable surfaces suffer damage, fading, and wear over time and that is why pool resurfacing in Phoenix plays a key role. With pool deck resurfacing, the area around the water feature receives restoration to better than new with a different color, texture, and pattern, if desired. Worn pool deck surfaces are not only unattractive; they can also be slippery and unsafe. With a quick, efficient process, a new pool deck restores the water feature and surroundings into a lovely oasis that combats the Arizona heat effortlessly.

For anyone in need of pool resurfacing in Phoenix, Ultimate Concrete Coatings has exactly the right products and expertise to get the job done. 

Horrible looking Concrete?

You probably chose concrete for your driveway, garage, patio or walkway because of its durability and reputation for giving even the toughest stains the cold shoulder.

So if a little dirt and grime has marred the surface, this is no time to grow fickle on your surface of choice. Concrete responds surprisingly well to gentle cleaning treatments – and some elbow grease. Whether you wish to clean standard or decorative concrete, begin by sweeping the surface to clear it of topical dust and debris. Then proceed accordingly:

Clean Standard Concrete

• Hose down the concrete, paying special attention to corners and crevices, where dirt usually accumulates. Your goal is to remove even more dirt and to leave the surface slightly puddled with water.
• Sprinkle the concrete with a granular cleaner, such as Bartender's Friend or Comet.
• Scrub the cleaning agent into the floor with a push broom.
• Hose down the concrete.

If your concrete is particularly dirty, or contains oil and grease stains, consider using a power washer instead of a hose for extra cleaning power. Whether you decide to rent or buy this handy tool, choose one with a psi (pounds per square inch) of 3,000 and a flow rate of at least four gallons per minute.

Clean Decorative Concrete

• Run a dust mop or a microfiber cloth over the surface to remove fine dust or particles that might be left over from sweeping. Your goal is to remove the last barrier between you and the concrete surface.
• Pour a few tablespoons of mild dish soap into a bucket. (Do not use vinegar or ammonia, both of which could damage decorative concrete.) Fill the bucket with warm water.
• Use a mop to clean the concrete in small sections. Replenish the mop with the sudsy solution frequently and wring it out before applying it to the concrete.
• Refill the bucket with warm water only and mop the concrete again to remove any soapy residue.

When you're finished, your concrete should look as clean as it did when it was installed. It might even give you ideas to take the process one step further and change the color or add a coating to enhance its durability. That's when it's time to call Ultimate Concrete Coatings, Phoenix's premier indoor and outdoor concrete specialists. We're teeming with creative ideas for your home – and look forward to sharing every one of them with you.