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Leveling Concrete Floors with a Colored Overlay

By Chris Sullivan – ChemSystems, Inc.

Question:

My wife and I are building a home on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The floor was poured some time ago, and is rough and uneven. We plan on mixing concrete slurry to level the floor. Is there a pigment we could mix in with it to color the floor? Also, the exterior walls of the home will be plastered in a couple of weeks. Is there anything you can recommend mixing in with the plaster that would color and seal? The home is on a knoll about half a mile away from the sea.

Answer:

There are multiple flooring products that can be used to even out a rough or unlevel floor. A self-leveling overlay is the most common, such as SD-T, Dayton Levelayer and Mapei Ultratop. These overlays go down at thicknesses ranging from 1/4 to 3/4 inch, and they self level with very little troweling or spreading required. However, there is an art and level of experience required to get a nice uniform finish, which will be especially important if this is going to be your final surface. Most self-leveling products will accept inorganic (iron oxide) pigments at low dosings. Consult the manufacturer of the specific product you are using for coloring guidelines.

I would stay away from mixing up your own concrete slurry. Unless you plan on modifying it with polymer, it will become brittle and crack. If you do not want to go the self-leveling route, use a microtopping product – a thinner overlay applied at a 1/16- to 1/8-inch thickness. Examples include QC Concrete Resurfacer HD and Miracote MPC. Depending on the type of finish desired, you can use a trowel, squeegee or roller to apply a microtopping. Most products can be colored integrally to almost any color desired.

As for coloring the plaster, you can use the same iron oxide pigments mentioned above to color any cement-based material, including plaster and stucco. But these pigments will do nothing in regard to sealing, so a separate sealer will need to be used as a finish coat. My advice is to use a pre-colored synthetic plaster or stucco product, such as Synergy StuccoBase Premix. These products are best suited for exterior walls.

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