Designer show home concrete floor

When Toya Sparks decided to design and build a show home to entice new owners and families to move to the Sumner Garden Estates in the Pacific Northwest, she began a long journey to try and find unique, natural and hardy finishes that would compliment her Japanese inspired design concept.

Knowing that thousands of visitors would be criticizing and scrutinizing every detail, it was important that the finishes she chose were as durable as they were beautiful. Because the show home was expected to stay open for three months and have a total of approximately 25,000 visitors, the longevity of the floor finish was of paramount importance.

Initially, natural green bamboo flooring was specified in the design. If anyone has ever run their fingernail across a piece of bamboo plank it is obvious that it is not the most durable of floor finishes.

Challenged with the dilemma of finding a substitute, Toya decided to search online for “bamboo colored floors”. She quickly came across a local decorative concrete company who claimed to have exactly what she was looking for.

Skeptical of her findings, Toya set up a meeting with Peter at the construction site where she could learn more about using concrete as an alternative.

Early the next morning Peter Lang of Lego Decorative Concrete arrived to greet Toya with three variations of bamboo colored concrete floor finish. Toya knew she had found her man.

The show home’s concrete foundation had initially been poured with radiant floor heating installed throughout and was set to receive a 3/8” bamboo hardwood floor. This didn’t pose a problem for Peter. Peter was an expert in thin decorative concrete resurfacing systems.
Peter would use a self leveling concrete material that could be installed from 1/8th inch to 1” in a single application. He also knew it could be installed over top of a radiant floor heated slab. In addition, this system would give the floor the smoothness of bamboo, and also match up to the 3/8” height that was required.

A green integral color was added to the concrete mix, so that if someone were to accidentally scratch or chip the surface the color would remain. A mist of a concrete dye was applied on to the surface to give additional highlights and variation found in natural bamboo.
Decorative cuts were scored into the concrete topping to break up the floor design. They were cut in an abstract way to go with the unrestricted patterns of the room.
The floor was then sealed and protected with a polyurethane sealant system; a system designed for high traffic use. Finally, a wax maintenance program was set up to keep the floor looking brand new.

This floor won best in show and the positive feedback has been keeping Peter busy ever since.