Tired of Tiles? We Don’t Blame You, So Let’s Talk About Covering Floor Tiles.

It is difficult to imagine why someone would wish to cover up old floor tiles with additional tiles, but it can be done. The steps are distressing, dirty, and exceedingly time consuming, but one would have to accomplish the following in this order:

• Clean tiles with trisodium phosphate. (Danger: this is a very dangerous chemical! Be sure that none is inhaled nor spilled on your skin. The number of the National Poison Control Center is 1-800-222-1222.)

• Remove all contaminants that will prevent good adhesion, such as grease or wax.

• Apply a floor leveler or apply a cement underlayment. Underlayment must be carefully troweled on, and must dry at least 24 hours before proceeding.

• Apply thin set and re-tile floor over old tile.

OR

You may wish to go through the aggravating work of removing the old tile by the use of a jackhammer or by hand with a regular hammer or sledge hammer, creating an astonishing dusty mess that will leave dust in its wake for weeks! Be sure to wear a mask against the dust created for your own safety before covering floor tiles.

OR

You might decide to take the easy way out and instead use Silikal for covering floor tiles. Your old tile may have come away from the substrate because the grout joints have deteriorated. This has probably allowed all manner of dirt and bacteria to enter under the tile creating a cleaning nightmare and it may even have produced a very bad odor problem. Even worse, your tiles may have become soaked with various kinds of oils and thus have been rendered extremely slippery. If there was ever any slip resistant tile coating on the tile, it may have long ago disappeared, and now slips and falls are common. No wonder you want to cover them!

When Silikal is applied over the tile it will bond to that tile and never allow penetration of any kinds of liquids because it is impermeable and completely pin-hole free. When mounted with an integral cove base, it provides a seamless, monolithic surface! In addition, Silikal will thus create a slip-resistant coating over your dangerous tile.

Tile is often some of the most beautiful flooring available, therefore many people have utilized transparent Silikal to see the tile underneath, yet totally protect it. That’s using Silikal at its and once properly applied, it’s ready to work upon in only one hour!

Taking it Outside for the Outdoor Floor System.

When seeking an outdoor floor system, most people talk about desiring one that will deliver not only superior aesthetics, bit also one that had either low to no maintenance, but above all they want the kind of durability that cannot be matched! That’s a tall order to be sure.

Unfortunately some sellers of these outdoor floor systems want to sell you a stone deck or perhaps a terrace with either tile or gauged stone. Well, perhaps that’s an answer, we’ll see, but one worries about what happens with the weather going under it since it is outdoors. Others want you to take on grade pavers with removable panels. Hmm, that’s a thought too, although one is told to consult a structural engineer if on a raised surface. Sounds expensive.

Well, how about modular wood tiles over a weatherproof polypropylene base? Well, that leaves the problem with water intrusion underneath which will allow all manner of things to grow such as mildew, with rotting small animals and insects as well as allowing germs and bacteria to flourish.

Then there is rubber flooring which is totally 100% water resistant. Yes, that’s true but it does not create a completely seamless, monolithic surface! Thus all manner of things can get under it as does the above. I am told though that it will outlast laminate, wood and outdoor carpet though, which is very true, but what about the substrate? How long will that last with rubber covering it? It does have one thing going for it, it is UV Resistant, and that’s important.

Now we come to the absolute best outdoor floor system, Silikal. It is totally waterproof as well as UV resistant, and it’s designed to last next to forever, usually the lifetime of your floor system. It can take all manner of weather, such as rain, extreme sun, or snow and all the other stuff in the middle. Durability is its middle name, thus you will never have repairs, and what’s more it will not need replacement.

Its colors will never fade offering you tremendous beauty besides reliability. It is incredibly easy to put down, and cleaning it is a total breeze. You can have a myriad of traffic over it, and it is still going to be as beautiful as the day it was installed.

Decorative coatings for style and appeal to transform your concrete from bland to beautiful

There have been tremendous advances in the last 40 years with regard to decorative concrete coating. Today we have exceptionally sturdy yet stunning surfacing systems that have been created to reproduce the natural look of granite, stone, and slate all giving previously inconceivable realism to the older medium of concrete. That means that this kind of decorative concrete can offer a totally limitless selection or colors as well as patterns that can now not only endure exceedingly high traffic yet will require very little maintenance. In addition, these coatings have durability that often exceeds the lifetime of the original concrete.

Some of these systems are called overlay, since what they do is cover up old, ugly and drab concrete surfaces. No longer do existing concrete surfaces call for the expense, nor the hassle of concrete replacement. These overlay systems are actually more durable and stronger than the concrete it hides.

The coatings can be utilized for pool decks, entryways, courtyards, walkways, patios, sidewalks, and driveways or wherever a striking and exhilarating vastly durable surface is needed. Science has brought us systems that color concrete in an amazing manner.

This is what allows these products to chemically react with the concrete to endow it with a unique but permanent coloring that will create the subtle marbled effects that will give it the matured facade of natural stone for example. Or if you seek colors in a decorative concrete coating, there are literally hundreds of colors at your disposal. If you wish blended colors, that is very easy to create as well.

Concrete is no longer concrete, or at least what we remember concrete to be. Now it is possible to have bold and exhilarating concrete that fairly bursts with color, no matter where it may be such as outdoor theaters, plazas and even theme parks. Imagine it placed where the surroundings are lush such as a golf course for example. Envision how it enhances any beautiful landscape. There are some cities, who have as an illustration, placed their city emblem on their concrete entryway. As said, concrete is no longer concrete, as you can now transform plain concrete into an effective artistic medium that can enhance any décor or theme.

If you find this exciting, and it stirs your imagination, you cannot do better than to look at what Silikal can offer you in the way of a decorative concrete coating. Landscape designers use Silikal all the time, since it is not only beautiful, but it is a non-slip coating as well, thus it is utilized for commercial use all the time. They believe that babbling brooks can be made with Silikal because that water will never enter Silikal covered concrete thus it will never wear away even if it does look like water-worn river rock! Not sure what can be created using Silikal? Then ask any hotel designer or architect, chances are that they have created something stunning and awe inspiring with Silikal.

Does your concrete have a crack, hunting for a strong sealer that can protect?

When concrete is poured, little thought is given to what will happen when it thoroughly hardens and unfortunately begins to develop minute cracks. Even more unfortunate is that those minute cracks often will turn into worse cracks as time marches on as well as people, handtrucks and even forklifts march on it too!

When concrete begins to crack, what’s needed is something that is stronger than concrete to completely seal it, permanently stopping any water from going into the cracks and exacerbating the problem. Imagine what a headache cracks are in any concrete floors, creating havoc in factory floors, and other commercial flooring, not to mention large garage floors?

Now you understand why Silikal concrete crack sealer was invented, but you do not yet understand its utter strength to thoroughly seal that concrete floor so that no more crack problems will develop.

You see, cracked floors are not only unpleasant to look at, but they can also create a workplace hazard. Cracked concrete floors make for a particularly unsafe workplace. Those cracked concrete floors often end up costing the business dearly in the long run.

However, by using Silikal’s concrete crack sealer, the customary Silikal Floor is intended to have just the precise degree of flexibility in order to contain the negligible stresses that would cause more rigid structures and systems to crack, split and eventually to crumble entirely. There are so many different types of cement coatings, and even specific concrete crack sealer that will have similar chemical compositions as Silikal does, yet there is only one that utilizes enhanced MMA, short for Methyl Methacrylate, and that’s Silikal.

With Silikal concrete crack sealer, it will not be made of rubber as that swiftly wears down thus leaving the cement totally unprotected for more cracks to develop. Also “unprotected” translates to the fact that the cement will be open to bacteria and mold, which is disgusting enough, but it also attracts bugs, rodents and other pests, that no business needs. Only Silikal’s concrete crack sealer will offer you total protection.

Use Silikal America’s color mixing tools to match your floor with your decor!

Granted bare concrete has its own problems. First of all it’s barren, ugly and depressing, and that’s a given of course, but more importantly it’s dusty. Each time someone walks over the bare concrete dust rises, not to mention what happens when the people use handtrucks over it, and it stands to reason that forklifts raise even additional dust. This is the reason why Silikal is such a welcome addition to the dust shedding concrete problems, as it thoroughly and permanently seals the concrete so that no more dust ever rises from it again. Silikal has gone one step further now, with its color mixing tool.

There is no law that states that business concrete flooring has to be so dull and boring the way that bare concrete is, thus this is why this color mixing tool was designed. You see, it has 4 different color flakes in it that can even make the concrete floor as beautiful and attractive as say, terrazzo floors have.

If your commercial floors need to match a certain color scheme, you will have this opportunity as well as this color mixing tool can be provided in up to 8 different color mixes. This ensures that even your floors can reflect the color schemes that are throughout your entire business. Long ago psychologists proved that color affects human emotions. Color enlivens, soothes, energizes us and even inspires us. Let’s face it color affects us every day of our lives, affecting not only mood but also our thoughts.

So now, you can see the extreme wisdom of using Silikal for your bare concrete floors. The fact that they offer this new color mixing tool for the Silikal flooring is yet just one more reason why so many people are thrilled with this amazing company and are delighted with this new tool.