www.youtube.com/watch?v=svtcPs3kONc

One Stop Shopping, I have heard it most of my life and I was interested in when and where that phrase came about.  It has of coarse become one of the phrases large retail companies and wholesale companies use today.  So I did some Goggling and

found no specific time or company that “coined” the phrase.  But I did find that it has been used since the 1930’s.  And use extensively from the 1980’s when deparment stores became popular. Today it seems there are specialty stores or businesses using that phrase for their specific services or sales, although  we at Colonial Floor and Stone Care have not, we can  certainly be considered  the “one stop shopping” for our specialty:  all aspects of natural  Stone Care.

Concrete, usually not seen as a natural stone, is really comprised of all natural materials, including stone as aggregate to increase strength.  Portland cement, which is like the glue to hold the mixture together and harden into a formative material and surface that has been used in building for centuries.  Now, as techniques and decorative design elements are being developed and  used with concrete,  Colonial Floor and Stone Care continues to follow and not only repair and clean and polish concrete we are all use to in our garages and patios, but also to do decorative elements. Today, with acid staining, staining, stamping and dry cutting plain gray concrete can be transformed into a beautiful durable floor.  We are proud that Colonial Floor and Stone Care can change your plain concrete foundation floor into a beautiful, durable and eco friendly flooring.  That  decorative concretecan be a easy transition to other stone flooring such as marble or granite tile  and Terrazzo.

The other  thing in common we have with the whole sale and retail stores is that most of those stores use decorative concrete to mimic high end stores with a marble tile look, to the rustic loft look of aged and stained stone.

So if you need help with any Natural Stone, be it concrete, Terrazzo, Marble, Granite or Mexican and Cuban  tiles floors, Colonial Floor and Stone Care can meet all your needs.  We have been in business for over 20 years, and take pride of all our work.  Call us at 305-731-2242 for Miami/Dade, Broward/ Ft Lauderdale 954-566-4555 and Palm Beach County 561-357-1408 we would like to be your “one stop shopping” for all your Natural Stone Care needs.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=944EyjUl9Xs

I flew this year to vacation for the Holidays and went through 3 different airports.  I must say they all have done really well trying to make the passenger as comfortable as can be. I was most impressed with 2 different airports.  Ft. Lauderdale, which has beautiful Terrazzo work in it.  Shining and clean with sea life mosaics put into the work.  Yes a work of art no doubt.  When I returned however I stopped to see friends and family induring my connecting flight, I saw some beautiful decorative concrete in 2 of my connecting flights.  Using the already foundations floors that the building had, the designers of the airport used that plain concrete to cut designs to make it look like tile, added color, which gave it a variegated look.  From subtle browns to bright blues and reds, I saw concrete design being used in those air ports.

To understand why I know so much about this is to know that a good friend of mine owns a company that does restoration work with Terrazzo, another beautiful flooring service along with other natural stone such as marble,granite and even the new design trend concrete!.  The company actually does all types of cleaning, polishing on natural stones, such as marble tile or slab, granite, and repairs and acid stains and colors concrete.  So I took some pictures and preceeded to go to visit my family and friends.

Just happens I am so excited about my vacation and  what I saw on some of the airports floors I am showing off the pictures at the party that night and my friend told me he had a property he was selling and pulled up the carpets.  I told him to look into concrete acid staining.  I showed him the airport pictures, but also show him some of my friends company’s pictures of Acid staining concrete foundation floors, and depending upon the look you wanted to achieve, color and texture could be placed on his concrete, or just repairing and adding a densifier and sealer with polishing could be done.  Acid stain reacts to the concrete’s specific make up and  creates a unique finish to the floor.  I couldn’t recommend Colonial Floor Care, as they only service Palm Beach, Broward and Miami/Dade County.  However, I would highly recommend them to anyone who would like to discuss and look into the possibilities of turning that usual concrete we see every day, and transform it to the color and design of your choosing.  Call Colonial Floor Care to day for all your concrete and natural stone needs.  954-566-4555

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5_hvV9x-pg

Hello! We are Colonial Floor Care!

One of the ongoing issues for homeowners with garages is the care and matenance of their garage floor. From oil drips to cracks and scrapes from heavy equipment, maintaing a clean and stable surface can be  a great challenge.

My father used to scrub the garage floor every few months then once every other year or so he would repaint it, which as you can imagine, was a realy work intensive project.

Well now there is a revolutionary way to seal and repair your concrete garage floor, while making it really attractive!

Concerete Poishing -- We use a state of the art, proprietary process that  seals, levels and shines your concrete garage floor, making it durable, smooth, beautiful and stain resistent. What more could anyone ask for?

Furthermore, this finish lasts 10-15 years. An occassional hose down is all that is needed to maintain it. If you want to add dramatic color to your garage floor, yu can choose your own color and we will create a stain to color your floor.

Best of all, our process is completely green- no toxic chemicals are needed!

Visit our site to learn more or set up a free estimate!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvcOvzmKAkY

We are Colonial Floor Care!

Many people have shown great interest in repairing, restoring, polishing, cleaning and sealing their concrete garage floors.

There are many ways to approach these desired processes. Most of the conventional approaches include the application of toxic chemicals at some point. One internet resource, “ehow”, suggets the following.

When refinishing concrete garage floors, there are several things to consider before proceeding. You will need to decide what materials you will be using to refinish the floor -- concrete stain or concrete paint. After you have decided on proper materials, to test your garage floor for sealers, drop a few drops of water on it. If the water beads up, then ther are most likely sealers on the concrete. Never try to paint or stain a concrete floor that has been sealed -- you will be wasting your time. Remove the sealer first by applying a stripping chemical. Then apply pain or stain.

This is a pretty typical approach to restoring a garage floor. There are many problems with this approach, however. It’s kind of like your grandfather’s way of doing things -- lots of hard work and toxic chemicals. In many ways, those before us didn’t know any better. But we do.

Not only are the chemicals used in the strippers, paints and sealers toxic to manufacture, but they rease extremely toxic gasses when applied. paint and sealers also do no not last very long. Before you know it, the paint peels or chips and stains easily form.

At Colonial Floor Care, we care deeply about the environment. We also care deeply about your pocketbook and your overall satisfaction with he outcome of our work.

Because of this, we have developed an environmentally sound, non-toxic method of concrete repair and polishing that achieves many goals.

First, it is completely non-toxic. We use very benign chemicals for staining- we can produce almost any desired color tint that you wish- you pick the color!  We use state of the art grinding equipment to achieve high gloss shines. Because of our final grind with an ultra fine grind head, your concrete not only becomes beautiful, it also becomes durable and resistant to moisture and cracking.

All of this with no damage to the environment! It can be done, it should be done and so we do it!

Check us out. We think you’ll be amazed at what we can do!

We serve Miami, Dade, Broward, Ft Lauderdale and Palm Beach.

We also specialize in marble, granite and terrazzo.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5MnfGZTGyA

Welcome to Colonial Floor Care’s Concrete Staining blog!

.

We will be discussing the many exciting options for concrete staining, coloring(tinting) and polishing that are now available to dramatically enhance your conrete floor’s appearnace and durability.

What is concrete staining?

Decorative Concrete Staining is considered one of the most popular ways to achieve delivering color to gray concrete.  Chemical stains can be applied to new or old, plain or colored concrete surfaces. Although they are often called acid stains, acid is not the ingredient that colors the concrete.

Metallic salts in an acidic, water based solution react with hydrated lime( calcium hydroxide)in hardned concrete to yield insoluble colored compounds that become a permanent part of the concrete.

Several companies manufacture chemical stains that are variations of three basic color groups: black, brown and blue-green. however the color possibilities are virtually endless.

Designers are waking up to the fact that there’s more than wood carpet and tiles. There’s nothing that can’t be done.

The acid in chemical stains opens the top surface of the concrete, allowing metallic salts to reach the free lime deposits. Water form the stain solution then fuels the reaction, usually for about a month after the stain has been applied. Other factors that affect the outcome include:

Cement properties and amount

Admixtures used

Type of aggregate used

Concrete finishing methods

Concrete age and moisture content when stain is applied

Weather conditions when stain is applied

Efflorescence

Next time we will discuss the dramatic increase in the use of concrete as a design element in home construction and restoration, and of course, the green properties of concrete! Learn more about our terrazzo restoration, terrazzo cleaning and floor polishing services by clicking these sites!

Colonial Floor Care serves Miami, Dade, Broward, Ft Lauderdale and Palm Beach!