"Robert Allison" wrote in message
news:ixdQd.7204$uc.5897@trnddc01...
MaryL wrote:

I posted a question about this to another newsgroup but didn't get any
answers, so I hope I may have found the right NG for solutions this time.

I am having a sunroom added to my house -- starting in 2 or 3 weeks. It
will really be an additional room, with the ductwork of my existing
central air/heating system extended to include that room. The contractor
assures me that I have an adequate unit to do that (which will involve an
addition of approximately 320 square feet).

At present, I have two sets of French doors that open to the area that
will become the new sunroom. The windows have started to fog, so I am
going to have these metal doors replaced with wood interior French doors.
The threshold will be removed so the new patio flooring can be flush with
the interior floor, and approximately 1 inch will be cut off the bottom
of the doors to provide air circulation when they are closed. The
existing patio (really, just a slab of concrete) is in very poor
condition and will be removed. It will be replaced with a larger area of
concrete. This time, it will have both rebar and mesh for support. I
also specified that we use footers (hope that's the right term) because
the soil here is very sandy.

I was originally going to use tile, but the contractor recommended scored
concrete. I looked at some of his samples, and it looks very nice. The
concrete would be stained about 3 weeks after it is poured. He says the
stain will penetrate about 1/4", so I should not have problems with the
type of white scratches that show up on unfinished concrete when
furniture is moved around. I also want to be sure that this will be easy
to clean (and I have cats, so there could be "accidents"). It will be
sealed with an epoxy sealer.

Do any of you have experience with this type of produce? Is it easy to
maintain, especially after a few years (light traffic area)? What about
scoring versus plain? If it is scored, we will use a thin line to
emulate tile (not the wide grout) and grout will be placed in the scored
areas. Is it likely that this will create a problem in future years with
cracking and lifting, or is this an unncecessary concern?

Thanks,
MaryL




There are numerous ways to finish concrete to use as a finished floor.
Your best bet is to educate yourself on the various finishes, decide on
the one that you want, then negotiate with your builder or a subcontractor
to do what you want to do.

Here is a great place to learn about this:

http://www.concretenetwork.com/

Good luck,

--
Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

Thanks! That is a great site.

MaryL