Top Concrete Finishing Trends in 2022
Concrete’s perennial popularity is carrying it strongly through another year. Catch up on how it’s being used to make spaces something special.
Key Takeaways:
- Concrete finishes can combine amazing durability with designer looks
- Indoor and outdoor surfaces can become stylish and safer with the right coating
- Finished concrete floors tie in with many modern trends ranging from minimalism to mimicking other materials
Pick up the latest issue of Concrete Connoisseur (we’re regular subscribers) and you’ll marvel at this season’s stunning selection of concrete finishes. One hundred and sixty variations of gray ranging from the ever-popular “Parking Lot Pewter” and “Sidewalk Sable” to exciting new shades on the block like “Featureless Fog” and “Smoky Cigar Ash.” No sir, nobody can call concrete boring.
OK, maybe we made all that up. The trendy truth is that modern concrete floors offer an exciting, versatile, and even multi-colored way to make surfaces as jazzy or reserved as you want them to be. Let’s spotlight how finished concrete can play a cutting-edge role in 2022’s coolest decorative trends.
Decorative concrete exists and is bigger than ever
Those first two words really do go together. They’re fueling projections that the market will be worth $16.81 billion this year, and it’s only going to keep on booming. This is because more and more property owners are realizing that decorative concrete can give any surface, anywhere, a new lease of life. With regular maintenance and scheduled resealing, it will also be a long and cost-effective one.
Working with professionals who are skilled in concrete finishes is essential to turning your designer dreams into reality. Their skills make all the difference between a precision-finished floor and a liability that could see you slipping and sliding and regretting the day you had it installed.
We can help you find the right contractors to realize your goals, so it’s up to you to decide which of these concrete crazes is right for your property.
The 4 trendiest concrete finishes in 2022
Whether you’re looking for sleek and seamless or cracked and colorful, concrete has your interior and exterior design tastes covered. Concrete can also be done at a fraction of the cost of more expensive materials. Here’s how this year’s commercial industries are expressing themselves:
1. Indoor/outdoor rooms
“In terms of both value and volume, non-residential is projected to be the fastest-growing segment from 2022–2031, for polished concrete,” say market experts with an eye on this sector that’s already worth $2.2 billion in 2022. Polished concrete is hugely popular in professional settings and when it’s properly laid and maintained can look flawless, radiant, and be tough as nails.
In fact, polished concrete’s radiant reflectiveness is one of the features that helps make it an environmentally friendly option (more on that in trend #2). All that extra light bouncing off the floor reduces the need for artificial lighting, lowering a commercial site’s utility bills and reducing the negative effects of excess energy consumption.
Plenty of fluid and colorful design expression is possible with this trend, or you can simply choose a single shade. Just remember that as great as it can look, polished concrete isn’t for everyone. Read our previous blog for an explanation of why it’s most cost-effective in larger spaces, kinder where people won’t have to stand for long periods, and a no-go in any commercial space that works with strong chemicals.
2. Maximizing the minimalist effect
Minimalism is very big in 2022 and these days this trend goes together with several key features, two of which are sustainable materials and healthy decorative choices. Concrete finishes are ideal if you’re into less-is-more because they check both of those boxes.
Did you know even the grayest concrete is green at heart? This is because the material is one of the most environmentally friendly options out there thanks to its long life span, low life-cycle cost, and energy efficiency.
Concrete finishes also mean minimal effort and headaches for homeowners. They’re easy to clean, pet-resistant, and offer no hospitality to health-threatening bugs that love to burrow into carpet or wood. It also won’t hold on to dust, dander, and other allergy-triggering stuff. Plus, let’s face it: it’s hard to picture anything that says “sleek and uncomplicated” better than a single-tone, polished concrete floor.
3. Colored concrete
There’s no shortage of options for those seeking multi-tonal surfaces. Epoxy-covered concrete offers a color palette as varied and versatile as any standard paint. This makes it super customizable, resilient to being worn down, and highly tolerant to chemical exposure. That last perk might make it the ideal choice for certain businesses rather than polished concrete.
Alternatively, you could opt for urethane flooring, which can also be tinted in different colors and retains its glossy appearance, even under heavy foot and equipment traffic. Urethane also has downsides, however, such as not being the greatest choice to hide concrete imperfections. Read our quick primer on resinous floor coatings to learn more.
Some sites choose dyed concrete instead of either epoxy or urethane. The dye provides a uniform shade which can then be accented with rugs or other color-complimenting features.
Acid staining is another trendy choice for concrete finishes that can create different patterns and colors. Using acid isn’t an exact science, however. The results are variable based on the concrete’s blend, age, and porosity. On the other hand, that makes it kind of exciting because no two acid-stained floors will look alike. How’s that for trend-setting?
4. Stamped concrete
This popular choice is a favorite because it’s quite the concrete chameleon. Stamped concrete is so versatile that it can mimic other flooring materials like stone, brick, or even wood without sharing any of their weaknesses. It also does it in a way that won’t break the bank.
Stamped concrete finishes can look sectional, seamless, or chaotically cracked up if you like that non-linear look. This style has more pros than cons and both should be weighed up before making it part of your property. Concrete Network did a nice summary covering them all, including stamped concrete’s durability and visual versatility versus its occasional vulnerability to the elements.
We hope this rundown has given you some idea of what concrete finishes can offer when they’re handled in the right way. We’re standing by to put your plans into action whenever inspiration strikes.
Contact the concrete connoisseurs with any questions
This time, we’re not kidding! Through our podcast and knowledge base, we help professionals and the public to better understand concrete. We do everything with concrete but pour it and have decades of experience in providing surface preparation, grinding, polishing, staining, joint work, and resinous floors. Visit our contact page to ask any concrete-related questions or discuss your project needs.