Polymer Cement Borders

If your concrete slab has ever been carpeted chances are the carpet was held down with tac strips. These wooden strips are attached to the concrete floor with little nails. Depending on the strength of your concrete and the depth of the nails, once removed, little holes will be left all around the edges. The material used to fill these holes does not adhere to smaller holes and when stained with concrete stain look just different enough that the edges of your concrete floor can look like polka-dots. I do not recommend filling all the tac holes. I normally offer my clients two possibilities.

Depending on the severity of the tac holes and your personal “Industrial Sheik” tolerance level, I can just fill the major holes and leave the remaining tac strip holes alone. Once ground and stained they often blend in nicely with the old restored concrete look.

If the tac holes are unacceptable I can add a polymer cement decorative border around the edges. This 4” border will hide the holes and add a nice touch to your new decorative concrete floor. Because the material takes the concrete stain a little differently it creates a nice color contrast. It is also possible to stain the borders a different color to create a different decorative concrete contrast. In general a 4” Polymer Cement Border stained the same color as the floor runs about $6 a linear foot.