Should your next floor be concrete?

Should your next floor be concrete? In most cases, the answer is yes. Let’s learn why concrete floors are probably right for you. We’ll also discuss the few cases where concrete isn’t a viable choice.

Concrete flooring

The Economical Choice

One of the biggest benefits of concrete flooring solutions is financial. They’re cheaper than stone floors, but they share many of the same functional benefits. And you can have concrete floors mixed with stone or artificial additives to resemble stone. Do you want tile floors? You can have rich coloring added to the concrete floors to create the same sparkles or streaks of colour but it will be installed faster and much more cheaply than tile floors. Nor will you have to deal with cracked or broken tiles that need to be replaced. Concrete’s durability means it is hard to damage. It handles heavy foot traffic, and if you invest in the right engineering upfront, it could handle heavy equipment loads as well.

Another benefit of concrete floors is that it can literally fit wherever it needs to go. You can have concrete floors poured to meet the level of the existing floor or create a permanent slope to connect two different levels of a building. If you already have a concrete subfloor (and many buildings do), then you only have to pour a new concrete floor on top of it in many cases.

The Healthy Choice

Concrete floors can provide a number of benefits. They won’t trap dust, dander, and pollen like carpets. Debris won’t get caught in gaps between the tiles or stone pieces because concrete floors are overwhelmingly smooth. The concrete floor should be sealed, but there is no need to wash it with harsh detergents or treat it with chemicals to keep it clean. Concrete floors can be sealed to keep out water and biological material. Now someone getting ill doesn’t create a toxic health hazard that requires chemicals to eradicate. If the floor is flooded with sewage, you can scrub it up with harsh brushes without damaging the floor. You can use whatever chemicals are required to sterilize things without worrying about it being soaked into the floors, releasing those chemicals over time.

The Environmental Choice

Are you trying to earn green building credentials? Concrete floors are a natural choice. It has a long track-record of surviving temperature extremes. It won’t warp in a fire or flood. It is easy to clean up without toxic chemicals. You can rely on local manufacturers and sources, and concrete floors can even be made from nearly 100 percent recycled materials. Use the concrete pieces from the old building in the new one.

When Concrete Floors Are Not the Right Choice

If you need access to pipes running on the floor, you probably shouldn’t have concrete floors. This is why in-floor heating systems often sit on top of concrete floors but are hidden within engineered wood floors. If you’ve already punched holes in your concrete floors to fix plumbing or sewer line problems, choose something else to replace the concrete floors. Do you have constantly shifting soils under the floor? A concrete foundation around the edge of the house holding up a floating wood floor is probably the better choice.

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