When you think of beautiful and aesthetically appealing floors, you typically think of wood or tiles. Concrete flooring most likely won’t be included in the conversation since it’s commonly associated with the streets and driveways. Hence, people usually think they’re not stylish enough for the home.
However, as time progresses, concrete flooring has gained unprecedented popularity among homeowners. It’s now a top choice for many when building a new home or renovating an old one. Concrete flooring is not only viewed as an eye-catching industrial accent, but it also provides numerous advantages.
Numerous Design Options
Concrete flooring has become a ho-hum to luxury with the growing popularity of modern houses and their modern techniques. Numerous design options are available for polished concrete floors, allowing you to pick and choose according to your style.
These became possible by adding dyes to wet concrete, creating various earthy colours. It allows concrete flooring to mimic natural stones, brick, or ceramic tile.
Another technique utilizes surface treatment with the help of acid stains, concrete stains, and paint, resulting in unique designs. And lastly, to add texture, stamping the concrete with rubber stencils does the job.
Concrete floors also have different aggregate exposure and type of concrete finishing processes that can help you fully achieve the concrete look you are gunning for.
Different Aggregate Exposure
In concrete floors, there are three different aggregate exposure you can choose from:
- Industrial – Zero to minimal stones are exposed in this aggregate exposure flooring. It aims to produce an industrial warehouse feeling. This style is much more effective when paired with low to high-sheen options.
- Commercial – Partial stones are exposed in this type of aggregate exposure flooring. This type is ideal for commercial, retail, or residential locations requiring a hard-wearing, durable, visually appealing floor.
- Premium – This type of aggregate exposure flooring displays the full stone. This is called the “designer floor” because of its unique and individual visuals.
Different Types of Concrete Finish
When it comes to concrete flooring, you can choose from three types of concrete finishing processes:
- Mechanical – This concrete finishing process provides the most durable and aesthetically appealing floor for residential, industrial, and commercial locations. The process involves grinding, hardening, and polishing the concrete floor and using a penetrating sealer. It makes the concrete floor grout-free, strain and scratch-resistant, and hypoallergenic.
- Acrylic – This concrete finishing process uses a topical sealer that needs to be reapplied every three to seven years. This is still an excellent option for people looking for economical and short-term flooring that is still strong, durable, and stain resistant.
- Outdoor – This concrete finishing process results in a natural look. It converts washed aggregate by grinding the surface and removing abrasive stones, making it easier to clean and more user-friendly and practical flooring. It’s best for alfresco, garages, driveways, and pathways as it’s highly durable with a smooth finish.
Low Maintenance
Concrete floors are very easy to clean and are low maintenance. You can use an inexpensive microfiber pad or cloth to swipe dirt particles covering the floor’s shine for a quick clean. For a deeper clean, you can use a mop and bucket containing water mixed with a cleaning agent. You can simply spread the solution on the floor and let the mop rinse it. But with concrete floors, even a simple broom is enough for a thorough cleaning.
Moreover, since concrete floors are not porous and have been properly sealed, dirt, dust, or allergen don’t usually stick. In addition, because of the concrete floor’s hard surface, you don’t need to worry about cracking, scratching, or denting, as it is already sturdy enough.
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Cost-Effective
Using concrete floors is practical and cost-effective. The cost of installing it is much more affordable compared to other flooring like wood and tile. This makes it the perfect alternative for high-end materials, granite, and marble.
When you have concrete floors, you also lower your energy bills. Installing insulated concrete helps lock cold or warm air in your home. With this, you no longer need to use the air conditioner during a hot day.
In colder temperatures, you won’t need to turn on your heaters as the temperature of the hot water tubes and electric wires have already been absorbed by the concrete floor. This allows you to enjoy hot and cold days without spending an additional dime.
Eco-Friendly and Sustainable
Having concrete floors doesn’t deplete natural resources, requires less energy to produce, and is made locally. They also help curb unnecessary energy usage since fans or heaters are used less often because of the absorbed hot and cold air. By opting for concrete floors in your home, you can easily help the environment.
In addition, concrete floors are highly recyclable. You can repurpose your concrete floors in other ways to design your house, as this would make your home much more beautiful. Broken, worn out, and cracked concrete floors can be crushed and used again by adding them to new concrete.
In Conclusion
Concrete floors provide you with not only aesthetics but also durability. It gives you numerous design options to reflect your desired look. Moreover, it’s easy and inexpensive to maintain, plus the added perk of helping the environment. As such, the numerous advantages of concrete flooring make it a fantastic option for your home.