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Choosing Concrete Flooring in Your Custom Home

Published on
November 11, 2021

Thinking about swapping out your carpet, tile, wood, or linoleum floors for concrete? Let’s learn more about choosing concrete floors for your custom home.

Thinking about swapping out your carpet, tile, wood, or linoleum floors for concrete? It’s not a bad idea. Concrete is not only durable, of course, making it especially good for areas that see a lot of foot traffic, but it also allows for a ton of customization options that you just don’t get with other types of materials.

Now, before you go making any concrete plans (!), let’s learn more about choosing concrete floors for your custom home.

What Are the Benefits of Concrete Flooring?

Durability

Perhaps the most obvious benefits of concrete flooring are its durability and resilience. It’s certainly not going to scratch, crack, or scuff very easily, even if it’s constantly being hit with things like pet claws, high heels, and furniture legs. In fact, a well-constructed concrete floor could last you up to 50 years or more!

Low Maintenance

You’re not going to have to do much to keep your concrete floors in good shape, especially when compared to something like wood floors. Simply wash them with soap and water when they need a good clean, and then remember to wax or seal them every 6 – 9 months.

Cost-Effective

It can be less expensive to install concrete floors in your home than some other types, for example natural stone or tile. However, there is a pretty wide price range depending on what look you’re going for:

  • A basic design will cost you about $2 - $6 per square foot. This includes pouring the overlay or slab, polishing, and dying or staining color treatment.
  • A mid-range design tends to be around $7 - $14 per square foot. It includes everything the basic does, except you can stain and polish with multiple colors.
  • A high-end design may be from $15 - $30 per square foot. This offers everything the other packages do with even more customization options, such as using various stamping or texturizing methods and including geometric patterns in the overlay or slab.

What Are the Drawbacks of Concrete Flooring?

Cold and Uncomfortable

In the winter, walking on cold, hard concrete floors doesn’t feel so great on your feet. That being said, this issue can at least be partially avoided with the use of area rugs.

Moisture Issues

If concrete floors haven’t been installed or sealed properly, then they will be especially sensitive to moisture. Liquid may be able to penetrate into the pores of the concrete, potentially resulting in cracks in the floor.

Of course, if the floors have been installed properly, this won’t even be an issue.

Where Should I Put Concrete Flooring?

Though it has probably been most commonly seen in basements in the past, these days concrete flooring really does work in every room of a house. Unlike some other types of floor materials, concrete ones are available in a range of colors and textures, so they can suit a variety of themes and styles.

Also, you like to change things up around the house, you’ll have quite a few options with concrete flooring. You can re-stain them every so often, choose to have them exposed, or switch up the rugs to give the room a fresh, new look.