When you think of residential flooring, you might picture laminate, wood, or carpeting. Stretch your imagination a little further, however, and you’ll find an endless range of possibilities: marble-effect living room floors, stone-like kitchen floors, and variety of patterns and effects, all made possible through concrete flooring.
The benefits of concrete floors in a house can be functional or aesthetic. Below we’ll explore where to include concrete floors in your home and explain why they are in such high demand.
Where to Use Concrete Floors in Your Home
Many areas of your home are suitable for concrete flooring. The most obvious candidates include the garage and basement, but social areas like kitchens and living rooms can also be revamped with patterned, dyed, and polished concrete flooring.
Living Rooms
The living room is the showpiece of your home. It’s where you receive guests, display your favorite family photos, and generally make the greatest effort to show off your style. However, old carpet and scuffed wood can make your living space look dated. Concrete floors not only protect against the wear and tear caused by foot traffic, but they also give your home a more modern look. From creative colors to natural stone designs, concrete floors allow homeowners to express their style in a unique way.
Basements
Basements are often used for storage, but you might also spend leisure time down there: TVs, pool tables, and gym equipment can all find a home at the subterranean level.
This can make choosing basement flooring surprisingly difficult. On the one hand, you need something practical, durable, and moisture-resistant. On the other hand, you’ll want something more stylish than linoleum if you’re hosting friends to watch the Super Bowl.
Concrete flooring addresses both needs. It’s easily customizable, allowing you to express your personal style. It’s also moisture-resistant, helping homeowners avoid common problems associated with basement floors, like mold and mildew.
Garages
In many houses, the garage flooring is simply an absence of flooring — a cold, rough surface suitable for dirty wheels and not much else. However, unfinished concrete is difficult to clean, susceptible to cracks, and won’t do the job if you plan to use your garage as a hybrid living space, home office, or workshop.
A coated and seamless concrete flooring system makes garage floors stronger and more resistant to stains. This helps ensure that your garage isn’t a grimy forgotten room, but a place where you enjoy spending time.
Kitchens
Of all the surfaces in a house, the kitchen floor is perhaps susceptible to the biggest range of attacks: flecks of food, regular spillages, and the occasional broken glass. Nonetheless, a kitchen floor needs to be as attractive as it is durable. While dirt and spills get trapped in the grout lines of kitchen tile, seamless concrete floors are easy to clean. This helps keep your kitchen in tip-top shape whenever guests stop by for dinner or a drink.
Concrete Floor Advantages
There are several benefits of concrete floors in a house, including durability, price, and appearance.
Modern Look
A broad range of sleek, contemporary styles is one of the biggest benefits of concrete floors in the home. Polished concrete techniques provide the most visually impressive results, with the option for dyes or embedded exotic sands under a glossy or satin topcoat.
Durable
Residential concrete floors can last up to 100 years, far longer than wood or carpet. Their exceptional durability safeguards against potential damage from furniture, pets, and other hazards.
Cost-Effective
Concrete floors in a house are surprisingly cost-effective. Not only is the cost similar to other flooring options like carpet or vinyl, but decorative concrete can also increase the value of your home. In many cases, only a thin layer of concrete is required, which keeps costs low. Furthermore, concrete flooring retains its value in the long term due to its long lifespan.
Easy to Clean
One of the biggest concrete floor advantages is its ability to be cleaned easily. The smooth and uniform surface of polished concrete is easy to sweep, vacuum, and mop, while the high-quality topcoat of Duraamen products acts as a sealant, reducing the likelihood of stains. Much lower maintenance than vacuuming your carpet every day or taking a toothbrush to grout lines in the kitchen.
How to Elevate Your Home’s Concrete
Not all residential concrete flooring is a marble-effect work of art. In fact, old or untreated concrete can be an unsightly dust trap. Fortunately, Duraamen offers several solutions for breathing new life into old concrete.
Deso Dye
Adding color to concrete gives it instant style. Available in a range of 20 colors, Duraamen’s Deso Dyes — concentrated solutions for use in indoor polished concrete applications — can be mixed with either water or acetone, making Deso Dye a dual-use product.
Perdure E32
Protect your floors from wear and tear by sealing them with a clear epoxy coating. Perdure E32 is Duraamen’s high-penetration water-based epoxy primer and sealer. Applying this product to your concrete floors increases durability and reduces the probability of your concrete outgassing.
Perdure U45
Give your concrete floors a matte finish and protect them from UV light and staining by applying a polyurethane topcoat. Perdure U45, Duraamen’s water-based non-yellowing polyurethane sealer, doesn’t contain any of the harmful ingredients typically found in solvent-based urethanes. This makes it a great option for health-conscious DIYers.
Param 6000
Self-leveling polished concrete overlays are ideal when the existing concrete flooring is uneven, damaged, or unpolished. The Param 6000 polishable concrete topping system is one of Duraamen’s best options for adding high-quality polished concrete over existing concrete or other substrates like tiles or plywood.
When installed properly, concrete floors in a house can be sleek, contemporary, and attention-grabbing. They’re also affordable, easy to clean and last an incredibly long time. Contact Duraamen to find the right concrete flooring solution for your home.
