Still need porch flooring pros and cons.

16 years ago

I posted this same question earlier but no one really gave me an answer. I am specifically looking for the advantages and disadvantages of one over the over both cost and practicality. I don't mean to be a pest but I am feeling tbe urgency to make a decision as we have a meeting with both the architect and the builder this Thursday and I truly value the opinions posted here. I want to go armed with information. Here is a repeat of my previous post:

We will have a 16 X 14 screened porch with a wood burning stone fireplace in our new Asheville, NC build. The porch will be no more than 3 feet off grade. My husband doesn't want a wood floor because of the fireplace. We will be putting down area rugs. Other than wood, the one material that we are adamantly against is rough slab poured concrete. We are considering a polished concrete swirled with muted colors (similar to what they have at the Bass Pro Shop.) The other choices are tile, stone, or stamped colored concrete. Can someone give me some information on cost comparisons as well as durability? Pros and cons of each material? Thanks in advance.

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Comments (9)

dixiedoodle
16 years ago
Well, in my area of VA, the costs for installing tile, stone, or stamped concrete are not going to be wildly out of line with one another. However, the costs of using real stone vs. something like tile can vary greatly. For example, we are using a flagstone for our front porch and front walk...there were stones for $150/ton and there were stones for $500/ton.

I love natural stone. That would always be my first choice, but I'm concerned that with your stone fireplace it could potentially be a little over the top. If the stone fireplace is to be the focal point of the space (and it really should be), I do think a dyed concrete would look nice. Personally, I don't think that mixing natural stone and stamped concrete is a good look.

Honestly, I really think that this is just a matter of personal preference. Which do you like more? They're all fine.
ncamy
Original Author
16 years ago
Personally I think I would like the look of the polished concrete best, but I was worried that it might eventually crack and look a mess. Does anyone out there think that should be a concern in my area?
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We have had 3 porches..... one was a good quality of outdoor carpeting over concrete. The carpeting did not hold up that well. Will your porch be exposed to the elements at times? We then did a porch with tile. It cracked where the 10 ft. extension (cement slab) was added. Although I loved the look of the tile, was mad about the crack. Our present porch is 20+ years old and is brick veneer over a cement. We bought the house 10 years ago. It has stood up to the elements for all this time. We are getting ready to move and hope to have our next porch done in a brick floor. The only drawback to the brick is we like to mop it after pollen season and that is a little difficult with the bumps and ridges. We cover part of it with an indoor-oudoor rug made of recyclible material. Good luck. It sounds great!
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We did our entire family room/kitchen/mudroom (a very large area) with "slate-look" porcelain tile. We had a springer spaniel at the time and now have a golden retriever puppy who LIVES in that space (since the rest of the house has lots of fringed oriental rugs (aka "doggie dental floss") so until she's a WEE bit older (Freudian use of "wee" there...) she's restricted to the porcelain tile. I am embarrassed to say that it was a full year after we installed it before I did anything more than vacuum it. I never even damp mopped it because it didn't look at all dirty. However, we chose a light tile and with enough time and enough foot traffic (or muddy paws), it does collect dirt in the "pits"and valleys of the surface -- and in my experience, the best solution is to get down with a scrub brush. We have a floor scrubbing/polishing machine but because of the variations in texture, it leaves a lot of the crevice/pit dirt behind. But I have honestly only done it twice in 2 years, and then only in the high traffic areas. EVERYTHING comes up off this floor, and it's impossible to scratch even if you try! I love everything about it and even with the need to scrub occasionally, it's the easiest maintenance floor I've ever had. But it can be COLD on bare feet in the winter (delightfully cool in summer, though, so that's the tradeoff). I would also strongly recommend paying more for stain-resistant acrylic (?) grout -- we were talked out of it by our installer and went with traditional grout which we tried sealing ourselves, but I regret that. The sealing was a royal pain (so we only did the high traffic areas in the end) but even with it, in those areas the grout is definitely darker than in the lighter traffic areas. I wish I'd gone with a darker grout, but that wasn't the effect I was after... though it's the effect I may end up with in the end! ;)
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The more bumps, roof lines etc the more expensive. The cheapest to build is a box, so the closer to a box your footprint is the cheapest, therefore I would say the farmhouse would be more to build. I noticed the laundry was upstairs in the farmhouse also, will this be a home you live in when you are older? If so you may want main floor laundry. I do like that the dining room is part of the kitchen, never had any use for a seperate formal dining room myself. In #56 the master bath seems odd for some reason, and a long way to walk to get a quick change of clothes, I would probably put a sliding door to one of the closets from the bedroom. Laundry does seem ackward here because its not a straight shot or even semi straight from your bedroom to it, where all your clothes and towels will originate. I love the front porch and overall look of the house though. The William one has some good things, the sun/kitchen nook is large enough to be a dining area on its own, allowing you to re-purpose the official dining area and use it as a library/den, etc. You could even make the kitchen larger: taking away space from that dining room, and use the smaller new room as a office/workout room etc If you added 4 extra feet to the bottom of the kitchen, the remaining "dining" room would still be more than large enough for office/workout space. That is still larger than bedrooms I have seen in smaller houses! It has lots of storage and a great porch. And everything you need as you get older is all located on the main floor. You don't mention kids so I haven't really taken them into consideration much, but he farmhouse does have a nice activity/playroom on the 2nd floor, and the William one has the bedrooms spaced a little apart which could potentially avoid some sibliling conflicts, plus that huge future room as they get older and want friends over or a media room. For me I would narrow it further to the farmouse or William. And probably lean more toward the william one because its squareish, seems to have more useable space, and potential with just a few changes.
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landp
16 years ago
If he likes the traditional look of a wood floor, but, of course does not want to burn down the house, go to the AmeriDeck website. The fire retardant properties are quite impressive. Looks nice, too.

Just do a few searches on this site and you can gather all the pros and cons of each of your mentioned materials.
ponydoc
16 years ago
I know you don't want wood but have you looked into ipe (Brazilian walnut)? It is an extremely hard wood and I believe is in the same class as concrete for fire resistance. If you did a hearth of stone or slate then the ipe it would be a lovely look. Our porches are just gorgeous. DOn't have a pic handy but if you google search images you will see some nice ideas.

PD
ncamy
Original Author
16 years ago
How would the cost of Ipe wood or AmeriDeck compare to concrete? I absolutely must cut costs as much as possible. (Too many upgrades elsewhere!) By the way I do love the look of Ipe. Our patio table and chairs are Ipe.
oruboris
16 years ago
I think cracks in stained concrete just add to the 'stonelike' look. But if they'd bother you, look at a tile rated for outdoor floors.

I'm not sure if slate can be used outdoors in your area, but its a great look and realitively inexpensive.

I can't personally give you any guidance on wood v. concrete for the structure of the deck-- I think that's something to speak to your builder about. But if your husband doesn't want a wood floor, seems to me that issue is already resolved.
byrdlady
16 years ago
We have had 3 porches..... one was a good quality of outdoor carpeting over concrete. The carpeting did not hold up that well. Will your porch be exposed to the elements at times? We then did a porch with tile. It cracked where the 10 ft. extension (cement slab) was added. Although I loved the look of the tile, was mad about the crack.
Our present porch is 20+ years old and is brick veneer over a cement. We bought the house 10 years ago. It has stood up to the elements for all this time. We are getting ready to move and hope to have our next porch done in a brick floor. The only drawback to the brick is we like to mop it after pollen season and that is a little difficult with the bumps and ridges. We cover part of it with an indoor-oudoor rug made of recyclible material. Good luck. It sounds great!
dassykee
16 years ago
We are building in Chapel Hill and I have some of the same questions as you. Our screened porch with fireplace will be 15 feet above grade. I was leaning toward stained concrete w/rugs but DH doesn't like that much. Now we are considering flagging or slate. The upper terrace, which is not connected to the screened porch will be ipe and the lower terrace will probably be flagging.

Dixiedoodle, what accounts for the extreme price difference in your flagstone?
dixiedoodle
16 years ago
On the low end of the natural stone spectrum was slate. On the high end was flagging that was "exotic" for this area. We ended up with Van Tassell from Champlain Stone (manufacturer not distributor) which runs $425/ton. I'm looking at the price sheet now and here are some of the selections: Allegheny Rose $400/ton, Allegheny Rose Tumbled $750/ton, Bluestone $300/ton, Black Slate $200/ton, Valley Green $630/ton, and Germantown $400/ton. So, as you can see...it is all over the board.

Still need porch flooring pros and cons.

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Still need porch flooring pros and cons.

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dixiedoodle

ncamyOriginal Author

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