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Decorative concrete floor in kitchen

14 years ago

We currently have linoleum in our kitchen. At a recent home show, we saw some decorative concrete for inside that looked gorgeous. Spoke to the customer, who reported satisfaction with the company and the finished product. She said the only negative was the surface was slightly rough and one time she snagged her pantyhose walking on it.

We had an estimate done; expensive, but doable for us. But now we go round and round- perhaps tile would be a better choice? Although I've yet to see a tile we've liked as much as the decorative concrete.

Anyone who has experience with kitchen concrete floors care to share? Likes/dislikes/unexpected advantages or disadvantages?

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Comments (3)

rufinorox
14 years ago
never thought of using concrete floor but here's our floor before and after. We used porcleain tile.
User
14 years ago
We have concrete in our finished walkout basement at our lakehouse. It is essentially a guest suite w/ a full bath & a kitchenette set-up. So while it's not exactly a fair comparison to an actual kitchen, there are enough similarities in how we use the space to give you some feedback.

We absolutely love the concrete floors. Love how they look. How easy they are to maintain. And ours have radiant heat beneath, which makes them very cozy to pad around on in cold weather.

The downsides I foresee would be that they aren't very forgiving on your feet & legs if you stand on them for a long time. I'm a serious home cook, and I would absolutely need a gel mat, or something similar, underfoot in front of the range and sink area if I had concrete in the kitchen I use every day.

The second thing is similar to a downside of tile, as well. It's a very unforgiving surface if you drop anything breakable. I've had dishes, bowls, and even glasses slip out of my hand and survive a "bounce" on my kitchen's wood floor. But a glass shatters on the concrete, and the shards fly near & far. Probably something to consider if you have little ones.
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Go with what you like. It is your home.
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Our search for a new kitchen floor has led us to the decorative concrete. A local company reports great success with a product called Flex-C-Ment and the samples we've seen look great. I also spoke with a customer who reported satisfaction with their work and the finished product. Our concern: this company just started doing decorative concrete inside less than a year ago. I'm not sure they know the long-term implications. Of most worry to us is that the cement overlay would be put on a wood subfloor, not concrete pad/backerboard. (Our finished basement is directly below the kitchen.) Can the subfloor handle the weight? Can the cement handle any expansion/contraction of the wood subfloor? Any thoughts are welcome!
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This is only really economically feasable for someone on a budget if you have a slab on grade home where you already have concrete. It ain't cheap to do even then. It's more expensive than wood or tile by the time you deal with the upcharges for pigmented pours and scoring and polishing. In a home with joist construction, designing in the dropped floors and additional weight support so that you can have the finished floors be close to the same height as a poured slab takes this well out of budget territory. That all has to happen in addition to the poured slab. And if you hate it, you're about SOL, because that's what you designed into the structure of the home. You have to completely grind off the treatment in order to do any other floor other than carpet or a floating floor on top. Any propely glued or thinsetted floor won't adhere properly.
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SJ, thank you for the input! We were wondering if these might stain or scuff easily, but do you think they are easy to clean even if they feel very matte? (And no worries about the difference in taste! I actually just posted the links to show the brand we are considering in case that was relevant.) :)
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PRO
Windyroc Studios, LLC
14 years ago
We have diamond polished concrete floors in our kitchen and family room. We love the maintenance, just vacuum and mop with water. The price was excellent also at $5 per square foot.
I was afraid that the floor would be uncomfortable to stand on but I haven't had a problem yet. I'm 42 now so I'll have to revisit that opinion in a few years. Here's a picture of the finished product. You can probably see the outlines from the original vinyl tile in the photos.

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