I think one of the key pieces of information here is that you don't live here yet and so might not be entirely certain how you're going to use the space. You might surprise yourself and find that you need a spot to put a chair to admire your work in the garden, for instance. It looks to me too as if the patio attached to the house gets a fair bit of shade. This is no doubt welcome in the summer, and is where you'll spend your time. But in early spring and late fall, perhaps that slab is where the first and last bit of sun finds your garden as it changes its angle in the sky, and you'll want to sit there for morning coffee. Or maybe not! Point is, wait and see. People go to huge expense to put in hard surfaces for sitting, container gardening, storage, and so on. I wouldn't remove one without trying out several ways of using it first, including your option of a flower bed, though I'd put a flower bed almost anywhere else in that yard first. You could make it look a darn sight nicer with a pattern and concrete stain; see if you can find some old postings here by Punamytsike on that subject. It might eventually strike you as a great spot to build a pergola and grow grapes or flowering vines. It could seriously enhance the view you have of your yard from your patio or your house. I think if it were mine I would buy a patio umbrella and stand, and stick it out there for your first summer. Maybe a cheap resin chair as well, and a couple of big plastic planters. And see what happens. Watch how the light and shade move across the space. See what "stuff" you end up having to deal with while living in this house and what you need space for. Then you will know how best to spend larger amounts on removal, furnishing, decorating, building, or planting it up.

I am going to paint new concrete. The first area is between the wood siding and the cement apron in the front of my garage. I am also going to be painting the inside foundation which is about 20" in height. Do I need to etch with the acid before I do this. The concrete is all pretty clean. The etching just sounds too dangerous because of the chemicals and to have to rinse so thourouly does not appeal to me. Can I just paint or would I have to prime then paint and can I avoid this etching process. Thanks for anyone's input on this. Dana

The short story is we chose radiant because it worked the best with the floorplan / material choices we made. The long story is how we got there. We had the choice of a basement, crawl space, or slab. Basements are common in my area because of the required 3' footers - it doesn't cost much to go deeper and have a basement. Financially they make sense, but I don't care for them. They are cold, dark, and low ceilings feel oppressive. Crawl spaces are nice to allow access, but the floors were crazy cold in winter and the amount of humidity could also turn into a mold problem. We chose a slab foundation before we had land, and it worked out since the land we built on would not have supported a basement. Our slab has xps foam board under and along the edges for insulation. Our floor plan is completely custom that I did in autocad myself. All the common areas are on the south side and open. The bedrooms and bathrooms are on the north side. With an open floor plan (some of it 17' tall rooms) and concrete floors it makes forced air ducting more difficult. My experience with forced air is that it blows dust and curtains, feels like a cold draft across your neck when it first kicks on and forces the cold air out before the heated air, and is noisy enough to have to raise the TV or conversation volume when its on. Choosing radiant floor heat with separate zones for the common and private areas seemed like the perfect choice for heating. But we do use our air conditioner for 6-8 weeks and the floorplan layout was critical in being able to use a wall unit to comfortably cool the whole house. I was planning on finishing the concrete with coloring and waxing of some kind, but my husband became friends with a person who polishes commercial concrete floors and we had him polish our floors. It looks wonderful, and is easy to clean. The radiant heat is quiet and even heating with about a 2 hour lag time. I also thought it would be warm on my toes, but I learned that it's not - even in the middle of winter, and want to make sure others are aware of that so they are not disappointed. It's not cold, but its not warm either. Our upstairs is a quality pad and carpeted which feels nicer to my bare feet than the cool concrete. Each house and owner is different so I hope you find the best solution for your situation.

Hi Mary ... I have a concrete slab home and hate carpet (period). Redoing every room and experimenting with other surfaces. Laminate works nice in my office, ceramic tile in the bedroom, vinyl tiles with grout in Laundry room and largest room is bare concrete and has been for 2 years (long story). I have cleaned it with potent solvents and sealed it ... but it still seems to emit like a concrete dust. I am interested in your plan and will check back ... I have investigated having my big room done professionally (like a friend of mine did) but it is a HUGE mess and they sand/grind the top surface first. Not as pricey as I thought though. Good luck.