You have decided to build a custom home in Salt Lake City. You hire a top-notch architect and builder to make your dreams reality. Working through your options, someone suggests going with concrete floors. You had never thought of concrete before. Now that it’s on the table, you think it is worth a look.
Concrete flooring is pretty routine in some environments. For example, builders in Arizona and Nevada are very familiar with concrete floors. You don’t see them so much in the Midwest and Northeast. Nonetheless, they are an option for your Salt Lake City home. Do not dismiss concrete because you are not familiar with it as a residential flooring material.
Here are the top three reasons concrete might be your best choice:
1. Durability and Maintenance
There is no denying that concrete flooring is durable. It is so durable that factories and office buildings are designed with concrete floors by default. Concrete will stand up to just about anything your family can throw at it. It resists stains, spills, dirt, and debris. Even kids skateboarding in the house won’t hurt it.
In terms of maintenance, a typical concrete floor only needs regular sweeping and occasional damp mopping. It will not need to be stripped every few years and refinished. Unlike ceramic tile, you are not likely to have to remove a piece and replace it. For all intents and purposes, concrete is the most maintenance-free type of floor you could ever have.
2. Beautiful, Custom Designs
Another reason to consider concrete flooring is the many beautiful, custom designs perfect for the contemporary home. Companies like Salt Lake City’s Modern Craftsman can create the perfect look through a variety of means. Concrete can be colored with dye, making it look like anything from marble to slate. It can be textured as well. Combine both dye and texture and you can make a concrete floor look like just about anything.
Even the finishes can be varied from one room to the next. For example, an acid stain combined with an earthy die can make the great room floor look hundreds of years old.
The beautiful thing about concrete flooring is that you can change it from one room to the next. Your home doesn’t have to be a single slab of gray concrete with no character. You can go for one look in the kitchen and something completely different in the living room. The bedrooms and baths can be different still.
3. Radiant Floor Heating
A third advantage of concrete flooring is the ability to combine it with radiant floor heating. In a radiant floor scenario, lines of tubing are installed on the sub-floor prior to concrete pouring. Heated liquid flows through those tubes, radiates through the concrete to provide ambient heating for the room.
Radiant floor heating is quite efficient and reliable. In places like Salt Lake City, efficient and cost-effective heating is a plus. You get both efficient heat and beautiful floors when you combine radiant floor technology with concrete flooring.
Obviously, concrete flooring isn’t perfect. There are some negatives to it as well. They include things like cracking and moisture damage. Concrete flooring is also hard on the feet. That is something to think about if you suffer from degenerative joint disease or back problems.
Concrete flooring has become a legitimate option for residential buildings. Whether you are building in Salt Lake City or elsewhere, it is worth looking into. You just might find that concrete is your best option. And if so, remember that customization allows you to design your flooring just the way you like it.
