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Pros and Cons of Concrete Flooring

For anyone looking at making a significant purchase, the web is awash with pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, as well as objective and subject opinions on everything.

So-much-so that it can be even more difficult to make a decision, even though you are armed with a whole heap of knowledge. The same is true when it comes to concrete flooring in your home.

Should you or shouldn’t you? To help you decide we have tried to be as objective as we can with our pros and cons of concrete flooring guide.

The pros of concrete flooring

There are so many, we are not sure where to start, so we’ve narrowed it down to six;

1 Durable

Frankly, investing in flooring is expensive so you want it to last as long as possible. You also want it to maintain its good looks, doing so with minimal effort on your part.

Polished concrete floors are durable, impervious to high heels, pet claws, furniture legs, kid’s toys and so on. In fact, you have to work pretty hard at denting, chipping or damaging a concrete floor.

2 Easy to maintain and keep clean

We love the fact that with a swish of a broom and a mop, a concrete floor is hygienically clean. Sealing and waxing only need to happen once in a blue moon, and is dependent on how much the floor is used and what it is subjected too.

3 Environmentally friendly

If you have an existing concrete floor, you could technically have it polished and use this as your primary flooring layer. This means using something that you already have, and only uninstalling things that you don’t want. One of the many pros and cons of concrete flooring is that with no new material used, you could argue it is carbon neutral (but only when using an existing concrete floor).

4 Versatile

As long as it is smooth, free from holes, lumps, bumps and defects, you have the choice of installing any other flooring over a concrete floor at a later date. Other flooring materials will need to be lifted and removed. Use a concrete floor as the floor or as a base to another flooring material – how can you lose?

5 Lasts ages…

Frankly, investing a concrete floor saves you money because it last decades. There really is nothing else to say but long after you would have replaced carpet, laminate or other flooring materials, your polished concrete floor will still look great.

6 Customisable

Some carpets are the same; packs of laminate are the same. In other words, you friend two doors down can have the same carpet in the lounge, vinyl in the kitchen and laminate in the bedrooms.

Where’s the fun in that? Polished concrete floors with colours, stains and various other finishes can mean your concrete floor is made just for you. And even is someone else did ask for the same thing, the results will not be exact.

The cons of concrete floors

We said we were going to be as objective as we possibly can in our list of pros and cons of concrete floors, so here we go…

1 It’s hard

There is no denying that a concrete floor is hard and this can be a liability. Drop something on it, the object will smash. Slip or trip over on it, and you may hurt yourself (although you still could on carpet, lino, laminate…).

2 Uncomfortable

If you like lounging around lying on the floor, you are going to need a rug or a cushion. There is no give and take in a concrete floor and so some people can feel it is a little uncomfortable to stand on for long periods of time.

3 Cold

Some people say that concrete floors are cold. Other people enjoy this coolness beneath their feet, especially when it is hot. But, if you don’t like a cold, hard floor, then concrete flooring may not be for you.

However, opt for underfloor heating and a few rugs about the place, and you can soon diminish this.

4 Moisture

In the unlikely event that the top layer of sealant is broken, it is possible that moisture could start to penetrate the exposed concrete. Allow this to go on for a long time, and it could start to expand and crack. If the concrete flooring extends outside, this might become a problem sooner rather than later.

5 Environmentally unfriendly

Concrete needs water, as well as natural resources such as aggregate to be combined together to make this incredibly robust material. Some would say that this process damages the environment so for new concrete floors, they could be classed as environmentally unfriendly.

However, a concrete floor will last for a long, long time so whilst others are adding carpets, laminate and old lino to landfill or recycle centres, you are still enjoying your concrete floor.

The pros and cons of concrete flooring will vary from one project to the next. Which are your pros? Are the cons really that bad?

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