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When people visit our new home, they are often surprised that we have concrete floors throughout the house. The main floor has polished concrete and the basement has acid washed concrete (the upstairs has dragon board (another post all together) and the stairs are stained/sealed wood).
Given the popularity of wood, carpet, and tile, we are often asked why we opted for concrete. The answer, in one word, is maintenance.
Who came up with the brilliant idea that putting fabric on the floor for people to walk on was logical? That's what carpet is and families all over the world who require all inhabitants and guests to leave their shoes by the front door can attest to this silliness. (As can those raking in the cash to clean those carpets like The Steam Team.)
Wood floors look great, until they get scuffed, scratched, or, heaven forbid, get water on them. We have wood floors through most of our last house. They were beautiful to begin with, but got scuffed up in high traffic areas quickly. And when we had a leak in the ice maker, it absolutely buckled the floors in the adjacent hall.
In Boca Raton, all the rage was ceramic tile flooring. The bigger the better. We had huge tiles through the main floor of the house we built there. It's the easiest surface in the world to clean. If only it weren't connected by grout. Grout is a nightmare to clean and sucks dirt and grime out of thin air like a vacuum. If you've got it, you might need some ceramic tile cleaning tips, pronto.
But if your floor is concrete, either polished or acid stained, cleaning is simple and doesn't take a special set of directions. Here is all you need to know:
- Vacuum or sweep when dusty
- Mop with a neutral cleaner when dirty
That's the kind of house cleaning and maintenance I'm into. Quick and easy. And that's why we chose polished concrete and acid stained concrete for our flooring.
P.S. If you have radiant heating, they aren't cold, either.
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
Very sensible! I wish you had included a picture of your polished and acid washed concrete floors…I would have liked to have seen them.
Wood floors are a nightmare. I know they are the rage right now, but that will change. I know back in the 1980’s you couldn’t sell a house if you had wood floors. That day is coming again.
It is the first time I hear about concrete floors. After I have read here I still have doubts about it. Well, if you live in cold countries, how about winter time?
We really enjoy sealed concrete floors too, both the look and low level of maintenance. I hope more and more people will be inspired to use sealed concrete in their homes!
The concrete acid stained floor is easier to maintain and less hassle. Compare to other floor like carpet the maintenance is really time consuming and expensive as well.
Flooring is an important and attractive part of every house and reliable and durable polish is more attractive and it is the central attraction of home. This is very nice and informative post thanks for sharing.
Everyone know that Ceramic tiles are beautiful, durable, and graceful and you can use homemade cleaners for ceramic floor tiles cleaning include a mixture of two gallons of water a splash of vinegar .
I did not really consider concrete flooring for my home before. I thought that it would not look good with the walls and furniture. But now that you mentioned the easy maintenance, I think it is something worth considering now.
I definitely agree with you! Maintenance on concrete floors whether stained or polished is just so easy. It is resistant to most substances and would only take a mop to clean. It is also very beautiful when stained and polished correctly. Concrete floors are versatile, durable, and beautiful, and that is why I love them!