Polished concrete is commonly used in driveways, garage floors, and commercial stores, but it can also make a great option for your house. Concrete is a versatile material and can be designed in multiple ways. People usually look for appearance and cost when they choose their house’s flooring material. They often neglect thinking about other aspects like how flooring materials may affect their health. Polished concrete has become a popular choice for homeowners for its various benefits. Here are a few benefits of choosing concrete floors for your home.
Allergy Relief
Concrete is a great alternative material if you or a member of your family suffer from allergies or asthma attacks. Many homes have carpet floors, which are a major allergy trigger. This is because carpet fibers attract dust, allergens, pet hair, and other substances that can cause an allergic reaction. No matter how many times you vacuum, you still won’t be able to get rid of all these particles and it will soon attract more.
The accumulation of dust mites alone can cause terrible congestion, coughing, or constant sneezing and in severe cases shortness of breath. Carpets also allow the growth of mold, especially if it is not dried properly. With polished concrete floors, you can easily clean the surface by vacuuming first and then sweeping the whole floor with a damp mop, which picks up all the dust particles.
There are other toxic compounds that can enter your house with carpeting, which is avoided by concrete floors. These compounds are known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs for short. Adhesive materials and padding that are used to fix carpets to the floors usually contain linoleum and vinyl sheets that produce VOCs. These volatile substances can affect the air quality indoors, which would lead to respiratory problems and worsen your asthma.
Environment-Friendly
Concrete is one of the most sustainable options for your home’s floors because it is already used in construction. You don’t have to place extra materials whether carpet, porcelain, or any type of tile. The concrete just needs to be polished and it would work for the whole house, not just the garage or basement.
Radiant Heating
With concrete floors, you can use a radiant heating system that heats the floors from underneath the surface. The floors are embedded with metal coils that conduct electricity to transfer heat to the whole floor surface, radiating heat in the entire house. This is an energy-efficient method of heating as you’ll only need a low-temperature setting to heat your whole house. This type of heating avoids air blasts from conventional heaters, which also minimizes exposure to allergens and dust mites.
Cost-Friendly
Since you won’t need to apply new materials to your floor, concrete is an economical option. There are a ton of options for cost-effective residential polished concrete floors out there, any of which you can choose to use in your home. It costs anywhere from two to six dollars to polish one square foot of concrete. Even the most extravagant finishes won’t exceed eight dollars per square foot. There are different types of techniques to apply concrete, which you can discuss with your contractor and choose the type that fits your home style.
Easy to Clean
Concrete floors are easy to clean and maintain as you only need to clean them once a week. You can use a damp mop with mild detergent to clean your concrete floors with a simple sweep. Consider installing a baseboard all-around your house to cover the intersection between the wall and floor. Not only will it enhance the appearance of your floors, but also it will prevent any marks on the wall when you clean them with a mop.
Shiny Appearance
Concrete floors help to make the room brighter because they reflect light really well. This makes your house look more spacious and open. Living in a bright space with lots of natural light can be a major mood booster. You will find that you are able to work better in this environment and feel calmer and more relaxed. It also gives your house a cozy ambiance at night when you turn on soft lighting.
With polished concrete, the possibilities are endless in terms of personalized designs from stains and dyes to customized engravings. You can create different patterns by stenciling and cutting to give your house a unique personal touch. Even as it ages, concrete flooring provides a vintage look with its natural cracks that speak of the history of the house. With minimum effort, your concrete floors can last for a hundred years. All these reasons make concrete floors a great choice for your home’s interior and exterior flooring.
