Polished Concrete.. Is It Better Than Hardwood ?

Mike Finley

This question is no different then is a wall painted brown or a wall painted blue better?

The architecture and design of the home dictates which is "better".

End of story. Nobody better post any replies after this other than to agree with me!

the big 12 inch

A green wall is much better than a brown or blue wall...

Cdat

Every room other then my kid's rooms are wood except for the bathroom which are tile. Wood is right. Everything else is wrong. Thank you very much...

AcademyHardwood

Wood Floor Superior to Concrete.. i guess that is the conclusion. Unless certain conditions are required. Also.. 730 !! i didnt think concrete polish was that interesting !!

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KG007

There are some beautiful concrete floors when people will spend enough to have them done as nicely as the photos above. But I don't like finished concrete floors or even slab foundations because of the pain of living on it.

I had a house that was a slab foundation. Couldn't walk barefoot at home because of the knee and leg pain if I did, had to keep a pair of walking shoes on, even with carpet and pad down. Ever gone to a big box store and walked around a couple of hours? For many people your legs will be hurting - I don't know how the people working there do it. I think we are creating joint problems for the next several generations with so much concrete that we live on, there just isn't any give at all like on a joist system.

Personally, I believe in a "crawl space" if you don't have a basement, but I think any crawl space should be a minimum 4' clearance to the bottom of the joists and at least gravel and a vapor barrier down. 6' to 9' clerance would be better. When you walk on a joist system there is a tiny bit of give, more like walking on dirt or grass. Concrete can be pretty, but does that mean future hip replacements for a certain percentage of the population because of it?

Ohio Mason

It is interesting that polished and stained concrete has become more popular then a terrazzo floor. Both are really a poor mans version of terrazzo. Sorry if its off the subject. Both Hardwood and Polished concrete have there place depending on design of house

concretemasonry

There is a world of difference between the ground concrete and polished concrete that is used in the rest of the developed world.

Real polished concrete is similar to terrazzo where the grinding/polishing took real artists to do it and not just a quick and cheap pass or two, but required filling and subsequent passes days later.

There are concrete tile that are made that require several passes through 11 or 13 different wheels, requiring a slurry to be applied and cured between the passes to fill all voids and create a product that is almost impossible to determine if it is natural or manufactured. - Few peopl in the U.S. would be willing to pay for real quality since they will dump the home in 5-7 years.

It is just a different market, but that gets into marketing.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

KG007

I've got some samples around somewhere (distributor, not manufacturer went out of business, I packed them up) or terrazzo tile. Came in two sizes, both fairly large. I think the larger was 2' x 5' or 30" x 60" while the smaller was still something like 2' x 3'. Supposed to be harder than on-site terrazzo, could be used for countertops (summer kitchen would be ideal application), overall cost less than terrazzo. Anyone ever done something like this? I never have.

What's a typical price range for a nice job of polished concrete?

Ohio Mason

if those are cement terrazzo tile that size they would be at least an inch thick any thinner and they would break. Epoxy terrazzo tile can be thinner, but have a tendency to curl. my guess would be some kind of solid surface product. like those used to make countertops. I would check to see if the product will hold up outside in hot weather, and freezing temp, otherwise I'd say it would be great for countertops

KG007

Yeah, these samples were about 1" or 3 cm, as I remember. Supposed to be denser and stronger than on-site terrazzo. Showed it to some prospects, but as I remeber the price point was fairly high for flooring, maybe $16-20/SF installed? I'm talking off the top of my head, it's been a couple of years since I put them away. I thought they would make a great countertop, especially for a summer kitchen. Price point would be reasonable for countertops, by the time you build the supporting base you would be around $30-$35/SF retail, but didn't have any takers. Never did a job with it, but seemed like a great product.

noweare

[quote=Ohio Mason;835359]It is interesting that polished and stained concrete has become more popular then a terrazzo floor. [/quote

I agree, polished, colored terrazzo is a definate eye catcher, beautiful stuff.

concretemasonry

Real polished terrazzo is definitely not as cheap as wood, but is preferred in most of the developed world because of the value, durability and resale.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

m_shawry

So much better! We do both services and I know which one is going to perform better for a longer period of time

RhodesHardwood

I do hardwood floors for a living and I will admit I really like the look of stained concrete.

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