Polished concrete floors

[henryhsmum]

Hi

We are looking at having an extension to our kitchen. I am very keen on a polished concrete floor. I was wondering if anyone has one- how much per sq m, whether it is hard wearing, easy to clean bearing in mind we have lots of cats and a dog who all live indoors!

[Staverton]

Bumping for you as interested too

[Abzs]

A friend of mine had concrete floors in his flat. He had a very good sealant put on it, treated as you would any porous tile or slate.

[Flatbread]

Is the flat on the ground floor? We are considering concrete in the living room and kitchen on a small holiday let cottage, but are worried that it might feel very cold in winter. Do you think underfloor heating is an option?

[Staverton]

I think concrete is actually the best with underfloor heating it conducts really well. Thats what we've been told by our builders- we're having wet (water linked to mains) underfloor heating but presumably it's the same for electric?

I've only seen it in living etc for 500£ per sq m. Eye watering.

[Flatbread]

Wow, that is really expensive. We got custom-made sot e tiles in our living areas and it cost less than that! We have wet underfloor heating as well and love it. I was so sceptical about it and now am a convert.

I wonder what is the deal with concrete floors..why are they so expensive? The screed layer for normal floors is concrete, and this is just putting another thin pigmented concrete on top, right...?

[henryhsmum]

It does work well with underfloor heating. I asked a builder about cost today and he said he knows people that do the flooring for £35 per sqm so I think it's a case of finding a local tradesman rather than one of the big specialists

[Flatbread]

Henry, that is great news! Just got to find the right local tradesman now

[Abzs]

My friend's flat was on the first floor.

It's pretty common to have wet underfloor heating in a screed poured on top of the structural slab. The screed mix can be tweaked to suit for polishing e.g. pigment, sparkly bits, shells so it kind of looks like limestone...

[Flatbread]

Ah, thanks Abzs. Makes sense.

I have seen pigmented cement floors and they look lovely, with a lot of depth. Will google to find ones with sparkly bits, as that sounds fab!

[QueenMaeve]

I went to a house that was on show for winning lots of design awards, thats what they had on the floors. It looked amazing.

[monniemae]

I really really wanted large polished concrete tiles in our new (victorian) house - it would have cost around £2000+ for an 18msquare kitchen but for us the problem was the weight of the concrete. The subfloor wasn't strong enough to support the weight long term even though we were ground floor. We've gone for a concrete worktop instead with reinforced units underneath. But I do slightly wish I'd spent the money on reinforcing the floor timbers instead (I think it meant replacing all of the floor joists etc)

[beakymum]

@henrysmum I know this is a very old thread buuuuuuuuuut do you still have the detail of the trademan who said he knew people who could do it for £35 sqm? I'm having trouble finding one...