For the flooring on the main level of the house we choose to use concrete throughout. This meant engineering the floor structure to hold the weight of a 2″ thick concrete slab. So, although we are selecting many of the fixtures and finishes as we go along, using a concrete floor did require some forethought.

What We Did

Jonathan Wade of Wade’s Concrete did the floor. The concrete used was a special mix that included fiberglass mesh to provide better strength and help prevent cracking. Also to prevent cracking, 6″ x 6″ rebar mesh was added on top of the radiant tubing, and shallow relief lines were cut in. The floor was then polished. In our case this meant more of a grinding process than a polish – two rounds through, one with a heavy diamond grit, the next with a lighter grit epoxy wheel. We could have spent more time polishing with increasingly lower grits, however the end result would have been much the same and we wanted to keep costs low.

On top of the plywood floor went tar paper (primarily to protect the plywood from absorbing too much moisture), then radiant tubing, then rebar mesh.

Concrete brought through the front door.

Concrete transported by wheelbarrows once inside. We didn’t use a line pump primarily to avoid the concrete splattering inside – there was not that much to transport via wheelbarrow.

Why Concrete?

We selected concrete for a number of reasons.

• Design – We are building (rebuilding) an old farmhouse and felt that polished concrete provided the mix of class and utility we were looking for.
• Durability – The life expectancy of a concrete floor far outlasts that of most other floor covering options. This is both eco-friendly and economical in the long run as the flooring won’t have to be ripped out and replaced due to wear and tear. Maintenance on polished concrete is also minimal.
• Heating – the house uses hydronic radiant heat, with pipes installed in the floors of the basement, main level and bathrooms on the second floor. Concrete is an ideal conductor for radiant – the heat is even and the concrete holds the heat for an extended period of time.