A concrete floor is a cool place to sit.
Using the concrete slab as the finished floor of the house is a choice we have made several times, and will make again. (Read Concrete Experiences – Part 1). When a structural element can be used as a finish material, you have a green opportunity. Why add another costly layer of carpet, tile, wood or vinyl if you don’t have to? Concrete floors are very livable and easy to care for. They require a little extra care during construction, but the results are worth it.
In 2004, when we built our house on Trail of Madrones, we wanted to have concrete floors. I happened to see the home of Jim David, one of Austin’s premier landscape architects, and liked the light tan color of his unstained concrete floor. He told me to call Capital Aggregates, and ask for their special mix for finished floors. I did, and they gave me this mix: 5 bags cement per yard with no fly ash. However, they said that they could not control the color of the concrete. The color depends on the materials used to make the cement.
Using this mix for Trail of Madrones, the floor came out a lighter grey and there were no dark swirls (as in the Edgewater house). As before, we had the concrete burnished by the contractor after it was poured.
When framing was complete we rented the heavy waxing machine and bought 5 gallons of Kemiko wax from Cornerstone Hardware. Jim and a laborer waxed the floor. Then we covered the floor with brown paper, purchased in rolls from the hardware store. When the tape and float was finished, the paper was so dirty and torn up, we had to take it off and re-paper the floor.
We used a beige/yellow color (Sherwin Williams “Blond”) on the walls. This warmed up the space. I felt that the grey concrete needs a warm color with it. Some shrinkage cracks showed up later, which were a little disconcerting, but we just live with them.
We have a Chocolate Lab, who comes in and out. It is great not to have to worry about protecting carpet or wood floors. And it helps with Jim’s dust mite allergy. We just sweep and mop the floors once a week. They are cool in summer and heat up in winter if sun hits them. We think they are just the perfect floor.
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