Hello AT,
I am looking to have a polished concrete floor in my kitchen. Is it possible to have a polished concrete floor over my wooden subfloor??
My kitchen is on the main floor of my home but there is a basement below it.. I would appreciate any help or suggestions you can give me..
Thank you in advance, Rick
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I've seen it done in commercial restorations (concrete is a great way to level uneven subfloors). The only product I've seen here in the US is http://www.maxxon.com/product_detail.asp?ID=2.
My uncle did that exact thing in his house: level off the subfloor & actually raise it up a few inches to match the rest of the entry level. There was some extra bracing that he installed under the floor area just as that is a lot of concrete. He then installed wood flooring on top of it :)
I doubt that the leveling concrete is something you want to do on your own however.
Don't want to highjack the question, but I have a addition. If you do concrete over woodsubfloor, can you also add some sort of heating element to get radiant floor heating, or will the concrete be too thin? Thanks
Not sure if this is what you want, but look into "Skimstone". It's a portland cement based product. It's designed for concrete floors, but I've seen people use it on walls and countertops too. Miller paint stores carry it or you can see their website @ www.skimstone.com
i saw a great polymer that looks just like concrete on dwell. a couple used it for their bathroom. it's lightweight and spreads on.
i bookmarked their site to look into when i redo my kitchen and baths:
www.miracote.com
check out the "case histories" section to see examples of the product. i don't know which of their products emulates concrete, but if this works for you, i would love to see pictures.
i don't know if there are any contractors around here that work with the material, but you can ask them or, even do it yourself.
You need to slow down! You can't just throw concrete on top of a wood floor. The main reason is weight. How big is the room? How deep are the floor joists? If your floor is at all under sized for the span, meaning you can feel someone walk through the room, then throwing concrete (dead load) on top of it you are going to have a bunch of problems. Most floors depending on your area of the country are figured with only 50 lbs. per s.f.. That includes the weight of your cabinets, frig, table, etc. So adding even a light weight concrete could add 25 lbs per foot.
Just contact a professional before you get started!
You may be able to have a concrete floor over your wood subfloor, however you first want to consult a licensed carpenter or structural engineer to examine the structural support beneath your wood subfloor and house foundation. Concrete, even lightweight concrete, is very heavy and you do not want to pour this floor then discover later that your floor is sagging under the increased weight. Plus if your floor sags, or the weight causes settlement of your house, the concrete will crack.
As a relatively hard and fast rule, no, you can't have concrete over a wood floor structure. There are some good suggestions here for alternatives to investigate, but lightweight concrete (aka Gypcrete) is NOT one of them, nor is self leveling cement, aka SLC. Neither of these products tolerate prolonged or regular contact with moisture and neither are durable enough to stand alone as a finsihed floor.
There are a lot of cool concrete-looking, large format tiles out there that might be an option, but as has been mentioned, you've got to be certain that your floor structure is capable of carrying the load.
and...concrete is very hard on the legs and feet, so even if it were a possiblity, I'd think twice about it. You can get nasty achillies tendonitis or other injuries from concrete flooring. It's why factories have thick rubber mats where people stand.
I just refinished conrete floors. THe guy used ardex concrete, which is a self leveling lightweight conrete you mix in a bucket and pour. Granted, I had a concrete subfloor. It looked so easy, I thought, I cant believe I'm paying all this money to do this. ardex has a web site, ardex.com
If this is an older house likely to survive the next several generations, please spare a thought for the poor bastards in the future who are going to have to undo what you're doing. Concrete over wood is more or less permanent. Permanent application of trendy things is not a good idea.
Besides, the point of polished concrete is that it's a cheap and easy way to treat a concrete slab- it's just not meant to be used like this, regardless of whether it's possible.
Yes, Concrete can be installed over wood. If you want to see how its done visit this link>>http://www.concreteideas.com/concrete_ideas/interior_floors/concrete_overlays_and_resurfacing/decorative_concrete_overlays_over_a_wood_substrate
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