Concrete floors? (Off-shoot of my other flooring thread)

[Matata]

Re: Concrete floors? (Off-shoot of my other flooring thread

Dee*Jay….I'm wrestling with the same dilemma. Want to replace the floors in the house and am looking for something that is noise reducing, easy on our aging joints, pet-proof. I'm seriously looking at commercial grade rubber, rubber backed vinyl, and cork. With a space as open and big as yours, noise would be a factor with any type of hard floor even if you used area rugs. Heck, we have floor noise problems in our modest 2800 sq ft. -- bounces off the high ceilings and walls and reverberates around the whole house.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Re: Concrete floors? (Off-shoot of my other flooring thread

Matata, I've learned a TON about flooring recently and I'm happy to share anything you want to know!

Are you going for a wood look? If so, and if your subfloor is relatively flat and smooth you might consider this: http://www.usfloorsllc.com/products/coretec-plus/ It has an attached cork layer underneath that makes it gentler to walk on and better from a sound standpoint. I love some of the options in this line but I am afraid to use it because the pieces connect and in an open expanse of 55' X 55' (with only a column in the middle) I'm sure I would get that "hollow" deflection in any area that wasn't perfectly flat. And let's be honest, in a space like that there WILL be some area that isn't flat...

What other things are you interested in? If I've gained any insight into it I'll be happy to share!

 

[Calliecake]

Re: Concrete floors? (Off-shoot of my other flooring thread

Hi DeeJay, Love your new place and think you made the best decision regarding your flooring choice. It's a hard call on the flooring choice. The lighter color won't show dust bunnies as much but boy do I love the darker one. You really can't go wrong with either choice. They are both beautiful. Please keep us updated. Great invention by the way. I bet it's really helped your back.

 

[Matata]

Re: Concrete floors? (Off-shoot of my other flooring thread

Matata, I've learned a TON about flooring recently and I'm happy to share anything you want to know!

Are you going for a wood look? If so, and if your subfloor is relatively flat and smooth you might consider this: http://www.usfloorsllc.com/products/coretec-plus/ It has an attached cork layer underneath that makes it gentler to walk on and better from a sound standpoint. I love some of the options in this line but I am afraid to use it because the pieces connect and in an open expanse of 55' X 55' (with only a column in the middle) I'm sure I would get that "hollow" deflection in any area that wasn't perfectly flat. And let's be honest, in a space like that there WILL be some area that isn't flat...

What other things are you interested in? If I've gained any insight into it I'll be happy to share!

Thanks! A wood look would be fine but I'm also considering doing something a bit avant grade, hence the interest in rubber. I want something that is relatively maintenance free, sound deadening, pet resistant and as eco friendly as possible as long as it meets the first 3 criteria. Maybe I should just try packed dirt or straw

 

[Gypsy]

Re: Concrete floors? (Off-shoot of my other flooring thread

Dee jay, the COREtec, have you seen it in person? Some Vinyl plank has a very plastic sheen. I love hardwood floors, but they are very hard on the joints. This would be a nice option to explore (when I finally have a house-- which GODDESS WILLING will be in the next 8 months). Plus it is more cat proof. The Acacia and the Kingwood Oak are both very attractive. The fact that you can install it OVER ceramic tile is a bonus. A lot of houses I've been looking at have the most HIDEOUS tile floors.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Re: Concrete floors? (Off-shoot of my other flooring thread

Callie, necessity is the mother of invention!

Gypsy, I looked at A LOT of these products and the Coretec is a pretty good one. The representation is very real and the planks fit together well, not like some of the ones that have the bevel on the edges, which screams "fake" to me. I also don't like the hand scraped kind, even in real wood, so I steered away from those. The product I'm likely going with is actually more fake to me but I like it better for some reason. Who knows how my mind works!

Matata, if you're willing to go with something non-wood there are a lot of really cool options right now! Some of the cork prodcuts are just fabulous and would work well for you (easy to walk on, pet resistant, sound friendly). I can't want to live vicariously through YOUR project because--please god let this be true--mine will be done some day!