Concrete Kitchen Flooring

In our latest guide to the best flooring for your Kitchen Flooring, we gave you an overview of the most popular flooring options for your new kitchen. Here, in the first of a series of new blog posts, we’ll take a more in-depth look at each option starting with one of the unique…a concrete kitchen floor. Putting concrete in your Kitchen Flooring isn’t the most obvious choice and won’t suit everyone’s tastes, but in the right home or apartment it can look great and work incredibly well.

In our Home Flooring Pros Guide, we’ll look at the pros and cons of concrete Kitchen Flooring floors as well as examine how concrete installs, how much it costs and how to clean and care for concrete. Finally, we share some of the best ideas for concrete in the kitchen… You may be surprised by the many different styles available.

Pros and Cons of Concrete Kitchen Flooring

There are many benefits to installing concrete floors for the kitchen, as well as some potential drawbacks to consider.

Advantages of concrete Kitchen Flooring:

• The floor can be created from existing slab or freshly molded material
• It has a wonderful stone-like appearance similar to natural stone when stained and pigmented
• Concrete offers virtually unlimited design options for color, texture, staining, polishing and more
• It is low maintenance and smudge resistant when properly sealed
• It is ideal for use with efficient and cost-effective radiant floor heating
• Concrete is very durable and long lasting (50 to 100 years)
• Contains no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) found in synthetic carpet, hardwood, vinyl, laminate and other flooring types
• Concrete costs less than many other types of flooring (see pricing information below)

Disadvantages of a concrete kitchen floor:

• Installing concrete Kitchen Flooring floors requires careful skills and timing of the process (dying, pouring, finishing, staining, polishing and sealing concrete), so these are only important to professionals or highly experienced
• Concrete staining can be hard to control if you want brown, for example, you’ll get brown but also faint, streak-like glimpses of the colors used to create brown like red, yellow, and black
• Without radiant floor heating, the concrete kitchen floor would be very cold
• It is very noisy and resonates like ceramic tiles or hardwood
• Concrete floors in the kitchen are prone to staining from water, oil, pet accidents, and spills if not properly sealed and then resealed every one to three years.
• It is obviously a very hard and unforgiving surface, so it may cause discomfort when standing for a long period of time
• It will fracture much more easily than softer flooring materials when items fall on it.
• Concrete can break if a very heavy object falls on it
• Structural cracks will occur if expansion joints are not installed properly
• It may cause surface cracks, although this is considered by some to be part of its character
• Concrete costs are higher than some other flooring when multiple processes are involved (see pricing information below)

Installing concrete kitchen floors

Concrete installation takes two to two weeks to complete. Each project is unique, and the specific techniques a concrete flooring specialist uses will affect the schedule.

Preparing concrete in the kitchen by removing old floors, adhesives and/or cleaning the surface takes 1-2 days It takes 1 day to paint, pour and finish concrete

The material must be sealed or incorporated into the concrete on the day it is poured

Acid-stained concrete kitchen floor takes 2-5 days depending on whether the entire floor is of the same color (2 days) or a stone floor made of multi-colored “slabs” (up to 5 days). Often the stained concrete floor must be covered for an additional 2-4 days to allow the stain to penetrate the surface of the concrete.

Concrete polishing requires 1-3 working days. It takes a full day with a 100-grit pad to create a matte finish. Gradually finer sanding pads, up to 3000 grit, require several more days.

It takes 1-2 days to seal concrete in the kitchen.

Concrete kitchen flooring cost

As you can imagine, the price of concrete floors in the kitchen depends on what you include in the process such as:

• Preparation and cleaning of the lower floors
• slab installation
• Polishing from matte to glossy finishes
• coloring
• staining
• Stamp
• Include tiles, stone, glass, etc.
• coatings

Below is an overview of the potential costs per square foot for composite and finished concrete floors.

Single-color concrete slab installation and finish: $2.50 to $5.25

Design Saw Cut: Add $1 to $3

With saw cuts and additional colors to create the look of stone slab: Add $1.50 to $3.25

Acid staining the entire floor the same way: add $2.25 to $3.00

Smear small sections with acid separately for a variegated look: add $3.25 to $5.00

Polishing: add $2.00 to $4.50 ranging from low gloss to high gloss

Apply Paints to Create Depth: Add $3 to $10

In short, precast concrete costs will be as low as $2.25 per square foot for staining an existing concrete kitchen floor in perfect condition to $30 or more per square foot for a newly installed floor with all the extras.

Cleaning concrete kitchen floors

It is important to keep loose dirt off the floor to prevent it from eroding the sealant that protects the floor from stains. Therefore, vacuum or vacuum the concrete floor regularly. If you use a vacuum cleaner, disable the rotating brush so as not to damage the floor surface.

A soft cloth or mop with warm water should be used for stubborn dirt. Avoid detergents, as they can leave a residue behind that will stain the floor surface and may discolor the floor. Floor cleaners that contain harsh chemicals, citrus, vinegar, or other acidic agents should not be used on concrete floors.

It may also be a good idea to use a wax designed for concrete floors as protection. Consult your floor installer about the use of wax.

concrete kitchen flooring ideas

Among the. Many advantages. Of concrete floors is that it can be customized to provide the look you want. Here’s an overview of your options.

Pigment (colored): Pigment is added to the concrete floor to create almost any color.

Acid coloring: Direct acid staining permanently changes the color of the concrete surface so that it appears to have shades and veins like natural stone.

Embedding Materials: Tile, stone, and glass are some of the most common materials to embed throughout the floor field or around the perimeter.

Metallic Coatings: Epoxy coatings with metallic foil create 3D depth in the surface. Read more about epoxy kitchen floors.

Stamping: Any. Design can. Be. Created. And stamped on the surface.

Saw cutting: The saw. Is. Used. To cut the surface of precast concrete to create the appearance of randomly shaped stone slabs or uniform slabs.

Polishing level: Depending on. How fine. The sanding. Material is. Anything from. A low-gloss. Matte finish. To a. High-reflective gloss. Can. achieved.

Take a look at our kitchen concrete floor Pinterest board to see these concrete floor ideas in action.