Concrete Flooring Questions
|
Editorial Rating:
Average Rating:
(
0 votes)
|
The short answer is no, you can't have concrete floors on your second level, assuming you've got a wood floor structure.
Self leveling cement (SLC) is intended to be an underlayment for something else, not a finish floor, and from my experience, the cured product is not very durable. Get some and experiment...it's definitely not the same thing as concrete.
There are lightweight concrete products, the most common being gypcrete, but from what I understand, gypcrete does not have the same durability and wear characteristics as concrete, particularly when exposed to water.
There is a whole new generation of lightweight concrete hybrid type products that I am not particularly familiar with that may work for your application depending on how much additional modification of your structure you're willing to do. That said, your average local concrete contractor is not likely to be familiar with these and they're probably going to be expensive.
Others here are more knowledgable about these and hopefully will chime in.
As far as your question about suitability of concrete floors for kids goes:
I don't have kids. I have concrete floors in my home.
pros: easy to clean, indestructable, love the look
cons: hard, slippery, not necessarily bare foot friendly, unpleasant to stand on all day without comfortable shoes, noisy.
Though I am not in your area, I too will have the concrete floor + kids situation. They should be as safe/harmful as tile...
Our floors were poured just three days ago. 2 of colored concrete on the wood subfloor. The house is new, so we included a bearing wall in the basement to help with the added load.
Compare traditional floor weights - like tile+underlayment to the weight of a self leveling or lightweight concrete. In Milwaukee, you should be able to shop for someone that has done this type of work. I didn't have much luck, but did find a company that does both tradional flatwork and countertops, so this projects was somewhere in between and they were good sports...
The DIY Network did a show recently on applying a concrete floor over a wood subfloor. Check out the related web page at
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hi_floor_coverings/article/0,2037,DIY_13915_3693704,00.html
I am in the same situation too! Albeit, without the kids...
My concrete contractor says that a concrete slab on a wood deck is doable with lightweight concrete... but he is concerned about deflection of the floor joists. If we do this, I would have to build up some kind of a structure in the basement to ensure that no span is more than 7 feet in length. Plus the cost to do this is really astronomical- upwards of $500 per cubic yard.
Alternatively, I have been very interested in the poured flooring, and indeed, as splatgirl pointed out, none of the concrete contractors really know about it. Gypcrete is definitely not a finished floor (due to brittleness and water absorption issues). You could hypothetically use Gypcrete as an underlayment with a cementitious sealer on top... but that would be astronomically expensive- on the order of $16 per square foot.
I am now looking into Ardex SD-T (http://www.ardex.com/prod-sdt1-bro.htm), which is a cementitious self-leveling poured floor that becomes the finished floor surface (after it is sealed). Supposedly it can be poured onto a wood deck that has been primed and covered with metal lath. The thickness is only 1/4" - 3/8" and it has very high compressive strength and is an ideal substrate for coloring. And it cures in about a day. I have contacted two flooring contractors (not concrete contractors) who install Ardex, and so far I am getting pricing in the $3.50 - $8 per square foot range, which is in the same ballpark as hardwood flooring. The only structural consideration here is that they will not certify the job unless the subfloor is at least 1.5" thick T plywood. So if I do this, I will have to lay down another subfloor on top of the existing one.
As a follow-up to my earlier post, here is a company that supplies material for thin concrete layers over existing flooring.
http://www.elitecrete.com/index.html
Updating my post too... Though I expected concrete to be 'naturally imperfect', I do expect good work and skill from the contractors. That said, this is our current situation:
The concrete contractor has proven to be not-too-great.
We tried to be proactive and add a pigment (plain gray) to the concrete in order to reduce color irregularity. that didn't work - we have some areas that are gray and others that are charcoal/black.
We wanted a smooth troweled finish. Some areas were left rough/gritty. Just bad trowel work. Some of the gray is swirled over the darker areas and it looks kinda bad.
The cracks - intentionally located, were rubbed with dry mortar to fill them in a bit before the floor was sealed. This wasn't a bad idea, except that rubbing the mortar in resulted in some mortar getting on the surface - and this was not wiped off prior to sealing. This left a light gray strip that now highlights the cracks.
But the really ugly part are the BROWN blotches that showed up in a 1'X 2' area in the middle of the dining room. Some sort of reaction to the sealer.
So, Plan B:
Polish the surface. At an additional cost. That I hope not to pay for alone 
Though color is a gamble with concrete, we do have control over the quality of the surface. If you take a shot at concrete flooring, be sure that keep this in mind.
Anybody who wants to tackle a project like this in the future... call us, I have a metal lath cement coated floor in my kitchen.
We sell metal lath, coatings, and waterproof decking...
www.GarageFloorSealing.com
www.FireHouseEpoxy.com
chad
Please, please, please contact a structural engineer prior to getting to much further into this project.
During design, a typical second floor is assumed to have a self weight of about 12 psf (pounds per square foot) TOTAL.
Lets assume your concrete floor would need to be 2-3 inches thick. The weight of the concrete alone is 150 pcf + 3inches = 37.5 psf. Assuming the floor finish used during design was about 2 psf - that means your new floor weight is 47.5 psf - you are increasing your floor weight by almost 4 times. WOW.
The previous people have mentioned lightweight concrete and other alternatives. No project is impossible - as long as you have enough money to throw at it. However, please, for the sake of your investment in your home, hire a structural engineer to come over to your house and give you his/her opinion. Adding this sort of weight is NOT nominal and NOT something to ignore. (Hence some people above have mentioned adding bearing walls).
good luck!
Please review Metal Lath our mortar
[url href=http://deckcoatings.com/versadeckLM%20Metal%20Lath%20Waterproff%20Deck%20Coating%20for%20Plywood.htm]http://deckcoatings.com/versadeckLM%20Metal%20Lath%20Waterproff%20Deck%20Coating%20for%20Plywood.htm[/url]
VERSA-DECK LM is an extremely tough, three-step, metal lath reinforced waterproof deck coating system that is designed to be used over new plywood walking deck surfaces. VERSA-DECK LM provides an Economical, Durable, Waterproof Deck surface that is resistant to Cracking and Leaking, while providing a one hour fire resistive assembly when combined with appropriate construction.
Use Versa-Deck LM on New Construction Projects Where an Extremely Economical Solution is Required.
www.GarageFloorSealing.com
www.FireHouseEpoxy.com
front page