poured urethane floor?

I also posted this in the Dwell Labs section. We are about to start remodeling our house and I have been looking (without success) for a flooring alternative for our kitchen. the kitchen will be between the dining room and living room and they will all be on a slab. while we like the idea of a concrete floor in the living and dining room, but want something softer (and easier on my back) in the kitchen, where we will be doing a lot of standing. Ideally, we would use cork, which I love, but we have two good sized dogs and it would be heartbreaking to watch it get shredded. All that said, I was thinking that they could just pour a urethane pad in a recess in the slab. Has anyone heard of this or seen it or done it? I think I may have played basketball on a gym floor like this at some point.

thanks

jamie

It sounds like a good plan, except you say you are doing a remodel. Is the slab already in place? How would you create the recess you describe, unless you plan on pouring a top coat in the living and dining for new concrete surface in those rooms?

You could also think about an EcoSurfaces rubber floor. Its got a nice give to it and I think it comes in different thicknesses.

we are pouring a new slab for that part of the house.

I have looked at ecofloor, but that kind of flooring has two problems: it is slightly porous as it is made of a bunch of little bits or rubber pressed together, and it doesn't resist grease and other kitchen chemicals very well.

You mention in your earlier post that you like cork. So do I. I just looked at some great looking samples of Wicanders cork with smooth finish and was told it is very resilient and holds up well in an animal friendly environment. Have you heard differently from someone who's used it?:hm:

I have not heard of urethane, but have used poured epoxy (with aggregate) in an institutional kitchen, but that doesn't exactly make a soft floor. Have you looked at natural linoleum? Check out Forbo and Armstrong, they both make it.

-Joel

i have heard that it will get shredded by active dogs. but what the hell, we may give it a shot anyway. it's not riduculously expensive, so we can replace it with something else later if it fails i suppose.

as far as linoleum goes, I really want something that will act as a cushion to the slab, giving a feeling of bouncyness. lilnoleum just doesn't give enough.

thanks, that sounds just like what I have been looking for.

I will call the robbins people tomorrow.

I wonder if they have a minimum square footage req...

If you really like the cork flooring idea, don't give up on it. We just had a cork/rubber tile installed for our kitchen floor and have been very satisfied with it. It was either that or the marmoleum tile.

The cork/rubber comes in a variety of colors but most have a rather long lead time. It is an Expanko product sold via the Environmental Home Center, http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/ and http://www.expanko.com/XCR3/products-XCR3.html

The stuff does have an odor when first installed. Within a couple days, the odor was gone. We were lucky not to have to live in the house during the remodel. Every day we went over there, new odors from the work being done. The refinishing of the hardwoods was the worst. We wouldn't even enter the house. I waited to move back in until I didn't smell anything.

I take back the issue with big dog scuffs...our very large dog (about the size of a Newfie or Mastiff) put a scuff in the flooring last night. Her paws were wet so she was slipping and gripping all over the place. Only one good scuff out of the mess though. I was surprised that it buffed out with very gentle work. It cleaned up easy enough too.

I've included an in-process shot of the kitchen flooring. The expanko site has close up shots for all the colors. The photos are not too far from the actual swatch colors.

Don't be so sure that the odor is really gone.

As my biologist wife will tell you, the olfactory sense is unique among our senses in that it switches off for specific odors when you are exposed to them for long periods of time. It's the reason that people don't notice the normal background smell of their own houses, while to others it can be very noticeable.

-Steve

This may be a little late, but I just noticed this discussion. So I thought I'd throw in my own little bit ofexperience with cork flooring...
My parents put cork in their kitchen when they built their house, approximately 9 years ago. Since then, they have always had at least two large, active dogs in the house; most of the time three, and occassionally four. The floor hasn't shown a bit of wear...amazing stuff, really. So I wouldn't worry about it much, if that's what you love.

-carl

Check out Cortica flooring. I too like cork, but with the other wood floors in the house, i wanted something incolor. These are supposed to be quite durable and are reportedly good for use in kitchens.

Cortiça has 3 protective coats of colour and water borne polyurethane pre-applied so that when you lay the tiles, only one further coat of polyurethane needs to be added to create a lustrous, sealed floor (from their site)

http://corkconcepts.com/instant.htm

I know this is a weird idea but have you looked at truck bed liner kits? One example is Herculiner. http://www.herculiner.com/index.html

From their web site –
HERCULINER is the only polyurethane and rubber granule coating that is applied to the bed surface using the rollers and brush included with the kit. When cured, HERCULINER provides a durable skid-resistant protective coating. Because it can bond to virtually any surface or material, HERCULINER can be applied to wood, metal, concrete, aluminum, asphalt, rubber, fiberglass, and most plastics, including PVC.

It only comes in red, black, grey or white but if the color works it's cheap (looks like $140 for a gallon of grey that should cover about 60 sq ft, durable and with rubber granules it should offer some shock absorption. To me the down sides are that it may have too much texture and it uses Xylene solvent so off gassing might be a problem.

Good Luck!

I got some samples of the pulastic and it looks great, I am going to do some tests to see how it holds up to oil (and vinegar too), I suppose.

when I say active dogs, I mean 60-70 pound dogs that run full speed over this floor to access their dog door in pursuit of a cat that's stumbled into the yard. this stuff has to be as durable as a sprinter's starting blocks.

the other thing about cork is that it fades in sunlight like crazy. I know that from spending time in two houses with cork floors. color can shift as much as 50% from exposure to direct sun.

third, I really like the truck bed idea, thanks a lot, I will look into that too.

I have to recommend against the herculiner, (durabak is the same but with color) or any truck bed liner.

I have experience with herculiner personally, and while it is a nice alternative to spraypaint in a truck bed, it would not be an ideal surface in your kitchen, or anywhere else in the house for that matter.

It traps bits of dirt and grease especially, making it extremely difficult to keep clean. It is not smooth either, part of it's appeal to truck owners (we had it in our jeep) is that it is a bit rough, so it holds items a bit more securely. I dont think it is well suited to any floor in a home. Additionally, it fades with exposure to sunlight unless it is treated with something that will block UV.


Great looking kitchen dakrats! I like the floor and the wall color.