Concrete or Linoleum Floor ?
We're planning a bathroom remodel. This means bringing our Eichler back towards a more Eichler style, as it was changed at some point to more of an American Country style.
Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone can recommend concrete floors or linoleum. For concrete, have they lasted a long time? Did you have cracks in your foundation that were repaired? Recommendations on stain colors/patterns? For linoleum, can you recommend a brand/style that would fit well in an Eichler?
We're pretty clueless about these things, and both work full time, so I thought I'd ask some of you who have already thought about this for advice.
Many thanks in advance for the responses,
Susan in Sunnyvale, CA
the most original-esque flooring would be VCT tile.... otherwise, folks tend to like forbo's marmoluem as a natural-linoleum product.
A couple of our neighbors have concrete floors and the various jobs range from rustic to flawless. The flawless look requires a pretty thick layer of a self leveling top coat and will still probably crack over time. Folks who like concrete like the character the cracking imparts.
Regardless of the look you want or end up with, the problem with concrete is how to patch it when you need a radiant leak fixed. Tile is the way to go if you're concerned about this. I've had about 10 leaks total between the two Eichlers I've owned, four of them in various bathrooms. They aren't a problem to fix, but you do want your flooring to match up when the repairs are done.
For a modern look, you can go with VCT, glass mosaic, black slate, or my current fav penny tiles.
I like VCT over linoleum. concrete is OK too
Last September we resurfaced the whole house with a concrete finish.
The floor is not "true" Eichler, but if Eichler were to develop homes today, I am sure concrete floors would be a alternative he would consider
Maintenance of the floor is easy, simply run a dust mop across the floor and mop. No grout lines in the concrete make it possible to sweep the whole in minutes.
The other advantage with concrete floors, if you still have working radiant, concrete is the most efficient floor surface. Any floor surface placed on top of the concrete adds a layer of insulation for the heat to penetrate.
Cost of the installation of the concrete floor, (this was a year ago) was between $12/$15 a lot of it depends on your current floors surfaces and floor conditions.
We tried different floor surfaces in different bedrooms before we made our final decision. We tried vinyl, bamboo and a commercial vinyl tile. This gave us a chance to actually live with each flooring choice prior to commenting to installation in the whole house
You can see pictures of our concrete floor on Facebook Group- " Eichlers on Facebook"
correction to my previous post, pictures showing the concrete floor are in this Facebook Group -"Eichler Architecture Fans"
Thanks so much to all of you for the suggestions.
We decided to go for Forbo's Marmoleum Volcanic Ash. We'll install first in both bathrooms, and then we'll decide if we like it enough to do the rest of the house. We are currently remodeling the bathrooms, and are trying hard to make it a green remodel.
I went to an open house (Olympus Drive in Sunnyvale) with concrete floors. You are right about the cracks being part of the character. I loved it!
Best,
Susan
correction to my previous post, pictures showing the concrete floor are in this Facebook Group -"Eichler Architecture Fans"
hmmm thanks correction. :shock:
Concrete Floor Care
http://www.dillonchem.com/c-358-concrete-floor-care.aspx
