Concrete flooring recommended for owners of hurricane-hit houses

Due to the recent hurricanes in the United States, many thousands of homes have been flooded. This has ruined wooden floors and carpets, leaving homeowners with tough decisions about replacing their floors.

Diane Cowen, writing on the website Chron.com, has questioned whether homeowners need to install new wooden floors. Instead, she suggests concrete flooring. She admits that some homeowners can be shocked at this suggestion, but points out that many architects feature exposed concrete in their building designs.

The principal at studioMET Architects, Shawn Gottschalk, designed his new home with exposed concrete floors, which he describes as:

“Durable, low maintenance and organically, naturally beautiful.”

He says that some people regard concrete flooring as a cold material, but rugs and curtains can add warmth to a concrete floored room.

Concrete flooring need not be bare, as there are a variety of coatings that can be applied to it. Floors can be painted in a colour to match the decor of the room. Designers can apply stencils to the concrete floor to provide bold patterns.

If exposed concrete feels too radical, a concrete floor can be covered with laminate panels or other floor coverings. These can be made waterproof with a suitable sealant coating.

There are many homes and workplaces in the UK that have been flooded in recent years. For homes at risk from floods, concrete flooring mean that floors that can easily recover from the effects of being submerged in flood water, unlike wooden floors that can be warped or otherwise ruined.