We will thin-set radiant floor heat in our new home. What we need input into is stamped concrete floors. Have visited some websites and not many pictures outside of driveways and entry halls. We are considering doing the whole open-plan living space with one material for visual coehesiveness. Any suggestions or ideas are welcome since we are in uncharted territory.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story

There are important considerations to keep in mind when building a slab-on-grade home with continuous insulation.
Featured Video
Builder’s Advocate: An Interview With ViewrailHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
Hi
We are going to pour concrete slab tomorrow. It would be dark grey colour.
I was thinking to have laminate or engineered floor bur we just change our mind. If we have this coloured concrete floor, we can change to laminate floor down the road. Our house is about 1900sqf bungalow, open plan. I will take some pictures tomorrow and I will post them for you. We are using Lafarge concrete.
Hi
We finished concrete slab( finished floor) 3 days ago. It is beautiful. We are going to have patio later and we were thinking stone patio but we will use concrete again.
Great! Do you have pictures that you can post?
I have attached some pictures. It is finished floor but we are going to polish and have another coat when we finish building the house. In this pictures, it seems a little bit dusty because we had to cut concrete to control cracks. we are also building this house by ICF, that's why the wall is white.
consider how constantly standing and walking on concrete can really make your feet and legs tired and full of broken veins before you use it througout your home. possibly one reason you don't see more pics of it used for interior living spaces.
Hi
Thank you for your advice. We had to have concrete floor anyway, so we put this colured concrete. We may put some laminate floor in the living room,dining room and master bedroom. We were thinking to have tile floor in the kitchen and bathrooms so if we already have nice concrete floor, we don't need to put any tile on top. We though this is one of the idea to cut down some cost but we can up-date in the future.
i was quite suprised the looks of this concrete floor, it doesn't look like concrete, it look like slate.
Talk to the concrete installer about finished expectations. Control joints are necessary to avoid cracks. Sometimes concrete cracks even with control joints. Planning a pattern that is scored (during pour) or cut into the concrete can be attractive for a stained or color concrete floor. The score lines do not need to be more than 1/2- 3/4" deep but with radiant I would have them score it during the pour.
I am considering this for a home in the planning stages. I am factoring the saved cost of the finish flooring as a way of getting the radiant heat that we desire.
Other costs to consider are protecting the floors during the building of the home. We usually use visqueen and a layer of 1/8" masonite.
Wood is Good
Adam Greisz