Concrete is getting a really strong press in the interiors world right now. It’s being used in bathrooms and kitchens as well as for flooring and is being tinted and molded to suit pretty much every taste and style. Currently a real cutting edge option, there’s no getting away from the fact that concrete, in all it’s forms has real interior appeal right now. When it comes to flooring, there are lots of options: from the currently somewhat outdated carpet, to vinyls, to tiles, wood and concrete.
While plumping for a concrete floor might be really appealing at this moment in time, one question that’s worth asking about concrete flooring for your home is whether or not it is a better option than the likes of wood. Although we’re wood flooring suppliers and specialists, we’re still able to take an unbiased view on what might work best in which situation, which is why we’ve produced this article to discuss the pros and cons of each flooring option and in which situations each might be used.
Wood flooring is an ancient and popular flooring option that has stood the test of time, both in grand chateaux and stately homes as well as cottages and apartments. Today there’s a whole host of wood flooring options to suit every budget, taste and domestic situation, which makes wood flooring a highly versatile as well as practical flooring solution. Concrete flooring on the other hand is a relatively recently renewed interior flooring option. While concrete structures and flooring go right back in history to Roman times, and there is even some evidence of a concrete derivative in Syria dating back to 6500 BC as well as lots of evidence of use of a similar material along the Danube River, going back to 5000BC, it hasn’t been seen as a desirable interior option for many years now.
Concrete developed after its introduction was used in various guises, including interior flooring. That said, it became the choice of the poorer parts of the community where it was used in its raw state because it was more associated with industrial use rather than domestic. So, in the later parts of the last century, only poorer homes were likely to have ‘suffered’ concrete flooring and would have typically painted it in an attempt to make it more attractive. In recent years, this trend has taken a real turn and concrete flooring is now highly sought after.
The use of wood in flooring is harder to date because wood is a natural material that will eventually decompose if it’s not looked after and maintained. That said, there is evidence of wood flooring that dates back to the Middle Ages and lots and lots of evidence of attractive and appealing wood flooring that’s at least a few centuries old in castles and stately homes across Europe.
When it comes to wood or concrete flooring, there is no doubt that concrete has the fashion edge right now, but whether this will continue for the long-term, only time will tell. Add to this, the fact that concrete flooring has a tendency to be cold under foot and you start to see the attraction of wood. Both are easy enough to maintain, but there’s no getting away from the fact that without an abundance of rugs, concrete will be noisier than wood and you start to question whether you can realistically put fashion before warmth and quietness.
So, as you’ll see, both floors have their attractions and both floors have their downsides, so what should you do to make sure you make the right decision?
Our view is that while concrete flooring can look really stunning, it’s not the ideal solution for every room in the home, particularly in the UK climate. If you fancy featuring concrete flooring in your overall home plan, why not use it in the kitchen, bathroom and maybe even in your hallway? That way, you’re able to get the style statement you’re looking for, without compromising on comfort. If you go that route, you can always opt for either solid or engineered wood in the other rooms in your home. Particularly in the likes of bedrooms, it’s hard to beat the comfort of wood flooring under foot when you swing your legs over the bed of a morning. If you really want to pull out all the stops, why not plump for under floor heating in the bedroom and combine this with a suitable engineered wood flooring option to really pump up the volume when it comes to luxury.