Hardwood or engineered flooring is a great option for Asthma sufferers. If it is on the first floor you won't have a side by side comparison of the products and i think timber is a more 'warm & inviting' finish for a bedroom. The below is an example of how timber floors and a grey concrete look finish actually compliment each other quite well. The flooring in this image is a Havwoods product, and they have a massive range of hardwood and engineered options. there are probably other companies out there that have similar product ranges as well... timber is a very popular finish at the moment!

Residential Flooring · More Info

Thanks I forgot to mention one of the reasons we are using tiles on the ground floor is because we want hydro heating under the floor.

Definitely engineered flooring as you are able to put heating underneath too.

Tiles are not cold if the home is energy efficiently designed with great insulation and double glazed north oriented windows and doors, they provide great thermal mass capturing the warmth of the sun heating the floors!

Timber and concrete are made to go together, especially good with under floor heating. much happier life for Asthmatics,

if you have a concrete floor why not polish it. The floors can be painted before the final top coat but I prefer them with the gravel showing through. It gives the floor character. Concrete floors are exceptionally easy to clean - just mop.

Go to Karndean website www.karndean.com. Their Looselay Longboards have the look of timber but are a cushioned vinyl plank with acoustic qualities that have been rankedinternationally by Marshall Day (check them out on google) and can be used with underfloor heating. Also have an R10 slip resistance rating.....(as a guide, R11 is what is expected behind pub bars etc), so is at the top end of the slip resistance spectrum. This is a great option on a 2nd floor and look amazing.

As a flooring company in NZ, we believe this product in particular will be amazing in apartments where the kitchen areas are on an upper level, as laminate timbers can have a "hollow" noisy sound, even with noise reducing 2mm underlay.

Good Luck.

I loved my polished concrete floor - so easy to keep clean and really very nice to walk on. Would have it again in any home that had a concrete base. At present have only wooden floors and love them also, but I still dream about concrete.

Love all the options above

Polished concrete doesn't have grout to keep clean and because it is seamless the floor is really easy to clean. Mechanically Polished concrete does not have a top coat sealer and does not need re-coating it has a densifier applied which is absorbed into the concrete.

Grind & Seal is a budget option where after grinding the concrete a top coat sealer is applied.

The top photo is High Gloss Polished Concrete and the bottom photo is Matte finish, both are random stone exposure

GALAXY Concrete Polishing & Grinding Melbourne

You can choose the stone exposure level from minimal to full stone exposure and the shine choice from Matte, Satin or Full Gloss.

@Galaxy Concrete Polishing & Grinding we're currently planning our (low budget) home & have decided to have exposed concrete floors throughout, because we won't have the expense of additional flooring over the top of it, it's a healthy option & we also love the look. What would be the cheapest & safest option for us to finish the floor? I'm extremely sensitive to chemicals so am worried about sealers...would grinding be more expensive that polishing & sealing? Also what would be used to make the bathroom non-slip?

Easy to keep and just stunning 👍

Hi Chris

The cheapest option is Grind & Seal, but we usually recommend Mechanically Polished Concrete for inside of a home. This is by far a better option, if you were to go for a Matte or Satin finish it is less expensive than a higher gloss finish. Mechanically Polished Concrete does not have a top coat sealer requiring drying and curing time and does not need re-applying in the future which will save time and money in the long run. Because Polished Concrete does not require drying or curing time it can be used as soon as the process is completed unlike the Grind & Seal option.

All floors are slippery when wet, a non slip agent can be added to a top coat sealer which would be the Grind & Seal method which we do apply in a shower area if there is not a shower base. Polished Concrete in Matte and Satin finish does have a very good slip rating, has no grout lines as with tiled floors where dust can get trapped therefore it is a wonderful easy to clean flooring solution.

Hope this helps, I have provided some details regarding the 2 main processes below

There are 2 different finishing processes / methods that are commonly called Polished Concrete, they are very different so it is important that you know the difference & which process/method you want and which is being used on your concrete

• Polished Concrete - 12 to 17+ step process

During this process the concrete is ground to the desired level of stone exposure.

After grinding the concrete surface, the Polished Concrete process begins.

This process has a densifier applied in multiple stages that is absorbed into the concrete which hardens and strengthens the concrete.

A Polished Concrete Floor is Polished in Multiple stages in a Refining Process using diamond tooling & resin pads. A penetrating sealer is applied in the final buffing stage to complete the process

The "Polished Concrete" process has "NO TOP COAT SEALER" applied therefore there is no drying or curing time required so your space can be used as soon as the process is completed

• Grind & Seal (a 3 to 4 step process)

This is NOT Polished Concrete. Grind & Seal is often referred to as Polished Concrete, this is the cheaper substitute that gives a "Polished Concrete Look"

With the Grind & Seal method the concrete is ground to the desired level of stone exposure and a TOP Coat Sealer is applied such as water based, solvent based, urethane, acrylic or epoxy requiring 5-7 days to dry & cure

Thanks for your information, it's very much appreciated!

At Edward Tiles we offers bluestone tiles, bluestone pavers in Melbourne Wide... Try to visit https://www.edwardstiles.com.au/collections/bluestone-pavers-tiles-melbourne for Bluestone tiles and Pavers.

Thank you

How does mechanically polishing existing concrete flooring impact on doors already insitu?

Hi Yvonne Could you please elaborate on what you are are wanting to know, Polishing existing concrete does not effect the height of the concrete floor too much, grinding is around 3mm off top layer of the concrete surface. We use hand grinders around edges and corners - it is best to Polish Concrete with skirtings and doors removed but the Polished Concrete process can still be done if it is not possible to remove the skirts - if you have tiles or other floor covering that are being removed then your floor will be lower by the thickness of the removed tile or floor covering - Quad can be used to fill gaps along walls or you could remove and replace/lower the skirtings to the new height - Flooring may be a bit lower only if you are removing existing floor covering - not sure if this helps with your question

It does thanks - my husband led me to believe that the doors would need to be shaved down.

Awesome Yvonne it would be the opposite if you are taking off existing flooring the floor level would be lower - Best wishes from Lauren and the Team at GALAXY Concrete Polishing & Grinding in Melbourne