Hi Ann, yes we are doing a complete reno of both bathrooms. The current flooring is tiles but I love the look of either terrazzo or polished concrete and I do agree with you that they are quite similar. I am trying to decide whether I go tiles or a slab (concrete or terrazzo) which is my preference. My tiler has advised that a terrazzo/polished concrete slab will not have the same degree of waterproofing as tiles and they may be more prone to cracking. I suspect he is trying to retain business so would be very interested in your comments. We live on very bad soil - our house has cracks everywhere so this is definitely concerning me. Interesting you have had issues with cracking but have overcome these. Would you still go polished concrete if you could do it all over again?

We built our current home in regional Victoria on a very rocky block. No matter how well a slab is poured and kept wet to allow it to cure properly, it is still going to have hairline cracks. When we first saw them, we were disappointed but, as it said, the builder assured us the finisher would fill them prior to polishing. They do show up, but it's a raw material and inherent, and we love the finished product. Yes, I would do it again.

Oddly enough, before our house could pass final inspection, the builder had to install a cheap laminate flooring on top of the concrete in the bathrooms. Then, he removed it. I suppose it does absorb some moisture but I don't see that as a bad thing.

you mentioned you have cracks in your current home. Where are the cracks? In the plaster or the flooring? Why did your upstairs bathroom leak?

if you are at all concerned, perhaps a terrazzo look tile is the answer. have you seen some you like?

The cracks are in our walls though I note our old tiles in our bathroom floor have lifted slightly so I suspect cracking may be an issue for us?? But I will explore the polished concrete/terrazzo option if you think it can be overcome as this is certainly our preference. We moved into our home recently and have basically lived downstairs so have not used the bathroom upstairs at all. A guest showered in it one time and it leaked through to our bedroom ceiling!! So we suspect there is an issue with the waterproofing and there are cracked tiles however we won't really know what the issue is until we pull it all out to see what is happening under the tiles. Thanks for your comments Ann I've appreciated your insights - good to talk with someone who has actually lived with these floorings rather than just going on what you read or are told by a salesperson.

P.S just saw your second comment great idea - I don't like the look as much as a solid base but it may be an option if cracking is going to pose a problem for us. This will be a possible back up option.

We had a leak in our upstairs bathroom (tiled and with framed glass) which we noticed in our downstairs master bedroom. Upon inspection, it was evident the seal between glass and tiles wasn't tight. Also, because my son is tall, the shower head was adjusted accordingly and so the shower of water was pounding against that stressed point.

its not uncommon for upstairs floors to shift which causes cracking, but tiling should be installed with a special flexible adhesive to help combat this.

Are you able to have slab floors poured upstairs? Is there enough reinforcement to handle the load?

I’m not sure about that Ann it may be an issue that it cannot handle the weight I’ve definitely got some research to do.