Concrete Floors | Enright Asphalt, Concrete, & Snow

If you’ve recently installed concrete floors in your home, your concrete professional should’ve gone over what you need to do to maintain your floors long-term. Depending on the type of floors you installed, this can be as easy as using a broom or mop. In other cases, you may need to use special cleaners or techniques. Let’s look at some tips and tricks for maintaining your concrete floors.

Maintaining Concrete Floors

The main factor that determines how you clean your floor is whether it’s finished or not. If it’s unfinished, you can often take a broom or vacuum clean to sweep away or pick up debris, dirt and more. If you have stains on unfinished concrete, you can usually use a mop or water to clean it up. Make sure that the water dries completely, though as water can seep into concrete and cause issues down the line. Don’t ever saturate unfinished concrete with water or cleaning products when maintaining them.s

For finished floors, you’ll want to refer to the instructions your concrete professional gave you or the instructions that came with the products when you installed them yourself. For the most part, using a mop and broom will work to get dirt and stains up, but depending on the finish, you may need to use a special cleaner or product to avoid damaging the concrete finish.

Concrete, in general, needs very little maintenance to keep it in working condition and looking good beyond your normal upkeep. If you notice any cracking or buckling, you’ll want to contact a professional to come out and take a look at it. It may be indicative of a bigger issue that needs to be repaired or replaced to keep the rest of your concrete floors working smoothly.

When you own a home with a basement, you have to decide how you want to use it. Some use it simply for storage, so an unfinished basement can be left undone. Others turn it into a recreation area or spare bedroom. In some cases, homeowners buy their home with an unfinished basement and turn it into a highlight of the home. Chances are your basement has concrete floors. Should you replace your basement’s concrete floors when remodeling? Let’s answer that question!

Everything You Need to Know About the Best Flooring for a Concrete Basement Floor

Your concrete basement floors can’t be ripped up and flat our replaced. In many cases, this concrete is also part of the foundation so keep that in mind when remodeling your basement. Most floors installed in a basement, whether carpet or wood, are installed on top of the concrete that was built with the home. There’s a filler or sound proofing that goes between the layers and then you install what you want on top it.

When replacing the concrete this way, it really depends on what you’re looking to get out of the room. In many cases, homeowners will leave the original concrete, clean it up and use area rugs as a buffer. In other cases, they install beautiful shag carpeting or hardwood floors depending on what the basement will be used for. It’s also not uncommon to see split basements where 1/3 of it is concrete and the rest is carpeting or wood.

The real choice comes down to what you want to do with the basement. If you want to turn it into a rec room, guest room or small apartment, installing wood or carpet is best. If you’re using it for storage, cleaning up the concrete and maybe installing flooring in one area is better. Work with your concrete specialist to determine the best route to take for your basement.

Concrete is used in a variety of ways in everyday life. The roads you drive on, the sidewalks you walk on, and in construction. If you own a home with a basement, chances are you have a concrete floor. You may put carpeting or laminate over it, but at its base, it’s a concrete floor. Concrete floors are most often used in basements because they help with the overall foundation of the house.

Concrete Floors in Basements

Concrete floors are a blessing and a curse for homeowners. If you have a finished basement, chances are you have laminate or carpet. These are easy to care for. You can vacuum, mop or use a Swiffer to keep them clean and looking good. If your basement is unfinished, you’ll be walking right over the original concrete poured when the house was built.

In this case, you can still vacuum concrete, but that doesn’t always get up the dirt and grime that builds up from using a basement frequently. Shop vacuums can help even better than a run of a mill vacuum. One of the best ways to clean bare concrete floors is to use a soft mop, which you can get wet and then use to wipe down the concrete.

Concrete needs some upkeep and maintenance in a basement, depending on how often it’s used. By using a soft mop you can keep it clean and in its best condition year round. It only takes a bit of time, you can encourage other members of your family to help with it, and you can enjoy the perks of a nice, clean concrete floor in your basement.

Concrete floors that are bare can be covered with rugs, blankets, and other materials for a softer experience if they’re exposed. However, you’ll want to ensure you’re cleaning rugs and blankets you use regularly to avoid concrete dust, dirt, and debris from embedding into them.