The Kitchen Flooring HGTV's Mike Holmes Advises Homeowners To Think Twice About

Choosing the right flooring for your kitchen isn't easy. It has to look great, of course, but because food is involved, it has to be easy to keep clean and hygienic. For many, the kitchen is the busiest room in the house, so it also needs good durability. Although concrete has the potential to fulfill all of these needs, HGTV's Mike Holmes says it's something homeowners should think twice about. His main concern is the weight involved. Experts usually suggest a thickness of around 4 inches to prevent cracking, potentially adding around 400 pounds per square yard to your floor. "It's not a practical choice for most renovations because it is very heavy," Holmes shared on his blog.

That can put a lot of strain on framing, so it's vital that the existing joists are strong enough to take it. If you are considering a concrete kitchen floor, it is strongly recommended that you have your home checked by a structural engineer.

There are other considerations beyond weight. While there are a number of affordable kitchen floors you can DIY, concrete is not one of them. Although the material cost is not particularly high, pouring a sizable concrete slab is a skilled job that should be tackled by professionals. It will also put the space completely out of use for something like a month while the concrete hardens.

It's important to note that Mike Holmes says you need to think twice about concrete for kitchen floors, not that the material can't be used. In fact, some feel that it's among the best flooring options for the kitchen. It can be stained or colored to suit just about any style. Although normally concrete is cold underfoot, it is ideal for use with underfloor heating. It can be coated with epoxy, which feels like linoleum, or acrylic, which feels like tile.

The same industrial appeal of concrete can be achieved using microtopping (also called microcement). It's similar, but made with very fine additives and acrylic polymers. With proper preparation, this can be laid over existing floors such as tile or wood. The result is a floor with much of the toughness of concrete, but at a fraction of the thickness and weight.

Concrete certainly has its advantages, and there are far worse kitchen flooring choices. However, as Holmes points out, you need to think about more than just the aesthetics. If your house isn't strong enough to take the excess load, fixing the resulting problems could cost you a fortune. Fortunately, there are options that can deliver the same look without the drama.