Concrete floor: these are the biggest mistakes

A lot of builders dream of a tight concrete floor in their new home. It is a floor with a lot of assets. Not only does concrete look nice, but it is also easy in maintenance and ideal on top of underfloor heating.

Installing a concrete floor is nice but for a peak result, correct placement is crucial. Many construction sites point to what could go wrong.

Error 1: not thick enough

A concrete floor for private homes must be 10 to 12 cm thick. This has to do with the mechanical strength and stiffness that your floor must achieve.

If there are pipes in the floor that cross each other, such as underfloor heating, the drainpipe of the sink, water or electricity pipes, then your contractor must lay an additional reinforcement net above those places.

Error 2: wrong concrete composition

The composition of the concrete must be very accurate. The cement content, the amount of sand, the water-cement ratio, auxiliary materials, etc. must be selected in such a way that the concrete does not segregate during installation. It must also be sufficiently fluid to be able to pump it. Things you have to agree with the concrete plant.

Do you want a concrete floor from your living room to extend to your terrace? Then keep in mind that the concrete composition for an interior floor is not suitable for a terrace that is exposed to wind and weather.

Error 3: dehydrated too quickly

Timing is everything! So don’t wait too long to see shrink joints. The concrete floor must then dry slowly. But first, all the cement must have enough moisture to be able to react. If concrete dries too quickly on the surface, for example, because the sun shines on it, there is a draft or you have not protected the concrete with a film former, then the concrete shrinks too quickly and cracks occur. Or you get a dusty surface. A layer of cement that does not get the chance to react remains as dust. Result? A porous floor with poor quality.

Please note, a concrete floor is not the same as an epoxy floor. Even though both seamless floor types have an industrial look, they are completely different. For example, an epoxy floor is not built with concrete, but with two-component epoxy resin or polyurethane.