Flooring for mud room

[Bluey]

@showidaho

We have concrete floors in our mudroom that they ground and polished (it’s very pretty) and a drain. It is the BEST. It’s smooth and the exposed aggregate is pretty, but they are smooth and lovely to clean.

That is nice to hear, glad someone has direct experience with straight concrete.

We considered that and the builder said, there are two kinds of concrete, concrete that has not cracked yet and that that has and discouraged us.
He said he could have tile laid for about what the cost of working concrete to make it floor quality, the polishing and treating/staining and such.

He also said that more and more clients still choose concrete for some floors, but that some of the earlier ones, after some years, are adding other flooring to those rooms.
A friend did just that, left her house’s floors stained concrete, but after a few years, gave up and added carpet to bedrooms and tile everywhere else.

Now, I expect a mud room may just be fine, or rooms in barns.
For house floors, I would reconsider if concrete is what we truly want.

[Man_in_Black]

@Reynard Ridge

We put in polished concrete (with drain) and I love it. Looks nice and is super easy to keep clean. We went with concrete color, but you can have it done in all sorts of colors and designs.

I second this. My SO has a concrete business and we will be doing polished concrete floors with radiant heat throughout our house when we build in the near future. The only thing I’m asking for in the house is a mud room, in which case I want stamped concrete.

[Foxtrot_s]

I’m having concrete, and in-floor heating. My daughter has this and the trick is to get someone who really knows how to cure the concrete and put the spacing lies in the right places. She has no cracks. The floor was heated very, very slowly
and is perfect.

In my mud-room I am trying to think how to put the washing machine and dryer up on a 4" platform, without it being expensive. I find hair, dog pellets, dirt, dog water spills, etc. get under them and are impossible to get out easily.

I am also going to put a half Dutch door between the mud room and the rest of the house so my dog can not feel so separate from us.

We are downsizing and our house will be very small and compact, so sliding doors will also save space.

I’ll be back for advice as we get going…!

[Angela_Freda]

@Foxtrot's

I’m having concrete, and in-floor heating. My daughter has this and the trick is to get someone who really knows how to cure the concrete and put the spacing lies in the right places. She has no cracks. The floor was heated very, very slowly
and is perfect.

In my mud-room I am trying to think how to put the washing machine and dryer up on a 4" platform, without it being expensive. I find hair, dog pellets, dirt, dog water spills, etc. get under them and are impossible to get out easily.

I am also going to put a half Dutch door between the mud room and the rest of the house so my dog can not feel so separate from us.

We are downsizing and our house will be very small and compact, so sliding doors will also save space.

I’ll be back for advice as we get going…!

You know those drawers they sell for under W/D’s? I’ve seen several bloggers who built something similar out of wood, with drawers in them etc. I bet it would be easy to do one similar to those but only 4" high. The key is, if you have a front loader, making it sturdy enough and level for balancing the machine, iirc.

Like this:
http://www.justagirlblog.com/diy-pedestals/

We had a half door in our old house for that very purpose, loved it!

[Holly_Jeanne]

Thanks everyone! Keep 'em coming. I had a house that had a concrete floor with radiant floor heating. The only problems were 1) it used a wood boiler to heat the water and that was kind of a pain and 2) in the winter the floor would literally dry while I was still mopping it. Loved it though.

[Foxtrot_s]

Thanks, Angela.

[showidaho]

@Bluey

That is nice to hear, glad someone has direct experience with straight concrete.

We considered that and the builder said, there are two kinds of concrete, concrete that has not cracked yet and that that has and discouraged us.
He said he could have tile laid for about what the cost of working concrete to make it floor quality, the polishing and treating/staining and such.

He also said that more and more clients still choose concrete for some floors, but that some of the earlier ones, after some years, are adding other flooring to those rooms.
A friend did just that, left her house’s floors stained concrete, but after a few years, gave up and added carpet to bedrooms and tile everywhere else.

Now, I expect a mud room may just be fine, or rooms in barns.
For house floors, I would reconsider if concrete is what we truly want.

I wouldn’t do the entire house with it (even with radiant heat it gives off a cool feel and I prefer a warmer tone), but I have to say it works well in the mudroom. It does have some tiny cracks…all concrete cracks, but with the finish you can’t tell.

It’s an ideal mudroom floor.

[pluvinel]

Cracked concrete = “patina”

[mmeqcenter]

@WhoaNellie44

I wouldn’t use laminate in a mud room if you will be leaving wet or muddy boots on the floor. I have laminate in most of my house, because of the dogs. It’s great except for it does not hold up to water at all.

There’s many options now. There’s a type that is safe for high-water areas (I.e. bathrooms) that my parents have in their bathroom and it’s been fine so far. We redid our last house every inch in standard laminate. and my dogs routinely spilled their water bowl and that area never lifted.

[js]

@Holly Jeanne

… The mud room floor is, unfortunately, not even so anything other than carpet may well require some prep work. Thanks!

Do the prep work and get it level, regardless of what you put down. It’s pretty basic to have someone come in and pour a leveling compound on the floor. Do this if you are considering tile, if you don’t you will end up with cracked tiles. If you don’t like grout lines consider a solid surface like vinyl. There are some nice options. We have an industrial grade vinyl flooring in our house, real estate appraiser thought it was Travertine.

[Angela_Freda]

@HungarianHippo

While everyone thinks they want a huge mudroom, I find it better to keep it somewhat small. Usually the problem is not that you don’t have enough space, it’s that you have too much stuff that you don’t really need.

That being most often true, my problem when I built this house was that I was living the previous 8 years in a TINY house… so what seemed ‘big’ to me on paper, and in the final house, really isn’t.

For example, I have WAY more counter space in my kitchen in this house compared to the old house… but it’s a small kitchen by most standards. Fine for us, not sure about resale.

What I wish I had done was consider that I would want another vacuum [so I have one up and down] and would need a place to store each. That I would have a carpet cleaner, and need somewhere to store that. That I would cook more because I could in the new, larger kitchen… and therefore would need more pots and pans and would then need more space to store them.
I wish I had realized that my future would see me having/needing ____ and that I needed to plan a place to store it.

[Holly_Jeanne]

Thanks! I hope my 17 yo dog doesn’t go to the bridge anytime soon but I’m referring to this thread when she does. The previous owners added the room as a sun porch but a mud room is much more necessary on this 12 acres. I think I’ll actually use the far side as a sun porch and the part near the door as the mud room. Has anyone used the rubber flooring that has come out more recently?

[btswass]

@HungarianHippo

One long wall is lined with these shoe cabinets from Ikea. They look very clean and have held up really well for years, and only 9" deep so they don’t take up lots of space. Opposite long wall is lined with coat hooks and a bench underneath it. Tall boots go under the bench.

While everyone thinks they want a huge mudroom, I find it better to keep it somewhat small. Usually the problem is not that you don’t have enough space, it’s that you have too much stuff that you don’t really need.

OMG! How brilliant! We’re redoing our mudroom. It was an addition to our 210 year old house built maybe 20 years ago. It was basically an insulated but unfinished tool/work space. Storing boots and shoes has been our biggest problem as they just end up everywhere and I don’t like the look of open shoe racks but haven’t been able to figure out what else to do until now! Thanks!

[HungarianHippo]

@btswass I can fit 3 pairs of flats/sandals in each section (2 pairs for bigger stuff like Mr HH’s shoes, or my running shoes, chunky wedges,etc).

Glad I could be of help!!

[PeteyPie]

I don’t think anything is easier to maintain that vinyl sheet flooring, especially a higher-end selection which is tougher than the cheap stuff and doesn’t tear or puncture. There are no seams in a small room (less than 12’ wide), no grout lines, and it is waterproof. Damp mopping is usually all that is needed to clean it, and when it is clean, it is very, very clean. The only downside is that it will never look as beautiful as stone or wood, but if you need something that looks “halfway decent” it’s the way to go.