apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I wouldn't bring the concrete up onto the walls unless you plan on polishing it. It will get dusty and start to look really bad. It might be an interesting play to see if they can use a mold for a somewhat traditional looking baseboard made with concrete instead of gyp. Polish and delish.

hey, we did this in our apartment (not concrete floors, but hardwoods) my brother used, uh, what the hell's it called?, a Z channel?, when hanging the drywall. um, i'll have to ask him.

basically the wall board sits on that Z channel (it's like 5/8" off the floor), creating a straight gap between floor and wall. the wall appears to float off the floor. it's verry niice. btw, we hate baseboards and shit, so that's why we did it. i'll make sure i've got the right name.

we have concrete floors and the architect used a one inch square 'baseboard' at the seam between the floor and the wall. Ours is painted wood, but you could probably find other materials that would work.

hmm. interesting thought.

In my un-expert opinion I would think you'd have to pour the slab wall to wall.

But even if you did that, I wonder if you could then build a form as high as you'd like, along the walls, as thick as you want (probably an inch or less) then pour those forms.

Or, what if you you formed the coving first, lined it with visqueen, poured the coving, then poured the slab. When the slab is just set enough to walk on covered with cardboard, pull out the forms. Then, fill in the voids with concrete. Perhaps you will end up with a seamless look this way?

I don't know, I'm with you though. I put in a tile floor and just wanted a floor to wall transition. Not so easy when the walls weren't built cleanly because the builder knows he's going to slap some cheap ass crown molding there. And in your case, if you used concrete tile or a pre-formed base you may have seams.

Crown moulding? Loft? Does that make sense to you? Of course not.

So, we settled for simple 3/4" round which is a pretty minimal transition.

I have even seen flat extruded aluminum stripping which looks pretty cool.

I wonder if you might want to check out the forum at Johnbridge.com. Sounds like what you are doing is similar to pouring a shower pan. Same concept at least.

Check out http://www.moderninmn.blogspot.com/ . Splatgirl is a regular commenter here and her site is all about her own home that has some interesting concrete elements.

Good luck!

Do you get a lot of dust trapped in there kdkaboom?

I would imagine that the gypsum in the drywall would start to soak up the water contained in the wet concrete if you "dip" the drywall into the uncured concrete. Perhaps this could work if you coated the bottom of the drwall with wax or some other kind of waterproofing material.

In my house I have no moulding whatsoever between the wall and the concrete floor. it gives it a nice, raw look, I think. But I realize it's not for everybody. If I ever want a more "formal" look, I may consider laying down some kind of a small, flat wood profile.

so, wait, you could actually fill that gap if you wanted to, right? But the concrete would be flush with the sheetrock? Maybe that would be a good thing?

it's called TRIM REVEAL, aha!

to paraphrase my brother the contractor: trim reveal is very tricksy and if you're on a tight budget it might not be worth it. first, installation is painstaking because you've got to have that nice straight line, etc. second, plastering and taping is a real piece of work and meticulous, because of that fine edge. third, painting is extra difficult as you're unable to roll all the way down, requiring more cutting in or something (i stopped paying attention to him at this point heheh). oh, then he also mentioned corners are a pain.

to answer art's question, it's not so bad with dust, really, because it's not that big of a space nor that deep (5/8"). it's not an issue for me, anyway.

thanks kids for all the replys. actually, art, now that you mention it having the floors flush with the wall wouldn't be too shabby either.

hejiranyc, do you get alot of dirt under there? we have kitties, so cathair is a concern.

thx again!

z-channel mentioned above is definitely the most common way to manage the no base look (the metal channel reinforces the edge of the sheetrock and enables a nice clean edge). I'd advise against doing some kind of custom cement edge. Sounds like asking for trouble waiting to happen that would be awfully hard to reverse.

A cheaper way to get a fairly clean look is to just use really thin, flat base (like 4" tall by 1/4" thick) and paint same as wall. This avoids any real custom work by your contractor and gives you the benefit of having base for durability and cleanability.

I've seen this done with terrazo, old school but never with concrete.
I don't it will work very well, or at least not without costing you two arms and a leg, plus it will definitely crack like all heck. If you do try it, you'd want to do this all BEFORE hanging sheetrock. It's a very interesting idea but I promise you a concrete crew is going to freak at it. You would probably benefit from learning a little about how forming is done so you have some ammo when they tell you it can't be done.

At my house, I was originally thinking I'd hold the sheetrock up of the floor, leaving a reveal as has been mentioned. My drywall guy quoted me like 2K more to do this on the whole (220 or so sheet) house which was certainly reasonable enough given the amount of extra work it would have been...BUT...it's not code compliant because it leaves that little bit of wall exposed and therefore without the requisite 15 minute fire barrier...something to keep in mind if your project is going to be subjected to inspection.

In case you havent' figured it out already, I used 4", 10 gauge raw steel that I had a fabricator make up for me. I felt it was an interesting, different solution and would compliment the other steel elements in the house.

Pay attention to what is done in commercial settings with concrete floors. I was recently someplace where they used a concrete looking, 3 or 4" tall rectangular tile that looked nice. Ripped plywood strips or dimensional lumber is cool, too, either on top of the sheetrock or in the same plane as has been mentioned.

@Splatgirl,

I never look at a commercial building the same anymore since I moved into a converted warehouse.

I'm always looking at how elements are fastened to the ceiling, what kind of lighting they use, etc. We have a new Whole Foods and some of the lighting they use is absolutely incredible.

I went to a little cocktail shin-dig with some Chicago AT people at Motel Bar. I kept getting distracted by the way they hung everything on their concrete ceiling! What a dork! That's how you get ideas though.

A reveal would be tricky. As stated before, they are often formed with a z channel and can be costly and not code compliant.

Whether or not you like the look of baseboards, remember that they are there to protect your walls at a level that they are often subjected to furniture, shoes, etc. We have a 2 1/2" x 1/2" baseboard on our concrete floors with just a rectangular profile that are painted the same as the walls. It looks clean, no problem. I've also seen steel trim that has looked nice, and tile can often be another good (but often costly) option. There are many companies that make vinyl/rubber/linoleum bases in a million different colors. Vinyl will be the cheapest, but horrible for the environment and not so good for your lungs.

Yo, I know it. We do the same thing. We're constantly admiring beams and trusses and sofits. It's common dinner conversation when we're out to eat. Waitresses think we're crazy.
Construction geeks, anyone?

Why not just run flat 6" stock painted white around the room instead of base moulding?

We live in a converted factory with cement floors and somewhat ragged bottom seams along the walls. It doesn't look terrible but we're finally going to give in and try 5.5" unfinished baseboard that we'll either lightly stain or paint to blend with the wall. It's got a tiny bit of shape to it but hopefully will just look flat. I agree with the above, vinyl is pretty awful.

kdkaboom, thanks...we're looking into this zchannel business on monday.

splatgirl i'm so glad i was referred to your site... you've done an incredible job with your house. did you tint your concrete before pouring? and do you (or anyone else for that matter) find the cement hard to stand on for long periods....say while cooking dinner or something?

thanks again!

With cement and tile floors you definitely need strategically placed rugs or mats in places that you will be standing for long periods of time, like the kitchen. Just as you would if you worked in a commercial kitchen. A good pair of shoes for the house such as crocs or slippers will help. That is, if you don't wear shoes in the house.

thanks! My floors are plain ol' grey, no colorants.
I wear shoes in the house at all times, my beloved Keen flip-flops. I've gotten used to standing on the concrete now, but at first I did notice it was harder on the feet, even with shoes.

I have concrete floors too. I just hung the drywall and then filled in the gaps between the fllor and wall with drywall mud. It looks fine. It would never occur to me to do anything else and it would never occur to me that this wasn't the obvious solution, but my house is kind of industrial. I guess if you want a perfect line it might not work, but it looks straight to me. Also, I recommend a chef gel mat for your kitchen. It makes my back feel better.