Concrete and Masonry

With acid-based stains, you can add an attractive, low-maintenance finish to ordinary concrete floors by Shellie Rigsby

A plywood core makes engineered flooring the most stable choice, provided the slab is flat and dry by Ken Fischer

Proof that a home can be more livable and more versatile without more cost by Dave Otte

Designer Fu-Tung Cheng illustrates the aesthetic potential of concrete by Fu-Tung Cheng

Comfortable quarters for a family of five on a postage-stamp lot in Houston, but for only $70 per square foot by Carlos Ulloa

by John La Torre Jr.

A simple palette of natural materials complements a comfortable home in a dramatic setting by Karen Tanaka

by Tom Meehan

Cementitious backerboard speeds up the job, but start with a subfloor that is firm and flat by Dennis Hourany

by Rocky R. Geans

Unlike a plywood or backerboard substrate, a modified mud job might be more reliable over the long haul by Tom Meehan

Concrete slabs, thin slabs and metal plates offer different ways of routing radiant heat underneath every floor in the home by John Siegenthaler

by Michael Luttrell

by Rich Ziegner