What Is A Polished Concrete Floor?
The design choices for a polished concrete floor are endless.
Polished concrete floors can have a satin finish or a glossy mirror-like finish. The design choices for a polished concrete floor are endless. You can choose from a variety of colors, patterns, gloss levels as well as aggregate exposure. Aggregate exposure correlates to the size stone that you expose in the concrete during the polishing process. Polished concrete floors can have a salt and pepper finish which exposes fine grains of sand and stone all the way to a large aggregate exposure which exposes up to one inch stone. Polished concrete has become extremely popular as it is a low maintenance flooring system that can also lead to reduced energy costs. Due to the light reflectivity that polished concrete provides many facilities can see a reduction in lighting costs.
Simply put, polishing concrete is similar to sanding wood. Walk-behind polishing machines use progressively finer grits of diamonds to grind down the concrete surface to the desired degree of shine and smoothness.
What Steps Are Involved In Polished Concrete?
These steps allow for a much more durable and abrasion resistant floor system.
Polished concrete begins with the use of course grinding diamonds on our polishing machines which can remove any minor pits, blemishes and surface stains from the concrete. Every concrete floor is different, but this initial grinding is usually a three to four step process. After the course grinding has been completed, a concrete hardener and densifier is applied to the concrete surface. This product hardens the concrete which allows for a much more durable and abrasion resistant floor system. Once the floor hardener has dried the concrete polishing process can resume; these next steps would be classified as fine grinding. During the fine grinding phase, progressively finer diamonds are used during each step until the floor reaches the specific sheen for that particular project. Typical polished concrete floors can range from a 400 grit satin finish all the way to a 3000 grit high gloss finish. With the polishing process complete, an oil and water repellent can be applied to the surface depending on the environment of the facility.
Polished Concrete Benefits
More durable and easier to clean than many flooring options
Polished concrete is considered a good sustainable design flooring option because it makes use of the materials already present. Most modern buildings are built on a concrete slab; polishing the exposed concrete eliminates the energy and additional material costs consumed by applying a floor covering. It is something to consider when building or modernizing towards a more green solution.
Polished concrete floors are considered low-maintenance, as they are more durable and easier to clean than many flooring options. Its high coefficient of friction can make it non-slippery. Polished concrete reduces dust mite and allergen problems, and does not support mold growth. Research suggests highly reflective polished concrete reduces lighting needs and can improve natural lighting. Polished concrete flooring is hard wearing and will not chip or dent like softer surfaces such as timber and tiles. Polished concrete is easily maintained with the use of clean water or a neutral balance PH cleaner. There are also many cleaners designed for the proper maintenance of polished concrete available. There is never a need for wax to be added as it will only dull the finish. A concrete floor that has been hardened and polished will have an extremely long life expectancy compared to other flooring.
