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What Is Polished Concrete and Why You’ll Love It

What Is Polished Concrete and Why You’ll Love It
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Polished concrete is an attractive, shiny, tough, easy to clean flooring that gives you a long lasting chip, dent, and skid-resistant finish. 

As a company that has polished hundreds of floors, we can speak to the reasons why polished concrete is better, and more environmentally friendly than almost any other flooring system out there. 

Unlike ordinary concrete surfaces, polished concrete is created by grinding the surface with successively finer abrasives and then treating them with a hardener. When a professional such as the Concrete Guy does your polished concrete floor you are left with a natural floor that can last for generations. Let’s get into the specifics of how polished concrete works.

Table of Contents

What Does Polishing Concrete Do For Your Flooring? 

Concrete polishing is a specialized process requiring the right equipment, tools, skills, and experience. Concrete polishing is similar to sanding wood in that you start with a rough surface and make it smooth. Starting with coarse-grit diamond blades and then progressing through a series of successively finer abrasives, a smoother and smoother surface is achieved. Concrete polishing uses extremely hard diamonds that spin across the concrete surface to hone the concrete. This is how you get a strong, mirror-like, glossy finish. 

Professional Concrete Polishing Services

Creating a polished concrete surface is generally not a do-it-yourself job. It not only takes specialized equipment but expertise that is largely gained from years of experience. At The Concrete Guy we have many years of experience doing this kind of work. We can tell you when polished concrete is your best option as opposed to types of concrete floor sealing such as epoxy floors. And, because we are professionals, every step in the process will be carried out with pro precision.

We will carefully remove any existing coatings, seal joints and cracks, and grind the floor with successively finer diamond blades. We then apply the correct chemical hardener along the way so that your polished concrete floor will not only be shiny and slip-resistant but extremely durable as well. Then we typically recommend application of a stain guard so that your polished concrete floor will be easier to maintain over the years.

Is Polished Concrete The Best Choice For Your Flooring?

When you ask this you need to compare polished concrete to other flooring options. Compared to pretty much any other flooring material, polished concrete lasts longer without maintenance, is much more resistant to chips and scratches, is less expensive to install and maintain, does not have any dangerous chemicals, and even works well with radiant floor heating.

The beauty of polished concrete is that it is an enhancement to the existing concrete slab. For this reason, it is an extremely eco-friendly floor that many times can achieve Leed certification for green buildings.

These are all practical reasons to have a polished concrete floor. Another equally important reason why polished concrete is a good choice is that it looks good. Not only is your polished concrete floor with its attractive designs a pleasure to look at when it is installed but it will retain that beauty with very little work year after year. You will be as proud of the look of your polished concrete floor five and ten years later as you are on the first day.

What is a Polished Concrete Finish?

Think of polished concrete as your best option for a flooring material that never needs to be waxed. Polished concrete is not achieved by coating the surface of the concrete but rather by grinding it and then polishing it to an extremely fine, smooth texture with a burnisher. An additional step is the addition of a hardener that makes the concrete even stronger.

This is a treatment that can be used for newly poured concrete floors or floors that are many years old. The only difference is that an older floor needs to be prepped first by removing previous coverings and filling any joints, cracks, and chips. There are different levels of look and finish that are based on the grit of the abrasive. The shiniest floors are 1,600 or 3,200 grit.

 

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Where Can I Have a Polished Concrete Floor Installed?

A polished concrete floor will look good and last virtually forever no matter where you have one, and some of the best places for polished concrete floors are locations where there is a lot of foot and equipment traffic. In these types of spaces, the ideal floor needs to be durable enough to continue looking good while not requiring excessive maintenance and upkeep.

Retail stores, restaurants, hotels, auto showrooms, warehouse outlets, and large warehouses are all excellent candidates for polished concrete floors. However, it is also a good choice for offices, private residences, and other locations when you are looking for a high-class, high gloss, luxurious floor that is easy to clean and will remain attractive for years and years. An extra benefit of polished concrete floors in homes and offices is that this smooth easy to clean surface will not harbor dust mites or allow collection of animal hair and dander. This makes it a plus for folks who suffer from dust and pet allergies!

We are located right in Minnesota and standing by ready to polish

The Concrete Guy Can Help You with Your Polished Concrete Floor

As we mentioned, creating beautiful polished concrete that you’ll love is not a DIY job. In theory you could rent the equipment but you won’t get the expertise without hiring a professional to do the job. As with pretty much any such project the most important decisions come first. Is polished concrete your best option? If so, what level of polish should you aim for, and do you want to include things like design features that add extra beauty to your floor?

Once these questions are sorted out, floor preparation is the next most important step. The concrete has to be properly prepared or all of the polishing and hardening may go to waste. Then, each step in the grinding process needs to be carried to completion before going to the next finer level of grit. The hardener needs to be applied at the correct time and done properly.

When all of the steps in creating a polished concrete floor are carried out by a professional like the Concrete Guy, you will have a floor in your workplace or home that will be a joy to behold and will continue to be so for years to come. We have been doing this sort of work for years and are happy to provide references and testimonials to help you verify our workmanship and expertise, so you can make the right decision.

Talk to us about polished concrete for your business or home by calling 612-453-4579, sending an email to [email protected], or dropping by our shop in Eden Prairie at 6520 Edenvale Blvd. Suite 100.

 

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