Benefits Of Polished Concrete Flooring

If you're looking for an easy-care designer flooring option for your home or business, polished concrete offers an ideal solution. You might already know about concrete's durability, but the polishing process turns it into an attractive decorative surface. Here are some benefits.

Design Options

With polished concrete, you have an almost limitless array of design choices at your disposal—many of which you can mix and match. This allows you to customise the floor to your exact needs. In a business premise, you could include your brand colour or logo in the floor design. In a home, you can easily pick up colours from walls or other design elements and add those to the flooring hues to tie everything together.

Specific options include stains which react with the concrete, creating a nuanced surface with an organic feel. Polishing finishes it off with a gleam. Alternatively, a contractor can apply vibrant dyes or leave the surface a pure grey. They can score or cut the concrete to add texture and use stencils to create intricate patterns. You can choose aggregates such as pebbles, stones or coloured glass which reveal themselves after polishing. Or, you can embed other unusual items, such as nails and computer chips. 

Degree Of Shine

With polished concrete, you have control over the level of shine: flat, satin, semi-polished or highly polished. The results depend on the diamond grit that the process uses—finer diamond abrasives achieve shinier surfaces. A gloss meter, which 'reads' the polish of a surface, can result in extremely accurate results, allowing you to create a floor with the perfect sheen.

Durable And Low-Maintenance

Durability is one of concrete's main qualities; it can handle high-traffic and last for decades. Being highly stain-resistant, concrete is not at high risk from spilled drinks or other liquids. All the floor will need is periodic polishing or sealing to maintain its attractive lustre, and a sweep and mop every so often.

If you're after something hygienic, polished concrete is an excellent choice. This solid and non-porous surface doesn't trap debris, dust or pollen, which makes it ideal for allergy sufferers. Because it forms one smooth surface without grout-filled joins, it doesn't have spaces that encourage mould and dirt to accumulate. Concrete doesn't hold moisture and start to rot like timber can. Flooring influences the overall air quality in a dwelling, and polished concrete will help to keep the air fresh, clean and odour-free in your home or business.