So you’re currently building your dream house, and are looking into concrete polishing as your floor surface, among other options. Before deciding, a smart homeowner would do research on his selections, and try to know which one would fit the aesthetic and practical needs of his home the most.
Now, maybe you’ve been to a friend’s house who has this type of concrete polishing and restoration, or you’ve seen a picture on the internet, but something made you decide to look into the idea of using concrete not as a foundation or as the subfloor for your home, but as your actual floor surface. And why not? It’s there anyway, so why not use it to advantage?
As with everything utilitarian nowadays, concrete polishing has become a trend amongst builders recently. Formerly only used as a sub-floor to be covered up with floorings deemed more apt for display such as marble, wood, and tiles, recently concrete has taken a more visible role as the versatile stage upon which a house’s pieces could be showcased.
But such use of concrete has not stopped at homes, as even large traffic areas such as malls and even hotel lobbies have adopted this use, as polished concrete proves itself to be a practical and sustainable choice for wide spaces as well. In this article, we will be talking about what makes concrete polishing a good choice for your home.
Cost-effective
One of the main reasons why concrete polishing has become a fad nowadays is simply because it is relatively more cost-effective to stick with your concrete as your floor surface.
Instead of having your concrete as a sub-floor, polishing it and using it as your finished floor surface saves you the cost of the materials and labor that you would have used if you opted to install another layer of flooring to use as your floor surface.
Add to that the fact that concrete is fairly easy to enhance, simply staining or adding different aggregates to your concrete before polishing would give it an altogether different look.
Versatile
I’d also give concrete polishing another plus for its versatility. As I’ve already mentioned, a builder could, in fact, change the concrete’s appearance to suit whatever his tastes are.
It could even be made to look like its counterparts, simply add a little stain here to imitate marble, or add pigment and colored aggregates to make it look like terrazzo, and you have yourself a gorgeous floor for maybe half the price.
It would all depend upon the quality and grade of the concrete being used, and how it was poured. Depending on your polishing process, you can also control the amount of sheen that your concrete floor surface will have.
With a little imagination and lots of craftsmanship, your concrete floor could be made to look almost any way you want it to.
Ease of cleaning
Once finished, one would hardly have to do any maintenance on polished concrete. If buffed to a shine, your concrete floor wouldn’t even need waxing or other chemicals to maintain its sheen.
After being sealed, your concrete flooring’s regular maintenance only entails a mopping of soapy water once or twice a week, just to keep it clean. However, spills must be promptly wiped off with a rug in order to avoid staining.
Buffing your concrete floor every 2 years or so with diamond impregnated pads will also help to keep your floor as shiny as the day you first used it.
Highly-durable
A definite advantage that concrete polishing has over other types of floor surfaces is, of course, its longevity. Linoleum floors can only last for 3 years or so in good condition, vinyl for around 6 or 7 years, and good carpets can only last for around 10 years with little traffic, and if taken good care of.
Your polished concrete, however, could last for years and years with very little upkeep in between.
Couple that with its inherent sustainability, its ease of access and its vast design options, the concrete polishing floor surface has become the most practical choice for smart homeowners and homebuilders alike.
Ease of maintenance
Another thing than a homeowner might want from his chosen residential concrete floor surface is ease of maintenance. A lot of people do not really have the time to keep their floors spotless all the time.
And not a lot of people could afford hired help either. So homeowners look for floor types that look relatively clean, even if left on its own for a few days or so.
As opposed to carpets that need to get vacuumed after every few days, or white marble floors that need sweeping and mopping every day (or else!), concrete polishing only requires a soapy mopping every week or so to keep the dust off, and a run through from diamond impregnated pads every few years to retain its shine.