Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 12, 2015 2:58 pm Hi there! Was wondering if people could share there experiences and finished pictures of their polished concrete in their new homes? We are at lock up stage and only now have decided to do polished concrete in all living areas however bamboo in rooms, tiles in wet areas. Kitchen will be concrete. (Originally we were going bamboo everywhere inc kitchen bar wet areas). Being late in game, we've decided to change to polishing our concrete after handover. We've obviously done no prep work to date, which my husband (a concreter) says with what we want do it doesn't matter as much. Anyway, I would love to see pictures of the completed look and hear about peoples journeys with their concreting venture? Thanks Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 3May 13, 2015 2:03 pm Typically I thought if you are going to do this you need a stronger concrete to inhibit cracks as well as usually having a nicer aggregate so when exposed during polishing it looks nice. Or do you mean just polishing it lightly and not doing a diamond cut and Polish? Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 4May 13, 2015 2:27 pm MrBee yes not diamond cut. We are deciding between honed or burnished polish. I'm desperate to see 'real homes' with the concrete. The magazines look AMAZING but I'm sure unrealistic? Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 5May 13, 2015 4:42 pm From what I saw of next door - its a time taking job. They had it done at the start - slab - but then had to get them back at least twice. Because of the thing they use, dust is not an issue - its like a giant vacuum cleaner. Not sure I'd do it - but some really like it. Crack issue is a real one. Many slabs do get hairline cracks. These are acceptable. But may hurt the finish of a polished floor - not sure on this. Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 6May 13, 2015 7:33 pm Yeh Saint Mike I think cracks are very likely. For me, I like the non-uniformity and raw-ness of cracks and colour blemishes. But I really want to see pictures of it in real homes. Google/Houzz/Pintrest havent been able to help. Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 7May 13, 2015 9:05 pm EmmaW84 Yeh Saint Mike I think cracks are very likely. For me, I like the non-uniformity and raw-ness of cracks and colour blemishes. But I really want to see pictures of it in real homes. Google/Houzz/Pintrest havent been able to help. Many places that intend polished floors start that way though. The floor - I think - is a better quality. Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 8May 13, 2015 9:37 pm If you're in Perth there are lots of concretes who will do this and have pics on their website. We are also doing it. We spent days ponding our concrete slab to try and help it along, and it looks fab with only a tiny hairline crack so far that we are happy to embrace Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 9May 14, 2015 9:53 am Hey Beazley77 we are in Melb but Im sure I can check out some web pics. So did you go into your build to polish or did you decide half way through like us? What type of polish are you going for? Do you have any pics of what look your trying to go for? Re: Polished Concrete After Handover? Experience & Pictures 10May 14, 2015 6:54 pm We decided from start to try it this way. We new there would be risks but I was willing to take them. We are aiming for something between some exposed and full exposure. Only issue is trying to find diminishing strips I like for where it meets bathroom/wet area tiling as tiler says he doesn't have enough fall to lay them flush with pad. Personally I think it's the building company trying to be an arse. Regardless of wall hung toilet or floor pan toilet your feet will be right on drain, seems to me the waste should not be in that location given the design. Also are you… 6 4617 The concreter will take and reuse. In my case I bought structural LVLs and scraped them back and used them as joists. 1 3524 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Are you doing this with a building permit? Conversion of a non habitable room into a habitable room requires building permit. 3 13367 |