Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jan 27, 2009 1:54 pm or are you likely to pay for your hard floors (ie tiles, floorboards...) per square meter including laying?
I've got a few quotes for polished concrete which seem quite reasonable, but it does add a bit of hassle to the build process. Just wondering if I might be better of sticking with tiles. THANKS! Re: How much did you pay...(answer to polished concrete question 2Jan 27, 2009 3:55 pm We have textured porcelain tiles (600 x 300) which were $48 m2, plus laying cost of $45 m2, plus some floor prep.
Total of $109 m2 (includes glue, grout, screeding, filling gaps, laying and tiles!) Re: How much did you pay... 3Feb 05, 2009 4:11 pm hi jellylegs
would you mind sharing the costs for this on the quotes you received? also - what hasseles are presented with this option? cheers Re: How much did you pay...(answer to polished concrete question 4Feb 09, 2009 10:51 am Hi Mortgage2009, Welcome to the Forum!
There are a lot of hassles to consider - I'm still hung up on a few of these. Firstly Prices: About 18months ago I had a couple of quotes done that were around the $180/sqm mark but this included picking the colour of your concrete and specifying the aggregate you want so you can design your ideal look. Way too $$ for me, so I let it go. Recently I've had 3 quotes done which work with whatever mix we get in the slab. 1: $50-60/sqm, 2. $49/sqm and 3: $60- $70/sqm BEFORE the frame goes up $100 AFTER construction, so after shopping around a bit now, to me it seems very appealing compared to most hard floor options, especially when you end up with a look similar to porcelain tiles with no grout. The hassles: A couple of the cheaper quotes, from all I have learned are actually a 'grind and seal' process, rather than a genuine polish. 'Real' polished concrete (as per quote 3) shouldn't need a sealer at all. The sealer these guys use is a polyurethane sealer which will give it a lovely gloss look, but has the potential to eventually chip and yellow and will need to be redone every 2-5years. If the polish is done soon after the slab is laid, before the frame goes up, you then have all your tradies working with a finished floor. You would need to keep it covered during construction to avoid any paint or hard to remove stuff getting all over your beautiful floor. Not too many tradies are sympathetic to this option. Also, you need to wait at least a week for the slab to cure and then the process will take 4-5 days all up. So you would need to kindly ask your builder to delay the project for this period. If you arranged it early enough, they might be able to factor this in to the plan though. If you wait until after construction, you're up for a hell of a lot of mess. It can be ground wet or dry. I'm not sure how wet, but I'd be worried about water against the plaster walls. If its done dry - imagine the dust! If I go down that path, I would want it done before my oven is installed and before the skirting boards go on, so, again need to ask the builder to be flexible. They should use an industrial vacuum attached to the grinder while they do this, but there will still be a lot of dust involved. The dust is a major health hazard, and the sealers they use tend to have high VOC's too. There are some healthier alternatives available such as Luster Shield http://www.con-treat.com.au/pages/coating_luster_shield.htm Also, it is difficult for them to get close to the walls, so you may end up with an uneven finish, or some damage. Ideally too, you should upgrade your slab from the standard 20/25mpa to 32mpa for polished concrete. We were also advised by our SS that some additives to alter the appearance may void our warranty. AND if you live in the South, you would be wise to consider in slab heating. $$Cah-Ching$$ HOWEVER, the benefits I believe are worth the hassles if you can manage them. Exposed slabs are eco friendly, have high thermal mass benefits and NO GROUT to clean. Look at the results... http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr64/JellyLegs01/PolishedConcrete4.jpg http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr64/JellyLegs01/PolishedConcrete4.jpg http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr64/JellyLegs01/Polishedconcrete2.jpg http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr64/JellyLegs01/PolishedConcrete.jpg http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr64/JellyLegs01/PolishedConcrete6.jpg http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr64/JellyLegs01/PolishedConcrete5.jpg http://www.con-treat.com.au/pages/coating_luster_shield.htm Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20194 No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. I’m not sure what was removed, as it was done quite some time ago - well before what I can see with photos online… 2 11568 |