Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Aug 10, 2009 12:22 am HI, I'm new to the forum. Will be starting to build soonish, don't know anything! yet. We are having a slab, and looking at polished concrete as a flooring option, with carpets in bedrooms etc. I see there are a couple of ways of doing this. One is more expensive, involving basically cutting and polishing? and the other polishing and coating, costing about half the price but needing more maintenance. I take it you can get the terazzo look in either. I guess I want to know if anyone has experience of either, or any warnings or hints? Any other ideas for flooring on concrete also welcome. Thanks. Re: Flooring on a slab 2Aug 12, 2009 1:59 am Wow ive never heard of that before. Is it expensive? We just put vinyl planking & carpet for bedrooms. Planking looks like wood but is less maintance and harder wearing. do you have any sample pics? Im intrigued! Re: Flooring on a slab 5Aug 12, 2009 11:11 am Looks excellent and I would imagine that it is very durable. But wouldnt it be cold. I have just gone from a house with floating laminate floor throughout, including bedrooms (son has eczema) to one with tiles in the living areas and I am surprised at home much colder tiles are to laminate flooring. I would think polished concrete would be even colder. Re: Flooring on a slab 6Aug 13, 2009 12:32 pm As far as I am aware, polished concrete has a slip rating of between R9-R12 (what you see in shopping malls) so it wouldn't be anymore slippery than say polished porcelain. When it gets wet this obviously will be a hazard but having said it is quite popular having polished concrete in the shower/bathrooms. I wouldn't worry about it being much colder than tiles due to the thermal mass qualities of polished concrete i.e. it tends to hold more heat and releases it slowly making it slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. You always have the option to to have heated floors which I have heard is quite a sensation to walk on! Re: Flooring on a slab 7Aug 13, 2009 12:47 pm jubacca, you are on the money & IMHO only I find walking on polished concrete is a joy onc_artisan Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Flooring on a slab 8Aug 13, 2009 1:28 pm My parents have polished concrete in the garage. Dad's car recently leaked oil and cleaning it off was a breeze This wouldn't have been possible with regular concrete... Re: Flooring on a slab 9Aug 13, 2009 1:37 pm ...aint that the truth I like wax as a barrier coat Not to infer your folks have a wax coating Just thought I'd mention it Onc_artisan Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Flooring on a slab 10Aug 26, 2009 11:23 am onc_artisan ...aint that the truth I like wax as a barrier coat Not to infer your folks have a wax coating Just thought I'd mention it Onc_artisan Onc_artisan, When the process is completed correctly, there is no need for a wax or a coating as a barrier. The concrete itself becomes very closed off. We put an impregnator into the conrete as our last step (this sits below surface), which will help in reistance to staining etc. As for slip rating, depending on the system, but most non-coating systems sit between R9 and R10 or about .5 COF. I personally do not believe in coating systems, we used to do a lot of this type of work, but when it comes to environmental benefits and total life cycle cost, you cannot beat the non-coating system that we install today. Regards, Ben Vander Veen PROGRIND AUSTRALIA Maintenance Free Polished Concrete, without coatings! www.progrind.com.au Re: Flooring on a slab 11Aug 27, 2009 1:23 am Hi Ben, We've spent the last few weeks looking at polished concrete and have opted to go ahead with it but unfortunately we have only ever seen it being used in a commercial environment e.g. Midland JB Hifi as we have been informed that ProGrind do all the JB Hifi's Australia wide. Just a few questions, we found that the floor has a lot of visible scratches which are a bit of a concern as we know that polished concrete is resistant to normal wear. Considering JB Hifi has a high amount of traffic we assume that this may not be such an issue but would this be a problem when moving heavy furniture around? Secondly, were the floors polished with 800 grit resin bond? We would like to see what the high gloss finish would look like (3000 grit?). Thanks in advance. Re: Flooring on a slab 12Aug 27, 2009 1:32 am How about 5000grit ...and the scratches are in the sealer I suspect. Jubacca talking resin bond like you know what you're talking about. ...wax is better than water or solvent based sealers easily repaired and doesn't impinge on clientelle But for a true highly polished terrazo or concrete mix doesn't need sealing Onc_artisan Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Flooring on a slab 14Aug 27, 2009 1:39 am What do you do? Onc_artisan Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Flooring on a slab 15Aug 27, 2009 7:21 am I have seen polished concrete floors but mainly large shops and warehouses for instance Chemist Warehouse and Costco have them. I suppose there whould be various types of pigmentation available still not seen anything like this in houses though. Re: Flooring on a slab 16Aug 27, 2009 8:45 am jubacca Hi Ben, We've spent the last few weeks looking at polished concrete and have opted to go ahead with it but unfortunately we have only ever seen it being used in a commercial environment e.g. Midland JB Hifi as we have been informed that ProGrind do all the JB Hifi's Australia wide. Just a few questions, we found that the floor has a lot of visible scratches which are a bit of a concern as we know that polished concrete is resistant to normal wear. Considering JB Hifi has a high amount of traffic we assume that this may not be such an issue but would this be a problem when moving heavy furniture around? Secondly, were the floors polished with 800 grit resin bond? We would like to see what the high gloss finish would look like (3000 grit?). Thanks in advance. Hi Jubacca, We do a number of different finishes for JB HIFI, and one of them is a more regional finish which is basically a cheaper floor finish where the scratches are not removed. Malaga would be a better floor to look at than Midland. There is no point talking about 800, or 3000 or even 5000 grit, because each concrete will produce a different reflective profile and each different brand of diamonds will produce a different level of gloss even though they may both be "3000". We measure floors in gloss readings to attain certain finish types. This is the only true measure of the reflectivitiy properties of a floor and will also ensure that we have a consistent finish over the body of the floor. It is also an excellent measure for quality control. Onc, Again, we do not use a sealer, so scratches will not appear in it. We have no topical coatings or sealers with our polish concrete. Whilst it is true to say that concrete when polished correctly does not need a sealer, it does need an impregnator. If we did not apply an impregnator to concrete, even once its densified, honed and polished we would be taking a short cut and not doing the right thing by our customers. I am not sure if you have actually grasped the concept of the system we provide. There is no need for a wax, coating or sealer, and any repair work is much much easier than a wax, coating or sealer and will blend back into the surrounding area of the concrete and you would never know an area was repaired. Not only that, but the way we treat and polish the concrete, you would be hard pressed to damage it as it is. When we do a JB HIFI for instance, we are the first trade in and the first trade out. Once we have done the floors the sparkies and shop fitters come through and do the fit out. We have never been in a position where we have had to go back and repair the floor. Regards, Ben Vander Veen PROGRIND AUSTRALIA Maintenance Free Polished Concrete, without coatings! www.progrind.com.au Re: Flooring on a slab 17Aug 27, 2009 9:46 am Ben, In reference to Ben Vander Veen I am not sure if you have actually grasped the concept of the system we provide. I can assure you I do I don't think you are quite aware of my experience But in all things there are alternatives for any number of reasons. I do not disagree with you, densify, grind and hone. We place and grind and have been doing so since before the turn of the century I think but not sure we where the first to dry grind in Oz importing the latest back then... Now it seems everyone has gone/going that way. But hey As someone once said "I am just a baggy ar*ed grano" so what would I know" oh and 30 years in the biz. onc_artisan Where you are coming from is where you are going to... 1000000% definitely add insulation. I have in my home and it makes a big difference minimising sound transfer. Insulation is pretty cheap and definitely worth it 2 6174 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15886 Hi there, I'm a conplete newbie to this, but I'm looking to put a floor down in my 6x9m shed. It's currently sitting on a 100mm thick concrete perimeter (dirt floor… 0 6454 |