Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jan 29, 2011 12:49 pm Hi folks. New to this forum and have been poking around and noticed that some people have used polished concrete in their living areas and thought to myself "thats a good idea!" I'm yet to start construction on my house so doing a lot of research into things that I might like/dislike for my first home. One of those dislikes is vinyl in the living areas, but not gonna be able to afford wood or tiles etc. Was wondering if anyone has any idea of the price of polished concrete in the Bunbury/Dalyellup area of WA? The are will probably be around the 40 square metre area. Cheers! Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 2Jan 29, 2011 1:49 pm give onc a pm. He's in Margaret river and does polished concrete and water proofing. He's done work on a couple of peoples homes. was working on one this morning south of perth I think. Some of the builders aren't too keen for you to put in polished concrete because it means they have to take care of the stab during construction. Anyway pm Onc onc_artisan memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=13040 here are some recent threads viewtopic.php?f=22&t=36674&hilit=polished+concrete viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27395&p=556673&hilit=polished+concrete#p556673 viewtopic.php?f=7&t=38018&hilit=polished+concrete viewtopic.php?f=7&t=43218&hilit=polished+concrete viewtopic.php?f=7&t=41061&hilit=polished+concrete viewtopic.php?f=16&t=40559&hilit=polished+concrete Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 3Jan 29, 2011 2:00 pm Cheers for that. I'd done a search but not found that many threads (too specific maybe). Had seen him mentioned on here earlier so sounds like a plan. Thanks. Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 5Jan 30, 2011 10:57 am possible suggest for a tight budget I worked with a lady years ago who wanted to put wood flooring in to her house but wanted to wait until the garden was established so it wouldn't get ruined. If polished concrete, tiles etc are out of your budget then perhaps you could try what she/they did. They had a concrete colour ( like that put on a driveway) added to their concrete paid for all living areas. Then once they had hand over they marked out squares in the concrete and used a circular saw to cut into the surface. Not too deep. Just deep enough to grout. They then grouted the cut areas and sealed the concrete. Near the edges of the rooms they couldn't cut so there were no grout lines but it was not that noticable. It looked fantastic. The stains from various tradies added to the character of the floor. This was back in the 80's when terracotta tiling was very big and they had it done with a terracotta colour. The large squares looked awesome. When i went to visit I actually though they'd had the place tiled instead. There are also acid washes that can be used on concrete to achieve interesting floor effects. Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 6Jan 30, 2011 11:06 am Well I've made contact with Onc and got a very basix estimate, but will hold judgement on price until I've had a chat with my builder. Might be able to work something out, and maybe it will fall within my budget (which isn't really a set figure, more an arbitary number atm - keep it under $380000 would be nice!) Let ya's know either way. It's mainly down to the fact that I can't stand the feel of vinyl underfoot but will have to sacrifice something somewhere. Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 7Jan 30, 2011 11:21 am Hmmm interesting... tiles and wood not more expensive than polished concrete?? I thought the cost is comparible, then it is just maintenance for ongoing costs. I mean if the cost of a nice tile is $45+ sq mtr and then it cost $40+ to put them down then the cost is very similar. Or a flash tile at $50-60 sq mtr will cost $50+ to lay. We all have different needs, the reason I have gone into polished concrete is not to make money, I can tell you it is not fun, not cheap to do, is heavy, very labour intensive... ...but also it is possibly the best way for us to 'use' our natural resorces( the sun ) in winter, and the earth in summer to help moderate the swings of temps we get, therefore reducing outgoings to heat and cool our homes. Add to that, if you need a slab it is there already(unless you have a timber frame and floor boards) so why not incorporate it, it is a floor for heavens sake, it catches stuff, it needs to be very hardwaring not to require regular ongoing maintenance, not to outgass fumes and be easily cleaned. Guys just get it please I am here to help! If you like polished concrete good! If you don't like polished concrete just be sure your ecconimic views are not clouded by a judgement of me! My passion - to help people achieve their goals, to help the planet reduce consuming vast quantities of stuff because of marketing, to bring food production home, to make passive solar elements available for those who want to use them & to share my experience. If I have lost it then let me know... Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 8Jan 30, 2011 12:23 pm Sounds like you've lost it mate but then who really had "it" to start with! Personally, I love the idea. Also love wood, but like you say, a lot more high maintenance and easier to damage too. Really it will just depend on how much is currently allocated to the flooring and the difference it will have on the overall cost. It is only my first house, but I still have to live in it after all! P.S. Onc, if the reply e-mail I sent last night seemed to be missing the end off it, thats because it was - I think I hit send whilst I was juggling windows when on the phone! Pretty much gonna get in touch with the builder to get a clearing picture on things then let ya know either way! Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 9Jan 30, 2011 12:38 pm While you are at it, you could ask the builder if he would let us place the concrete should you go ahead. ...then there are no arguments with placement and curing. Likely they will know us anyhow Oops prolly should have been via email but anyhow.. Yep half an email Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 10Jan 30, 2011 12:48 pm Rightio - will keep that in mind when I have a chat to him. Hopefully talk to him tomorrow sometime. Working FIFO does make it difficult to do this stuff! The WWW makes a huge contribution though! Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 11Jan 30, 2011 1:06 pm Hey Onc. if you dont mind me asking, we're getting the normal grey slab grinding and polished had any jobs like that for internal areas? got any piccies i might steal? we went to one shop in perth and they showed us the floor...and i think it looked so good than any other special mixes.. i couldnt really find any speacial mix that i actually liked.... but bit worried that it might look differ depends on who does the job..... Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 12Jan 30, 2011 1:19 pm Hmmm I know I have some, just where I an NOT sure This is a pretty boring photo part way through the process of an oLD building. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ There is also the option of honing and not grinding Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ But the floor needs to be a good concrete pour and cured for atleast a week. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 13Jan 30, 2011 2:19 pm Those are still better shots than what I've found elsewhere so far. Even just a plain slab (assuming thats whats in those last pics) looks the goods. Simple and room to be decorated with a rug/furniture etc. What sort of price rise would go into a fancier or patterned finish? I suppose the difference between honing and polishing too would be good? Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 14Jan 30, 2011 3:09 pm Costs about $65ish sq mtr. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 16Feb 09, 2011 8:58 pm It is not quite as hardwaring as a full polish job, but not far off. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 17Mar 05, 2011 12:16 am you can get that finish in full polished but the concrete does need to be layed perfect and 32mpa helps costs a little bit more but polishes up nicer looks great for normal grey i have all so seen one that was finished with a satin sealer that looked great two Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 18Mar 11, 2011 2:41 pm onc_artisan Hmmm I know I have some, just where I an NOT sure This is a pretty boring photo part way through the process of an oLD building. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ There is also the option of honing and not grinding Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ But the floor needs to be a good concrete pour and cured for atleast a week. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ ONC, I just lucked across this thread & have been looking for someone that does this type of work. It looks like you are able to get right into the corners, not sure how though. I had just about given up on the polished concrete idea as I could not see how you could get close around the door frames etc. I would be very keen to see some completed jobs in established houses where walls & door frames are already installed. Feel free to PM me. Nelson Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 19Mar 11, 2011 5:49 pm Prior to Gyprock and skirting boards it is easy Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Polished Concrete in Bunbury 20Mar 12, 2011 8:23 pm Sorry but the polish concrete looks so cold and boring, here is a great article about polish concrete and bamboo flooring, because both around the same price. http://www.simplybamboo.com.au/polished ... oring.html Bamboo Flooring Perth - Simply Bamboo http://www.simplybamboo.com.au To my understanding early saw cuts are to control shrinkage cracks, so doing them now would be pointless. 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