Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 41Apr 25, 2011 7:04 pm Keep me on the pace Jan, DW barred me from doing any work over the weekend, said it was unaussie for me to do anything other than entertain her. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 42May 06, 2011 12:33 pm We also install, sand and polish timber flooring. I don't advertise it but since we are ex carpenters we know this area very well. We are resanding a floor in Glen Waverley in about a month where the hair salon flooded. The boards now have 3mm humps along the joins. So the only possible way that they can do this is if moisture gets to the boards. Moisture anywhere on timber will make them expand. So if the floor hasn't been flooded then there must be more moisture in the atmosphere than when the floor went down. This is where you hear that timber floors should be down for 2-4 weeks before sanding and coating. We leave our floors down for at least 30 days. See the boards may have been in a dry factory for 12 months before going down and so no longer need to dry out on site but actually suck in moisture. Our problem with the hair salon is that naturally from the activity in the room such as the hair dryers and heating, the room is quite warm. It is also however quite humid and has a high level of moisture in the atmosphere. Thats why we have needed to wait so long for the floorboards to dry out. Air flow not heat is needed to dry out floorboards. The moisture content of the floorboards was up around 15%. We need to wait for it to at least get under 10%. It should be closer to 5-7% If we sand the floorboards too early, once the boards fully dried out they would go to the opposite of what they are now and the tongue and groove would be inverted. It looks even worse. So for builders, floorboards are easier because they always come up good to begin with. The long term maintainance is in your hands. Yes, polishing concrete is harder and can encounter more problems. If your builder is switched on and your polisher has some good experience it is no hardr than polishing floorboards. My personal opinion is that if the builders out there had more knowledge on this product, polished concrete floors would have a much better reputation. The home owners all want to trust their builder but most of the time the builders just talk rubbish and don't know anything. Any floor that we have hendled from start to finish including the pour has never let us down or our customers. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 43May 06, 2011 12:50 pm I would still love to see some more polish concrete photos, especially in the home, not work areas.... I hear good and bad info about polished concrete and each week I change my mind - wood, concrete, wood, concrete.... so confuzzzzzzling... also if don't have polished concrete in wet areas - what would you have instead of tiles..... Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 44May 06, 2011 1:03 pm mapcalla I would still love to see some more polish concrete photos, especially in the home, not work areas.... I hear good and bad info about polished concrete and each week I change my mind - wood, concrete, wood, concrete.... so confuzzzzzzling... also if don't have polished concrete in wet areas - what would you have instead of tiles..... Totally agree with you there Mapcalla, here in Melbourne its an industry crying out for a more customer orientated approach. However i may have stumbled on a solution. I have found a concrete supplier that specializes in honing as well, they come recommended by a VERY reliable source so I'm in the process of getting a quote. I'll let you all know how i go. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 45May 06, 2011 5:20 pm m_shawry We also install, sand and polish timber flooring. I don't advertise it but since we are ex carpenters we know this area very well. We are resanding a floor in Glen Waverley in about a month where the hair salon flooded. The boards now have 3mm humps along the joins. So the only possible way that they can do this is if moisture gets to the boards. Moisture anywhere on timber will make them expand. So if the floor hasn't been flooded then there must be more moisture in the atmosphere than when the floor went down. This is where you hear that timber floors should be down for 2-4 weeks before sanding and coating. We leave our floors down for at least 30 days. See the boards may have been in a dry factory for 12 months before going down and so no longer need to dry out on site but actually suck in moisture. Our problem with the hair salon is that naturally from the activity in the room such as the hair dryers and heating, the room is quite warm. It is also however quite humid and has a high level of moisture in the atmosphere. Thats why we have needed to wait so long for the floorboards to dry out. Air flow not heat is needed to dry out floorboards. The moisture content of the floorboards was up around 15%. We need to wait for it to at least get under 10%. It should be closer to 5-7% If we sand the floorboards too early, once the boards fully dried out they would go to the opposite of what they are now and the tongue and groove would be inverted. It looks even worse. So for builders, floorboards are easier because they always come up good to begin with. The long term maintainance is in your hands. Yes, polishing concrete is harder and can encounter more problems. If your builder is switched on and your polisher has some good experience it is no hardr than polishing floorboards. My personal opinion is that if the builders out there had more knowledge on this product, polished concrete floors would have a much better reputation. The home owners all want to trust their builder but most of the time the builders just talk rubbish and don't know anything. Any floor that we have hendled from start to finish including the pour has never let us down or our customers. Hello Thats why pre-bamboo flooring (compressed boards) is a perfect choice as they are already finished, no sanding and finishing is needed, and no waiting time. Once the floor as been installed you can walk on it. Also not forgetting that compressed bamboo flooring is twice as hard as any hardwood, and lot more stable. Bamboo Flooring Perth - Simply Bamboo http://www.simplybamboo.com.au Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 46May 06, 2011 6:55 pm m_shawry We also install, sand and polish timber flooring. I don't advertise it but since we are ex carpenters we know this area very well. We are resanding a floor in Glen Waverley in about a month where the hair salon flooded. The boards now have 3mm humps along the joins. So the only possible way that they can do this is if moisture gets to the boards. Moisture anywhere on timber will make them expand. So if the floor hasn't been flooded then there must be more moisture in the atmosphere than when the floor went down. This is where you hear that timber floors should be down for 2-4 weeks before sanding and coating. We leave our floors down for at least 30 days. See the boards may have been in a dry factory for 12 months before going down and so no longer need to dry out on site but actually suck in moisture. Our problem with the hair salon is that naturally from the activity in the room such as the hair dryers and heating, the room is quite warm. It is also however quite humid and has a high level of moisture in the atmosphere. Thats why we have needed to wait so long for the floorboards to dry out. Air flow not heat is needed to dry out floorboards. The moisture content of the floorboards was up around 15%. We need to wait for it to at least get under 10%. It should be closer to 5-7% If we sand the floorboards too early, once the boards fully dried out they would go to the opposite of what they are now and the tongue and groove would be inverted. It looks even worse. So for builders, floorboards are easier because they always come up good to begin with. The long term maintainance is in your hands. Yes, polishing concrete is harder and can encounter more problems. If your builder is switched on and your polisher has some good experience it is no hardr than polishing floorboards. My personal opinion is that if the builders out there had more knowledge on this product, polished concrete floors would have a much better reputation. The home owners all want to trust their builder but most of the time the builders just talk rubbish and don't know anything. Any floor that we have hendled from start to finish including the pour has never let us down or our customers. I have a question in regards to resanding. Our timber boards are cupping, quite badly in some areas. The shop/layers came out to have a look and said they will need resanding, but will do it after winter as that will be 12 months then since they were laid, which is fine by us. They tested the moisture content when they came to have a look and said it was fine, so obviously not a building problem, so would that mean we just had too much moisture in the air? That would make sense I guess. It was a really muggy hot summer compared to normal. So if the moisture content is fine now, should that mean they won't get any worse? Also, I was wondering about how the resanding is going to affect the thickness of the boards. Obviously quite a bit will have to be taken off to make them flat again, but will this affect whether we can sand them again in say 10 years time? They said we could wait if we wanted to as we have 3 young kids and they would do them when we were ready, but they are noticeable to me and I want my floors to look right so will get them done after winter, but with 3 young boys, they will need doing again in the future and don't want to affect that being able to be done. They are 13mm marri boards. (sorry to hijack this thread) Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 47May 06, 2011 7:47 pm is there any prices for the concrete too b polished and how long it takes... Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 48May 06, 2011 9:49 pm I really wish bamboo king would stop spamming these forums, its certainly not making me consider panda food as my flooring choice. Its nor appropriate for my heated floor and i hate the way it feels under foot.(my 2 cents worth) As for costs trishcoastie it depends on a few things but just for the polishing/grinding/honeing/sanding ..yeah they are all essentially the same thing...a quality tradie is charging around $100 bucks psm. We are looking at a white concrete and that adds to the costs but as we are having floor heating it works out not to be too much more as a second layer of concrete has to be laid anyway. I am awaiting a quote to not only polish the slab...but to lay the whole thing so i will let you know how i go. what state are you in btw? The trouble i have had is finding someone that will take care of the whole job, important as you want the materials used to be suitable for the final finish. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 49May 06, 2011 11:09 pm sceen7 mapcalla I would still love to see some more polish concrete photos, especially in the home, not work areas.... I hear good and bad info about polished concrete and each week I change my mind - wood, concrete, wood, concrete.... so confuzzzzzzling... also if don't have polished concrete in wet areas - what would you have instead of tiles..... Totally agree with you there Mapcalla, here in Melbourne its an industry crying out for a more customer orientated approach. However i may have stumbled on a solution. I have found a concrete supplier that specializes in honing as well, they come recommended by a VERY reliable source so I'm in the process of getting a quote. I'll let you all know how i go. that would be great - but I am in Perth, WA..... I just would love to see pictures of more homes with polished concrete. Onc has shown me some, but I would love to see it in the wet areas and what people think about it in wet areas. ie is it too slippery etc? If it is, what else could I use instead of tiles on the floor.... I HATE TILES... if you hadn't guessed...LOL.. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 50May 07, 2011 9:24 am A friend of mine has it through her entire house and it looks amazing, so seamless. I don't think they've had any problems with it being slippery. I guess just like tiles you have mats down in the wet areas. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 51May 07, 2011 1:24 pm sceen7 I really wish bamboo king would stop spamming these forums, its certainly not making me consider panda food as my flooring choice. Its nor appropriate for my heated floor and i hate the way it feels under foot.(my 2 cents worth) As for costs trishcoastie it depends on a few things but just for the polishing/grinding/honeing/sanding ..yeah they are all essentially the same thing...a quality tradie is charging around $100 bucks psm. We are looking at a white concrete and that adds to the costs but as we are having floor heating it works out not to be too much more as a second layer of concrete has to be laid anyway. I am awaiting a quote to not only polish the slab...but to lay the whole thing so i will let you know how i go. what state are you in btw? The trouble i have had is finding someone that will take care of the whole job, important as you want the materials used to be suitable for the final finish. Well Sorry you feel that way, I`m here to give people the correct advise when it comes to bamboo flooring, because there is a lot of miss information about this amazing product. You are in titled to your opinion about bamboo flooring, but don`t say that it is not suitable for under floor heating. Have you done your research into this? And to stay that you don`t like the feel of it under foot. The last time I checked, felt the same as any other hardwood flooring under foot. The comment about panda food was just plain stupid !! Bamboo Flooring Perth - Simply Bamboo http://www.simplybamboo.com.au Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 52May 07, 2011 1:26 pm Rizzo m_shawry We also install, sand and polish timber flooring. I don't advertise it but since we are ex carpenters we know this area very well. We are resanding a floor in Glen Waverley in about a month where the hair salon flooded. The boards now have 3mm humps along the joins. So the only possible way that they can do this is if moisture gets to the boards. Moisture anywhere on timber will make them expand. So if the floor hasn't been flooded then there must be more moisture in the atmosphere than when the floor went down. This is where you hear that timber floors should be down for 2-4 weeks before sanding and coating. We leave our floors down for at least 30 days. See the boards may have been in a dry factory for 12 months before going down and so no longer need to dry out on site but actually suck in moisture. Our problem with the hair salon is that naturally from the activity in the room such as the hair dryers and heating, the room is quite warm. It is also however quite humid and has a high level of moisture in the atmosphere. Thats why we have needed to wait so long for the floorboards to dry out. Air flow not heat is needed to dry out floorboards. The moisture content of the floorboards was up around 15%. We need to wait for it to at least get under 10%. It should be closer to 5-7% If we sand the floorboards too early, once the boards fully dried out they would go to the opposite of what they are now and the tongue and groove would be inverted. It looks even worse. So for builders, floorboards are easier because they always come up good to begin with. The long term maintainance is in your hands. Yes, polishing concrete is harder and can encounter more problems. If your builder is switched on and your polisher has some good experience it is no hardr than polishing floorboards. My personal opinion is that if the builders out there had more knowledge on this product, polished concrete floors would have a much better reputation. The home owners all want to trust their builder but most of the time the builders just talk rubbish and don't know anything. Any floor that we have hendled from start to finish including the pour has never let us down or our customers. I have a question in regards to resanding. Our timber boards are cupping, quite badly in some areas. The shop/layers came out to have a look and said they will need resanding, but will do it after winter as that will be 12 months then since they were laid, which is fine by us. They tested the moisture content when they came to have a look and said it was fine, so obviously not a building problem, so would that mean we just had too much moisture in the air? That would make sense I guess. It was a really muggy hot summer compared to normal. So if the moisture content is fine now, should that mean they won't get any worse? Also, I was wondering about how the resanding is going to affect the thickness of the boards. Obviously quite a bit will have to be taken off to make them flat again, but will this affect whether we can sand them again in say 10 years time? They said we could wait if we wanted to as we have 3 young kids and they would do them when we were ready, but they are noticeable to me and I want my floors to look right so will get them done after winter, but with 3 young boys, they will need doing again in the future and don't want to affect that being able to be done. They are 13mm marri boards. (sorry to hijack this thread) Just a question did they put a moisture barrier down before they laid your floor? Bamboo Flooring Perth - Simply Bamboo http://www.simplybamboo.com.au Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 53May 07, 2011 4:35 pm Rizzo A friend of mine has it through her entire house and it looks amazing, so seamless. I don't think they've had any problems with it being slippery. I guess just like tiles you have mats down in the wet areas. Is it possible to get some pictures??? pretty please..... Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 54May 07, 2011 5:57 pm macpalla, I will try next time I'm over there Bamboo king, yep, there was a moisture barrier done and the wood was at the right moisture content when laid. They are a reputable company and as soon as he walked in he saw the problem straight away and didn't hesitate in getting it fixed. I'm assuming the extra hot, humid summer we had may have something to do with it. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 55May 11, 2011 3:59 pm Rizzo macpalla, I will try next time I'm over there Bamboo king, yep, there was a moisture barrier done and the wood was at the right moisture content when laid. They are a reputable company and as soon as he walked in he saw the problem straight away and didn't hesitate in getting it fixed. I'm assuming the extra hot, humid summer we had may have something to do with it. No don`t think it would be because of the hot summer, cupping is caused when there is to much moisture. Maybe the air condition you are using. I think maybe moisture got into the floor from high use of the air conditioner. Bamboo Flooring Perth - Simply Bamboo http://www.simplybamboo.com.au Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 57May 13, 2011 3:02 pm mapcalla Rizzo A friend of mine has it through her entire house and it looks amazing, so seamless. I don't think they've had any problems with it being slippery. I guess just like tiles you have mats down in the wet areas. Is it possible to get some pictures??? pretty please..... O.K, I * she was over my house yesterday for the first time and I said that I would have loved to have the polished concrete and she said she loves it for how easy it is to clean, but it is very slippery. They have a young child. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 58May 16, 2011 8:01 pm I'll keep that in mind Rizzo.... as we have finally settled on who what where and why. I found a firm that looks after both the concrete supply and polish. I might start a seperate thread on our project as we start in a week today!!! Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 59May 27, 2011 11:00 am I am not keen on the dullness of grey. Is it possible to have an overlayed mix of white cement and white marble stones and polish that? I like the idea of gloss with inbuilt flecks of shine - a bit like some of the kitchen bench tops. Re: Polished Concrete or Timber floors 60May 28, 2011 4:21 pm We're in the process of finalising our plans and have just been to look at some polished concrete samples. Look fantastic. Our house will have 4 steps in the corridor leading up to the living/kitchen area and i'm a bit concerned about the potential slipperyness of the steps if they are polished,with damp shoes/feet. An alternative would be to have wood steps as a contrast and to make them a bit safer. Is this an issue or not worth worrying about? Cheers Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15909 Sam There is a much stronger glue than liquid nails. It's called T Rex and will stick your timber to the concrete. Cheers Simeon 1 1551 |