Hi everyone! I’m a long time stalker of homeone - there’s a wealth of experience on here!
We’re in the planning stages of our second build (first custom one - woohoo! ) in Newcastle, NSW and I know its jumping the gun but I’ve been doing some reading (and looking – I’ve fritted away many an hour on the houzz website!) at all the beautiful ways to finish concrete floors. I know onc_artisan is a bit of a resident expert, so if he or anybody has any experience / industry knowledge / insight into concrete floors to share, I’d love to hear it!
I’ve got HEAPS of questions, so I’ll try not to overwhelm everyone in one go:
1. I’m hearing lots of different m2 prices mentioned (from $20/m2 to $150+) ? What do they include that changes the price (not supply of the concrete I’m assuming?), and what makes a difference – level of grinding? Finished applied to the top? Aggregates? Colours? … something else?? What’s ‘normal’ to pay for polished concrete?
2. People talk about honed concrete, burnished concrete, and german concrete floors ( I tried googling german concrete floors and just got information about concrete floors in german!!) – are these the same things??, and, what is the difference between them and ‘real’ polished concrete? And what else changes – price? Texture and finish? Durability? Water-resistance? Stain-resistance?
3. It seems like every person applies a different finish– some waxed, some water-based coatings or polyurethane-based coatings (sealers??) and some with no finish applied on top at all – what is the difference? And are some finishes more prone to being dusty or need recoating more often or more water-repellent…? Or is it just to achieve greater depth of colour or different shine levels?? And with an uncoated finish, or even a waxed one, how on earth do you clean it?? And does uncoated polished (or honed / burnished / etc) concrete stain easily?
4.The finished look - Some photos I’ve seen of polished concrete have aggregate showing everywhere and others that are just delicately mottled – is this produced by sprinkling aggregates on the top of the wet concrete? Or do you mix them all through and then grind down further till you hit the pretty rocks…? I actually like them both, but I cant work out how the same process can achieve both looks – unless maybe the mottled one is concrete with no aggregate in it?? But doesn’t all concrete need aggregates (structurally)??
5. Can a waffle pod slab be polished? (I know our builder and our engineer definitely prefer waffle pod) How much do you cut off the top? And does the slab have to be poured slightly thicker to compensate for the bit that’s ground off? Can it be done on any soil type (ours is highly reactive, so I know that needs a particular grade of slab that suitable for H class soils)…?
6. Is it possible to DIY and get a nice finish? We’re not at all afraid of hard work, ( we successfully did a lot on our last house by ourselves), and everyone says the cost of polished concrete is largely because it’s so labour intensive – but has anyone on homeone tried it? I love putting in some elbow grease and getting a great result with less stress on the budget, but I am also a firm believer that there are some jobs that are best left to the professionals! So has anyone here given it a go?
7. And lastly – does anyone out there have polished (or honed / burnished / etc) concrete at home? Are you happy with how it looks and the wear-and-tear and cleaning? Does it stain easily? Do you have to recoat it often? Do they get very hot if they’re dark-coloured and getting summer sun on them? (we’ve tried very hard to be solar passive, but our block presents some challenges, so we will have a couple of western windows! )
Thanks in advance for your help - looking forward to reading the answers!
Amy