LOOKING FOR A POLISHED CONCRETE FLOOR SPECIALIST?
Offering a unique combination of style, elegance, and durability, it’s no wonder that polished concrete flooring is so popular. Its minimalist aesthetic is completely on trend – and it works wonderfully well with underfloor heating. As a polished concrete floor specialist, DirectStone knows the stunning effect that concrete flooring can achieve in bathrooms, kitchens, and open-plan living areas.
BENEFITS OF POLISHED CONCRETE FLOORING IN YOUR HOME
It looks great, certainly, but polished concrete delivers a whole lot more than elegant aesthetics:
- Durability. A concrete floor will last longer than pretty much any other flooring. At a conservative estimate it will still be looking good a century from now. Which means you’ll never have to replace your concrete flooring!
- Sustainability. In the majority of cases, there’s no need to lay a concrete floor as it’s already there. Most homes have concrete foundations. The flooring is created by polishing your existing floor surface.
- Low Maintenance. The surface simply has to be kept dust free. That means the use of a damp mop regularly. We always recommend that acidic spillages, such as coffee or wine, are wiped up quickly, but apart from that it looks after itself!
- Dust-Mite Resistant. The seamless, shimmering surface of polished concrete leaves nowhere for dust to hide. So long as the floor is regularly swept, your flooring will remain dust free, which is a massive relief for anyone with allergies.
- Non-Slip. You don’t have to worry that the shinier the floor, the more likely it is to cause slips and falls. Whatever intensity of polished finish you choose, our concrete floors are treated to prevent trips and slipping.
- A Great Partner to UFH. Concrete has a dense thermal mass which makes it a perfect partner for underfloor heating. Plus, the seamless flooring makes it easier for heat to travel fast and efficiently to every corner of the room.
WHERE DOES A POLISHED CONCRETE FLOOR WORK BEST?
There are numerous options for polished concrete, indoors and out. Deciding where to utilise it as a design feature is really up to you. As a concrete floor specialist we’ve created matte concrete patios for the garden, highly polished flooring for a barn conversion, and lustrous concrete flooring for ground floor bathrooms, kitchens and stairs. The beauty of working with concrete as a material is that it tends to look good wherever you put it.
POLISHED CONCRETE FLOOR FINISHES
Every polished concrete floor we create is unique, not only because of the aggregate patterning and colouring, but also because of the finish selected by our clients. We have a range of options to select from:
- Bronze Finish. This is the only finish that doesn’t start with us grinding back the surface paste. The top layer of the concrete floor remains, and its natural colouration is polished to a deep, mirror-like sheen.
- Silver Finish. We use HTC machines to grind deep into the concrete until the ballast is exposed. This natural patterning is then left unpolished for an elegant matte surface finish.
- Gold Finish. This produces a gloss finish which is achieved by grinding back the surface paste and then polishing the exposed concrete with the HTC Twister™ to produce a tough, durable finish.
- Platinum Finish. Our signature high gloss effect requires the most grinding and polishing stages. The result is an unbeatably durable, shimmering floor.
POLISHED CONCRETE FLOOR REFURBISHMENT
The concrete floor specialist team at DirectStone spend quite a bit of their time repairing and refurbishing concrete floors that have been poorly polished or finished. This will often require stripping back the surface of the floor to its original state. We then hone and densify the floor to provide the necessary foundation for the polish. Finally, we apply a silicate cure before polishing and finishing with a stain protector.
RESEALING YOUR POLISHED CONCRETE FLOORING
Part of the process of polishing a concrete floor is adding a sealer to protect the surface. Over time, daily wear and tear reduces the effectiveness of the application and it has to be replaced. Dependent on the footfall, this is something that will normally be required every 2-5 years. The surface will need to be removed and replaced to recreate the original finish. Once the process is complete, your polished concrete floor will look as good as new!
If you’d like to know more about polished concrete flooring, or if you have a concrete floor that needs refurbishment, call DirectStone Concrete Floor Specialist on 01525 601099
