Salt and Pepper Polished Concrete in Northampton
The DirectStone team are passionate about creating beautiful polished concrete floors for clients… which sometimes means creating a different finish from the one originally intended. We were recently asked to provide a polished Paste finish on 90 m² for a client in Northampton. They were looking for an elegant enhancement to their living/dining area.
A Paste Finish for an Elegant Living/Dining Area
The HTC Superfloor™ Bronze, or Paste, finish is achieved by polishing the surface paste. The aggregate isn’t exposed in this instance. Instead the original surface is enhanced, with all its variations in colour, and slight variations in the flatness of the surface remain. We would normally recommend the HTC Bronze finish for level concrete slabs.
When the DirectStone team saw the dining floor, it quickly became apparent that the Paste finish wouldn’t be appropriate. For the simple reason that the concrete slab had been poorly installed, leaving the surface uneven. Had we attempted to polish the Paste, we would merely have accentuated the bumpy surface.
A ‘Salt and Pepper Alternative’
Our flooring specialists felt that the HTC Superfloor™ Gold, or ‘Salt and Pepper’ finish, would be preferable in the circumstances. This is a speckled finish which is created by drawing out the finer sands and aggregates within the concrete. Crucially, in this context, it’s achieved by removing around 1mm from the surface using a grinding machine. This would allow the team to even up the surface of the slab for our client.
We explained our concerns, and our client was happy to trust our judgement. Having removed the surface paste, we applied fine abrasives to hone the concrete until we achieved the Gold finish. We then applied densifiers, and sealed the flooring.
“The comments on our floor have been amazing, everyone loves it!”
The Big Reveal…
Our client was delighted with the HTC Gold finish we were able to achieve for them. More important, their friends loved the floor and told their friends that they had to take a look at it. The DirectStone team were delighted to have diagnosed the problems early on, with the initial plan, and been able to suggest an alternative that ended up looking absolutely stunning!!
Looking for an elegant polished concrete floor in your home? Call DirectStone on 01525 20863920. Our specialists create beautiful flooring.
