The Best way to Safeguard Polished Concrete Floors
Polished concrete flooring is becoming a more common option for flooring due to its attractive and long-lasting features.
Additionally adaptable, polished concrete looks great both inside and outside of residential and business buildings. Installing polished concrete flooring is a wise and simple decision, but what are the best way to safeguard it and looking good once you have it?
Find out everything you need to know about polished concrete floor below! If you want to install the epoxy flooring, you can reach out to Tuff Build, the best epoxy flooring services in Melbourne.
Here are the procedures for setting up a polished concrete floor. However, if you are curious about how to install polished concrete flooring for your new construction or restoration, the stages are as follows:
Preparation
If you are constructing a new home, you must make initial preparations for polished concrete. Tell your builder to use 32 MPA concrete if you want to view the ornamental aggregate. You'll need concrete that is 40 MPA or 50 MPA if you like an industrial-style floor with little to no aggregate visible. You have the chance to design the greatest polished concrete finish possible when you are building a new house.
But what if you have a different type of flooring, like tiles, and you wish to renovate? The good news is that a lot of flooring are of concrete. You almost certainly will be able to reuse the concrete that is now under your tiles, carpet, wood floorboards, or vinyl. In order for us to examine the state of your current concrete, the existing one will need to remove. After the prior floor has been removed, we frequently polish old and existing concrete.
If concrete does not support any concrete, you might opt to have a new topping slab poured. We do not handle the concrete pouring, so you will need to consult some professionals to see whether this is a viable solution. You can start digging if an expert gives the go-ahead! Your current floor will be removed, a plastic covering will be put on top, followed by the installation of concrete formwork and maybe a coating of sand to keep out moisture. Different concrete contractors may employ different techniques. There will be a few layers of plastic and sand, with wire mesh on top. The pouring can start after the mesh is in place.
Pouring
The concrete needs to be poured with extreme caution. The concreter will use a float to make sure the floor is perfectly level and that the proper volume of concrete is poured to maintain the height of your floor as it was before. Regardless of size, it typically takes 28 days for the slab to be sufficiently cured to mechanically polish.
Polishing
When the concrete has sufficiently hardened, we may begin polishing! For this, heavy machinery requires that weighs almost a tonne.
To start exposing the aggregate, the concrete surface must first be diamond concrete ground to remove any remaining tile mortar or glue. There are several horizontal rotating discs or plates on the devices. Industrial grit metal bonded diamonds are inserted in each of these plates to grind into concrete while giving them a gorgeous appearance.
There are a lot of steps that you can take to convert a floor into mechanically processed concrete; this is another reason why polishing a professional should do. Following polishing, the floor will require a thorough cleaning. because sealing the concrete requires that the surface be clear of any debris and loose particles.
Sealing
Sealing the floor is an important step. Because the sealer is the first layer of defense against stains for years to come. This last step requires proper attention to ensure the sealer is evenly applied. You can get assistance from Tuff Build, the best epoxy flooring services in Melbourne. Our team will do work for concrete sealer.
Drying
Once sealed, it should only take the floor about 30 minutes to dry. With Melbourne's weather in mind, variables like moisture, concrete temperature, and air flow may extend the process by an additional half hour. Although even this is a very short amount of time for a floor to cure. Your polished concrete floor will be ready to use after it has dried.
Polished Concrete Floor Benefits
Polished concrete floors come with a swathe of benefits that you simply cannot get from other types of flooring. These benefits include:
Polished concrete is far more resilient than more conventional flooring materials like carpet and planks. Because mechanically polished concrete has no topical coating, it can withstand extremely high foot traffic and daily living, unlike floors that will become scratched because of the sealer's topical coating and carpets that experience wear and tear from embedded particles and fiber breakage. It can still appear as good as the day it was first finished with routine care such as cleaning and mopping.
Lifespan: Polished concrete flooring has by far the longest lifespan of any flooring material. With very little maintenance and some very simple cleaning instructions, it can outlive you.
Cost-effectiveness: Polished concrete flooring is more affordable than carpet and vinyl because it requires less upkeep and would not need to be replaced as soon as a few years pass.
Low Maintenance: If spills are cleaned up right away, polished concrete will stay stain-free. You would not have to worry about dirt and grime getting into cracks. You would not have to worry about the tile grout getting discolored. And it is simple to clean because dust settles on the pore less surface rather than getting trapped inside the flooring.
Energy Efficient: You would not have any trouble heating your home in the winter. Because polished concrete pairs incredibly well with radiant floor heating systems. Its insulation is great because of the high thermal mass, which slowly absorbs and releases temperatures. In the summer, polished concrete is fantastic at keeping your home cool. So, you would need to run your air conditioner nonstop.
You do not need to be concerned about the safety of this flooring option because polished concrete does not employ dangerous chemicals. During the floor polishing process, the VOC level is minimal, and after just a few days of curing, it is zero.
Outstanding for Asthma and Allergy Sufferers: Polished concrete is a very hygienic and non-allergenic floor. It does not have any crevices where allergens like pollen, dust mites, Mould spores, or pet hair fibers may hide. Children love to play on the floor, thus this can be a very essential consideration when designing your family home.
Even though polished concrete floors are quite durable, there are some maintenance procedures you should follow to maintain them in top shape.
Maintaining your floors made of polished concrete
Depending on your preferred cleaning method, you can clean polished concrete in a relatively straightforward way. To maintain the polished concrete surface clean, use any of the following techniques: sweeping, vacuuming, or dry mopping. If the polished concrete is near a lot of activity. You might want to consider cleaning or sweeping it every few days. Because tracked-in grit or sand can act as fine sandpaper. Use a vacuum head with brush rolls to pick up dirt and debris. These heads are gentle on floors because they would not scrape grit against polished concrete as you suck.
You can mop your floor to clean it more thoroughly after sweeping or vacuuming. To restore the new appearance of your floors, all you need is a moist mop with a microfiber head.
You should immediately wipe up any spills on the floor. Although polished concrete would noy stain as quickly as a light-colored carpet, spills that soak in will still leave stains, especially if the liquid contains cooler, like red wine or beet juice. If they are not removed right away, liquids that are overly acidic or alkaline—such as bleach, ammonia, or pet urine. This can discolor surfaces by eating away at the finish.
Avoid purchasing acidic or very alkaline cleaning products for your polished concrete floor as these can harm your flooring. Look for pH- balanced materials designed for polished concrete. Following the completion of your floor polish, we provide you a full, complimentary container of pH-balanced cleanser.
Restoring your polished concrete floors' lustre
Your polished concrete floors might start to look a little duller over time. A professional with understanding of the components used to create your floor. They have access to the right equipment is the best person to refresh your polished concrete. The equipment is quite expensive to acquire or rent, and mistakes can ruin the finished product.
Keeping your polished concrete flooring safe while building is underway
You must ensure that your contractor properly protects your floors during construction. Although polished concrete is quite durable, building frequently poses numerous particular difficulties, such as making sure that overspray from sprayed ceilings does not fall into your floor or preventing the drop of a heavy tool with a sharp edge. Other factors that are typical of construction sites that can harm your floor include:
Petroleum is a highly viscous material that can discolor floors.
Paint and timber stains: paint can stain your floor after it has dried, and timber stains will stain it right away.
Acids can corrode concrete.
Never tape anything to the floor with adhesive tapes since the glue in them can harm polished surfaces.
Paint thinners and removers have the potential to harm polished surfaces.
Conclusion
Due to their beauty, toughness, and affordability, polished floors are popular with customers in all industries, but only when reliable expert. Our team at Grind and Seal has more than 20 years of commercial and industrial experience in the grinding, polishing, and sealing of concrete.
If you're curious about what polished concrete may do for your business, keep reading. You can get in touch with Tuff Build, the best epoxy flooring services in Melbourne for more details.
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