Residential Concrete Polishing Services

Today, polished concrete is the fastest growing surface type in the United States and for good reason. In fact, for several good reasons.

Most people site is ease-of-maintenance and beauty which is now one of the biggest reasons for its use, but this was not the original reason either.

Polished concrete is also credited for creating a cleaner-indoor air quality. This is because the chemicals and plasticizers used in carpet adhesive, carpet underlayment and the carpet itself are not present at all and are not adding to poor indoor air quality. Still another great reason, but not the original reason.

Ever wonder why Home Depot and Lowes have taken the time to polish their concrete floors? They save millions of dollars in janitorial costs by polishing concrete. Years ago they were wondering why products on the shelf were so dusty and as they studied it why the dust was not concentrate by the entrances but was so evenly distributed throughout their large warehouse. By studying the dust it was determined that it came from 2 sources (1) concrete dust that was broken off from the then rough concrete surface (concrete is brittle when thin); and (2) ground salts that had entered the building carried by water vapor moving up through the floor. Once inside the water evaporated leaving the dissolved salt as a dusty floor deposit. The floor needed to be sealed to halt the intrusion of salt dust, and the concrete needed to be polished to remove the jagged brittle peaks that were breaking off to form the concrete dust. Good news, by sealing or reinforcing the concrete floor it can be polished to a mirror finish, in effect the polishing shine was a side effect versus a planned benefit. Today, the floor signals when it needs to be maintained as it losses its gloss signaling a roughening due to foot traffic.

So polished concrete reduces salt dust, concrete dust, improves interior air quality, is less expensive to install and is beautiful. You may have but one of these reasons, but will reap the benefit of all of them. We hope you enjoy your polished concrete floors as much as we enjoyed polishing them for you.

Yes.

Polished concrete does not have the pores and groves of rough pavement found in your driveway or sidewalk. By sealing these surfaces dirt is kept on the surface where it can be easily removed.

It will not wear or stain as easily as an absorbent carpet.

It lacks the grout lines to trap dirty mop water and concentrate dirt collected from the tile top, like a tile floor;

It is flat making it easier to dust mop and mop effectively.

The only surface that in our opinion may be better would be a granite slab floor but these are very rare, and then only if comparing to an unsealed concrete. Once sealed it is just as easy to clean and maintain.

Ever wonder why Home Depot and Lowes have taken the time to polish their concrete floors? They save millions of dollars in janitorial costs by polishing concrete. Years ago they were wondering why products on the shelf were so dusty and as they studied it why the dust was not concentrate by the entrances but was so evenly distributed throughout their large warehouse. By studying the dust it was determined that it came from 2 sources (1) concrete dust that was broken off from the then rough concrete surface (concrete is brittle when thin); and (2) ground salts that had entered the building carried by water vapor moving up through the floor. Once inside the water evaporated leaving the dissolved salt as a dusty floor deposit. The floor needed to be sealed to halt the intrusion of salt dust, and the concrete needed to be polished to remove the jagged brittle peaks that were breaking off to form the concrete dust. Good news, by sealing or reinforcing the concrete floor it can be polished to a mirror finish, in effect the polishing shine was a side effect versus a planned benefit. Today, the floor signals when it needs to be maintained as it losses its gloss signaling a roughening due to foot traffic.

So polished concrete reduces salt dust, concrete dust, improves interior air quality, is less expensive to install and is beautiful. You may have but one of these reasons, but will reap the benefit of all of them. We hope you enjoy your polished concrete floors as much as we enjoyed polishing them for you.

Builder’s love it because it is the cheapest floor solution. Any other floor system is going to be put over a concrete floor, as an additional cost. Polishing the concrete is a fraction of the cost of installing a carpet or tile floor. In fact, the concrete polishing process is often cheaper than just the labor costs associated with installing a tile floor.

From a health standpoint, a building with polished concrete floor will generally have better indoor air quality as a major source of chemicals and plastizers has been removed in the form of carpet adhesive, carpet underlayment and carpet itself..

It is easier to care for and maintain, as a flat floor it lacks the grout lines of a tile floor to trap dirty water during the cleaning process. As a flat floor it is easier to dust mop and wet mop.

A carpet can hold so much residual dirt that it is often more than 3 times the weight of what it was when installed. Imagine how much dirt that is.

There are good reasons for polished concrete to become the popular choice it has become. We are happy to work with our clients to convert an existing floor to a polished concrete floor.

Not all “shiny” concrete floors are equal. A gloss finish on concrete can be obtained in three different ways, only one of which delivers the full benefit of a polished concrete floor:

1. Wax
2. Coating
3. Guard Assisted Polishing
4. Natural Polishing

Wax is the worst offender. This is a coating that is so soft it has to be rebuffed occasionally, and because to traps dirt will need to be stripped off completely and re-applied periodically creating a lot of unnecessary waste. This is a very labor intensive process. The good news is that one can eliminate this wasteful treatment and convert easily to a polished concrete.

Coatings can be applied to enhance gloss, but when damaged or worn typically require the entire coating to be removed and reapplied, or one will see the difference in sheen between the newly applied coating and the old areas. There are some anti-graffiti, anti-mold coatings that MARBLELIFE will install when appropriate, but here again polished concrete is generally the lower cost alternative.

Guard assisted Polishing is where the floor is honed flat to a 200 grit finish, and an acrylic coating is applied that replicates the gloss of a 1500 or 1800 grit finish where one has good clarity and shine. While inexpensive this finish only last a few years at which point it must be either re-applied or the floor needs to be properly ground up mechanically to achieve the longterm low cost benefits of a polished concrete floor. If spec’d into a project MARBLELIFE will deliver a beautiful result, but the best approach for the building owner’s longterm maintenance cost of the building is generally a polished concrete floor (unassisted).

A naturally polished floor has a mechanical shine that derives from the fact that the floor is so flat that it will reflect light true. This requires the concrete to be densified to reinforce the concrete which can otherwise be porous and brittle with a liquid glass like material that allows the concrete to now be ground up to a mirror finish concrete surface. A coating being softer than concrete cannot provide the wear resistance of a properly polished concrete floor. When it comes to wear resistance, and low cost building maintenance this is the best option.