Various reasons make polished concrete floors in homes as well as in commercial places a much popular choice. Not only can concrete floors be installed in an array of colours and styles, but they are also extremely durable and low maintenance. Commercial and residential polished concrete floors offer bold, stylish looks and add to the visual narrative of interior spaces.
However, it is essential to know the pros and cons of polished concrete floors before embarking on transforming your floors into a visually and aesthetically pleasing piece of art. Hence, in this article, we shall discuss the pros and cons of polished concrete floors to help you decide whether concrete should be the choice of material for your commercial floors.
Pros and Cons of Polished Concrete Floors
First, let us look at the Pros of commercial and residential concrete floors.
- Longevity: Polished concrete floors often have greater durability than other flooring options available in the market. Concrete has proven to be a particularly robust material for commercial spaces with heavy traffic such as retail, warehouses, kitchens, airports, and restaurants. Polished concrete also boasts an extremely hard wearing surface and is therefore highly resistant to scuffs, wear and tear, or scratches.
- Cost Effective: Installing polished concrete floors in homes as well as in offices is more cost-effective than most other kinds of flooring, making them an affordable yet stylish choice for any kind of budget.
- Great Looks: Concrete floors in homes and offices give a fresh lease of life to all kinds of spaces. To understand how much flooring can add to the appeal of rooms you have to see and compare polished concrete flooring with other options. This type of flooring is also available in a myriad of design options that make it suitable for almost any kind of flooring project.
- Low Maintenance: Other flooring types such as wood or vinyl require periodic replacement and repair. However, this is not necessary for polished concrete floors, ensuring almost a 97% reduction in lifetime waste!
- Clean and Green: The installation of commercial or residential polished concrete floors requires less water and energy than any other flooring. This makes polished concrete floors clean, green, eco-friendly flooring options.
- No Sweat Cleaning: As they have a highly smooth finish, polished concrete floors do not pose any difficulty while cleaning. Regular vacuuming and mopping are all that is necessary to maintain polished concrete floors and keep them spick and span.
- Safety: While other flooring options like carpet, vinyl, or wood may contain VOC, polished concrete floors are VOC-free and don’t emit toxic compounds into the atmosphere. Further, the flat surface of polished concrete floors makes them safe and slip-resistant.
- Water Resistant: When a concrete floor is polished, one of the steps involves the use of a silicate densifier. This liquid leads to the reduction of the natural porosity of concrete. Once the porosity is reduced, the concrete floor will absorb less moisture in the case of water spillage or direr situations such as floods. The water resistance of commercial or residential polished concrete floors is so high that often, they won’t even require repairing after floods!
Cons of Polished Concrete Floors
Despite a spectrum of pros, polished concrete floors for homes or offices entail some cons as well. Here are certain things you need to keep in mind before choosing concrete for your next flooring gig.
- Concrete Quality Checking: The quality of concrete used for flooring projects is of utmost importance and must be checked as per standard quality measures. As polished concrete floors depend on an existing concrete slab, the quality of the concrete determines the look and feel of the finished floor.
- Hardness: The durability and longevity of concrete flooring remain beyond doubt owing to its resilience as a raw material. However, this innate strength of concrete can make it difficult to work with as these floors have no ‘give.’ One way to counter the fatigue caused to workers by concrete is the placement of anti-fatigue mats for them in projects where they may be required to stand all day.
- Coldness: A high thermal mass is a characteristic of polished concrete floors. This makes them cool to the touch. While this trait of concrete floors helps users reduce energy bills during summertime, polished concrete floors—like tile floors—may feel colder during the winter. One way to counter this may be the installation of radiant heating to commercial and residential polished concrete floors.
Also Read: 8 Reasons Why You Should Use Polished Concrete For Your Floors
Get on the Floor!
After this extensive article on the pros and cons of polished concrete floors, you are well-equipped to deal with concrete for your flooring. Once you have finalized the choice of polished concrete floors, gauge the specific requirements of the space including the budget, aesthetics, and long-term maintenance, to make informed choices on style, colour, and finish.
For expert and personalised recommendations on the best polished concrete floors that would be most suitable, reach out to Duphill Technical Solutions LLC and transform the awe-inspiring flooring of your dreams into concrete realities.