Duphill’s Polished Concrete is a high-strength screed with a low water-cement ratio that is semi-dry and fast-curing. It can be applied in thicknesses of 20mm to 50mm and contains a wide range of decorative aggregates, such as granite, marble, or other stones. This creates a vintage floor design with modern performance. Unlike traditional concrete, which takes at least 28 days to cure and reach optimal strength and moisture content for finishing, Duphill’s Polished Concrete is fully cured and ready for treatment after just 5-7 days, depending on factors such as ambient temperature, ventilation, and atmospheric humidity.
Polished Concrete Grinding Sequence
Duphill’s Polished concrete involves a multi-step process. The screed is mechanically ground, honed, and polished using bonded abrasives to cut the surface of the concrete floor. With each cut, the surface is refined to achieve the desired appearance level.
Polished Concrete Polishing Sequence
The Polished Concrete process involves several stages of surface processing. Typically, it requires at least four grades of polishing to achieve the desired level of finish. Each stage involves the use of progressively finer polishing tools, which determines the level of gloss and shine on the final floor.
Polished Concrete protection through the choice of sealer
Duphill provides a range of finishes for their Polished Concrete floors, with options ranging from high gloss to super matte. These finishes are achieved through the use of various sealers, each of which offers unique benefits to the concrete surface:
- Protects against harsh weather conditions
- Prevents slipping in cold or wet conditions
- Enhance the concrete colour
- Improves the floor’s cleanability
- Protects against water and chlorides
- Offers excellent Abrasion resistance
- Increases durability against foot traffic and normal wear and tear
Polished Concrete’s Contribution to LEED
As the construction industry aims to embrace more sustainable building solutions, finding affordable and eco-friendly options has become crucial. Duphill’s Polished Concrete not only offers a natural, durable, and stunning finish, but it also meets all the requirements for LEED certification due to the following reasons:
- Including additional building materials in projects has a significant impact on the environment, including the harvesting of raw materials, manufacturing, processing, packaging, and transportation. As concrete is a crucial ingredient in all construction projects, Duphill’s Polished Concrete provides an ideal floor finish that reduces the environmental footprint, conserves natural resources, and decreases pollution and costs associated with material shipping.
- Due to its negligeable VOC, Duphill’s Polished Concrete has no negative effect on Indoor air quality. (critical component in green construction).
- Duphill’s Polished Concrete provides a reflective floor finish through meticulous fine polishing, which greatly reduces the amount of artificial lighting needed in the area. This results in significant energy savings and improved efficiency, making it an eco-friendly solution.
- The thermal mass of Duphill’s Polished Concrete is substantial, providing a significant contribution to temperature control, which reduces the workload on HVAC systems.
Duphill’s Polished Concrete demonstrates how sustainability and aesthetics can be achieved without sacrificing one for the other or exceeding budget constraints.