The many benefits of concrete surfaces consistently attract commercial and industrial workplaces with high foot traffic and heavy materials. Concrete floors have fire resistance, durability, and versatility many other floors do not. Polished concrete can improve on those traits while increasing its longevity.
After all, concrete usually comes in a single color that sometimes fails to match indoor aesthetics. It can give the area an unfinished look that does not suit what the business wants to emulate. Moreover, although concrete has exceptional durability, it lacks invulnerability and can build up cracks, stains, and dents over time.
Polished concrete presents a way to improve the concrete’s hardiness and make its appearance sleeker and more professional. It can also ease daily maintenance woes, allowing employees to clean up quickly. Our concrete polishing experts can help your commercial or industrial building utilize efficient and stylish polished floors.
What You Can Expect During Concrete Polishing
The concrete polishing process involves several successive steps that steadily reform and design your concrete floors. The steps may vary depending on your preferences toward a specific finish or trait you want. Regardless, each polishing job begins by evaluating the current concrete’s hardness and condition.
After the assessment, we often use a specially formulated diamond-embedded tool on the floor to grind off the first layer. Removing the first layer also removes stains, debris, and unsightly discoloration that seeped into the floor.
The coarse result allows us to use unique additives that can affect the rest of the concrete. Some of these additives allow us to improve the slip and fire resistance of your floors to improve safety.
It also provides the base on which we can place additional finishers as we continue the grinding process. Finer grit finishes take longer to complete, but the floor will appear shinier.
How Densifiers, Dyes, and Sealers Affect the Process
Densifiers permeate the concrete during its rough state to form crystalline structures in the rest of the slab. These structures strengthen the concrete and help it last longer while reducing the chance of future stains.
We can incorporate dye into the polish for a new look for those who desire something other than gray. The colored polish helps your floors pull their weight in the interior design aspect. Even warehouses and car repair garages can benefit from the splash of color, motivating employees by updating a previously bleak atmosphere.
Many polishing jobs finish with a sealer to retain the shine and make it brighter. This protective layer helps keep contaminants from seeping into the floor, like harsh chemicals and bacteria. The sealer also helps the concrete last longer, and certain formulas can reduce slipping even with the shine.
Why You Should Polish Your Concrete Floors
You likely already see some of the advantages of polished concrete, but they have further applications that make them desirable. Still, every pro doesn’t come without its cons. Let’s list the possibly negative points of these floors before we go into the long list of benefits.
For example, the hardness of a polished concrete floor can make them uncomfortable to stand on for long periods. However, you can alleviate that discomfort with mats, rugs, or other soft materials that give under increased weight.
Polished concrete can also feel cold because it is such a good thermal conductor. If the warehouse has cool air, the floors will likely be just as cold.
However, because of their good thermal conduction, you can easily heat them with a radiant floor heating system. Additionally, few instances occur in a commercial or industrial setting in which a person would ever be barefoot in the first place.
With those potential cons out of the way, let’s evaluate the many pros and how they can benefit your business:
- Low Maintenance: Once we finish the polishing process, you can expect it to last for the building’s lifetime. Of course, you can always ask for touch-ups if the shine fades at any time. However, you can generally expect traditional cleaning, like mopping and sweeping, to take care of its regular maintenance.
- Environmentally Friendly: Polishing concrete floors does not involve hazardous chemicals, adhesives, or coatings during installation. Your business can reduce its chemical and carbon footprint since floor maintenance and retouching uses eco-friendly materials. Its thermal conduction can also help keep rooms cold or warm as an added insulator, reducing energy use.
- Increased Affordability: Concrete in its base form can be six to eight times less expensive than other flooring materials. While polishing the concrete can increase its price, it also increases its benefits. The initial costs tend to be lower than other materials, and easy maintenance saves money over time.
- Healthier Option: Vinyl, carpet, and laminate release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, which can cause health issues with extended exposure. While some concrete releases VOCs, polishing the concrete can reduce its output. If you already used low-VOC concrete, the new coatings only enhance its already-present properties.
- Protective: Slips and falls contribute to over 25% of workplace injury reports, making your floors a big deal. As mentioned earlier, polished concrete doesn’t make things slippery when you don’t want it to be. We can add non-slip epoxy to your floors to add the texture needed to help lower that statistic.
- Increased Brightness: As a subsection of its potentially protective properties, polished concrete can increase the brightness levels in your building. The floors will reflect natural and artificial light, allowing you to lower your energy usage. It can also help employees see better in the room, even on dark, cloudy days.
Your Source for Polished Concrete in Pittsburgh, PA
Z Worx Construction helps commercial and industrial businesses in and around Pittsburgh, PA, experience the benefits of polished concrete. We offer polyaspartic and polyurea coatings with a 5-year warranty so you can experience the advantages of our products. Our experts can find the best polishing method and finish for your property’s floors with a free consultation and quote.
Call Z Worx Construction at 412-226-4781 to start improving your concrete flooring today!