Polished concrete flooring in domestic dwelling?

OB1Kildare

we are going with -snip- to do the polish. they actually do the HTC superfloor ...not like some of the pricing we got - calling it a platinum floor then when you question if its htc they get all evasive . Ill pay the money for a htc floor but I wont pay the same for something polished with cheap chinese tools only half done . Then be told at the end when the finish is poor with loads of holes that my concrete must be bad. It really pays to research. we found marble and tile thru friends of ours- they fixed their polished concrete for them .....gave them a proper polished concrete floor after they had been told - oh your concrete must be poor" when they were left with millions of holes and a dull floor. it really was shocking how they were left . A chance meeting put them in touch with Marble and tile ....and they have a fab floor now . It just wasnt done properly the first time not a thing wrong with the concrete at all .

JAMESYOB

Muahahaha wrote: »

Would appreciate it if you could PM me that supplier

would it be possible to get those details PM to me also. trying to decide between both

JAMESYOB

Tefral wrote: »

You are correct but you are also not. Cemfloor liquid screed is made with cement and has 6-10mm stone aggregate in it. Which when you grind, exposes the aggregate the same as a concrete floor.

The floors all look different too depending on the quarry the raw materials come from. The base material all comes from Mcgraths in Cong in Mayo and the rest is batched in a local quarry. Ive seen samples polished that are near white, and the others are a mixture of black or grey. They can add coloured chip etc and it doesnt affect the fact its still a liquid screed.

It cuts down on floating etc as its self leveling so its very easy on labour.

and will any local Concrete supplier do this mix for you to pour? it would be a safer route to go down than aggregate and then grinding it?

regedit

I realise this is an old thread but just wondering if anyone who knows more than I could clarify a few things.
Our house has UFH and we have tiles fitted throughout downstairs. I suspect there's an issue with the screed but the tiles are developing hollow sound and there's a few already cracked so, ultimately in 2-3 years, we'll have to lift all the tiles (downstairs, close to 80-90 square meters) and replace them with something else. We're thinking for the kitchen , hallway and bathroom polished concrete and the rest wood/laminate.
Does there still need to be a 70-10 mm of concrete poured if there's concrete already there? Also, will the screed there at present have to be somehow lifted by grinding it if it is of poor quality (probably wrong mixture of sand and cement)?

Muahahaha

regedit wrote: »

Does there still need to be a 70-10 mm of concrete poured if there's concrete already there?

Id imagine that is a question that can only be answered by someone on site. AFAIK the height of your doors comes into consideration. But at a guess Id say yeah you would need more concrete because if you take the tiles away then the level of the floor goes down by their height so there would be a bigger gap underneath the doors than there is right now.

Also, will the screed there at present have to be somehow lifted by polishing if it is of poor quality (probably wrong mixture of sand and cement)?

Again really a question for a concrete flooring contractor on site who can see what it is like. You can polish whats already there but my understanding is you are unlikely to get the clean finished look of what you see of concrete floors in brochures or on interior design websites. Also if the concrete below is of poor quality then all you are doing is polishing a poor quality floor. If there is cracks in it they will still be there after polishing. As the saying goes if you polish a turd it is still a turd.

Finally if pouring more concrete another consideration is of the UFH. When I looked at this myself I was told that different concrete mixes have different heat conductivity. So you dont want to end up pouring something on your UFH that is a poor heat conductor or else or else you could find you are not getting the same heat from it. I remember there was a concrete polishing contractor at the Ideal Homes exhibition and on his stand he had various type of concrete with heat going through them, the heat difference between types was noticeable to the touch so bear that in mind too, you want to make sure the concrete has good heat conductivity or else the UFH might not work as well as it did when there was tiles there.

Susie Morrisroe

Would anyone be able to PM a reputable company that does polished concrete floors in the west of irlenad for new build.? TIA

Interested Bystander

Another real issue is how much you are prepared to pay. We found that the cost of polished concrete floors was a bit too steep for us

Muahahaha

yeah prices seem to range from about 100 to 150 per square metre which works out very expensive compared to other flooring methods

regedit

Muahahaha wrote: »

yeah prices seem to range from about 100 to 150 per square metre which works out very expensive compared to other flooring methods

Does that price include everything such as preparatory work, grinding uneven surfaces etc?

Muahahaha

regedit wrote: »

Does that price include everything such as preparatory work, grinding uneven surfaces etc?

Yes, that would be a finished price, though you can spend more than 150psm if you want specific finishes like colouring or crushed glass

This page gives a good idea of the work that is involved
https://www.pmac.ie/services/concrete-polishing/

Frozen Veg

What type of maintenance is required for polished concrete floors?

Does it cost much to maintain them?

BryanF

Frozen Veg wrote: »

What type of maintenance is required for polished concrete floors?

Does it cost much to maintain them?

Might need a wax/seal a year or two after install, and the every 4-5 after that. Depends on hard-ware areas really.

TheBoyConor

The most important thing is having the concrete specified and supplied correctly, and placed and finished correctly.

I have seen some attempts at polished concrete that were rapidly forgotten about and tiled over when the polished concrete revealed a very patchy pattern in the aggregate. Patches of dense aggregate, patches of pure fat. Inclusions of fragments of insulation debris in one area.

It is all about the quality and the competence of the people doing it.