Polished concrete is starting to increase in popularity in Australia and for good reason – polished concrete floors are practical, beautiful and incredibly long wearing.  A polished concrete floor suits any style of home from traditional through to ultra modern.  Here’s what you need to know about this new type of flooring.

What is Polished Concrete?

Polished concrete is essentially concrete that has been polished to create a beautiful decorative surface.  There are different ways to create polished concrete including steel trowelling, burnishing, and honing.  Steel trowelling is done by using a steel trowel to polish the floor by hand or with a powered trowelling machine. The aim is to smooth the concrete just before it sets so that it achieves an extremely smooth and “polished” appearance.  Burnishing and honing are the two more popular techniques for concrete polishing and they involve using a succession of gradually finer abrasives to grind the concrete until the desired polished effect is achieved.

Polished concrete is generally done to new concrete surfaces but it can also be done to existing concrete as a form of concrete resurfacing.

The concrete can be left as its natural grey colour but colours can be introduced in a number of ways. One way is to add a pigment to the concrete while it is being mixed so that the colour goes all the way through the concrete.  Another is to apply special chemical stains or tints to the surface. Staining and tinting are more effective where patterned finishes are required.

Benefits of Polished Concrete Floors

There are several benefits of using polished concrete as your main type of flooring.  Just some of them include:

1. The sheer beauty of the floor once it is polished
   
   
2. The ability to create all different kinds of colours, textures and patterns, depending on the method used to polish the floor
   
   
3. It is ideal for allergy or asthma sufferers as it is so easy to control dust and debris
   
   
4. It is a safe form of flooring as you can add anti slip coatings
   
   
5. Cool in summer and warm in winter (when the sunlight hits it)
   
   
6. The ability to create decorative features by inlaying items such as shells, stone, aggregates, marble, and more into the top layer of the concrete
   
   
7. The ability to have many different colours
   
   
8. It is incredibly low maintenance and long wearing