Finished Concrete Floors

Finished concrete floors are a good looking, durable option if you have concrete in your home or commercial space. The question is, are finished concrete floors the right choice for YOUR space? Since I’ve been doing concrete finishing for 15 years I’ll be able to help you answer that question.

What’s The Most Ideal Situation?

Finishing your NEW concrete floor is the most ideal situation. If the floor is virgin meaning without any stains, scratches, or divots in it, this is the best time to have them finished New floors are by far the easiest to get finished and make them look immaculate. Unfortunately this is not the situation for most property owners.

Working with older concrete isn’t a problem but might require more work to make it look great. This might require diamond grinding the concrete so that a topical sealer (surface sealer) can be applied. In addition, the diamond grind can be brought up to a polished finish which looks nice as well.

The only thing that’s REALLY involved is floor stripping… if there’s already floor adhesives or old coatings down on the floors. Floor stripping is the most expensive service I offer because it’s involved and time consuming. I have plenty of YouTube videos on the process if you want to see me get tortured by a floor… ha! So if you have an older concrete floor with adhesives, paint, or sealers already on the concrete, I would recommend getting the floor professionally done or contacting me personally for coaching on the project.

Should I Hire Someone To Do This?

That’s hard to say. Some people have more money than time and if that’s the case, hire a contractor in your area that does this kind of service. Just make sure you check their reviews and get an estimate with a maximum cost so they don’t hike the price up on you after starting the project. I’ve written a Consumer Awareness Guide to hiring concrete contractors to help you with the hiring process.

Now if you have more time than money then doing it as a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) project is a good option. Especially if your concrete is new. New concrete just needs a thorough cleaning using an acid replacement cleaner like Revive. Next you would rinse the concrete to neutralize the concrete and then allowing the concrete to thoroughly dry. After it’s dry you can apply an easy to use sealer like Barrier urethane so that it looks amazing and is protected. This is the sealer I use for my clients in residential and commercial spaces. It’s very chemical resistant (especially compared to polished concrete) and scratch resistant as well. These sealers are much longer lasting compared to hardwood and vinyl flooring too.

Your concrete might be a little older and might need to be sanded or diamond ground. In this case you can rent a floor machine from a local shop or Home Depot. Yep, Home Depot carries floor machines, diamond pads, and sanding screens all for rent. If using a machine like this is a little intimidating, don’t fret. I can coach you through it and send you exclusive videos on how to use the machines, diamond grind, and sand floors. Yay!

Polishing Concrete

Polishing concrete is one of the most common styles of finished concrete floors. The only thing about polishing is that it’s NOT a Do-It-Yourself project. There’s a lot of grit levels of diamonds involved and no companies that I know of rent these. Compared to hiring someone, it would be more expensive to buy the diamond pads required for polishing. So if you like the polished look you’ll have to have that done professionally.

The downfalls of polished concrete are that the floors can be etched and stained easily. Polished concrete usually is sealed with a densifying sealer (penetrating sealer) that helps resist stains. But if a substance say like wine or something spills and dries, it will etch and stain the surface. You’ll usually see these stains on grocery store floors because of spills. This is the main reason I do more grind and seals for my clients than polishing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope this helps you decide of finished concrete floors are the right choice for your project. If you have any other questions please feel free to fill out the contact form on our home page. I will personally answer any questions you might have about the subject.