Polished Concrete
Polished Concrete offers unparalleled durability
A properly honed and well-maintained polished floor can last as long as the existing building and will mature with age. Unlike standard flooring types, Polished Concrete floors provide a decorative finish with character and do not require regular waxing or resurfacing. Polished Concrete is virtually maintenance free, and is the only flooring product that is as solid as bedrock.
Radiant floor heating is accentuated by Polished Concrete, typical flooring solutions require adhesives that tend to delaminate from heated surfaces. On top of delamination, products like carpet and vinyl can reduce the ambient heat gain provided by radiant floor heating systems. Polished concrete cannot delaminate and will transfer heat more efficiently.
Polished Concrete has a high level of light reflectivity which can provide energy savings by reducing the requirements for artificial lights. This promotes a bright, clean environment perfect for any application.
Polished Concrete is considered to be an excellent sustainable design flooring solution. Most buildings, both new and existing, are designed with solid concrete slabs; polishing the exposed slab eliminates the energy and materials required for other flooring types. Including Polished Concrete into a retrofit or new construction project can help you attain a LEED Rating from the Canadian Green Building Council.
Polished Concrete floors exceed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OHSA) recommendations for workplace slip resistance in both wet and dry conditions and seamless flooring removes the potential for trip hazards.
Polished Concrete is perfect for concrete old and new, its aesthetics are stunning on their own, yet are subtle enough to age gracefully. It truly is a floor that will never go out of style, Polished Concrete is great in Commercial, Residential, Industrial and Institutional applications, basically anywhere you want a beautiful floor that will outlast any other.
True Polished Concrete is achieved by a multi-stage technical process. The system is typically split into five phases. Each phase has multiple processes that must be completed in order to achieve a fully honed, sealed and ultimately polished surface. Bedrock Floors is dedicated to providing a true polished finish, there is no substitution for quality when it comes to our installation process.
Although Bedrock Floors takes the utmost care when installing a Polished Concrete floor, there are factors out of our control. Every concrete slab can vary from place to place in porosity, depth of aggregate, hardness, and wear and tear on existing floors. It is our duty to communicate these variations throughout the process, and take any necessary measures to ensure the floor is up to the customer’s and our own expectations. At Bedrock Floors, we strive to create a lasting relationship. Beautiful floors at a great cost, without any surprises.
The Process
Phase 1: Preparation
The initial phase is the most important in the concrete polishing process. All surface contaminants such as adhesives, coatings, and loose materials must be removed via mechanical abrasion utilizing metal suspended diamond tooling. Once the surface has been adequately ground , any existing surface spalling should be patched and left to cure.
Phase 2: Honing
Honing of the prepared concrete is critical in refining the surface to a smooth, scratch free surface that will allow the pores of the concrete to be sealed by the following stages. This phase is completed by the gradual increase of the grit of the diamond tooling. This works much like sharpening a knife, or sanding a fine piece of wood. Essentially the finer diamond tools are removing the heavy tool marks left by preparation phase, smoothing the concrete substrate and leveling out the patch material.
Phase 3: Densification
Densification is a process in which penetrating chemicals are applied to the concrete. These chemicals react with the free lime in the concrete. The concrete substrate then takes on new characteristics which increase the overall durability, while decreasing porosity of the concrete substrate allowing for increased liquid repellency. These benefits will never peel, fade or wear away as they penetrate deep into the concrete substrate.
Phase 4: Polishing
The final phase of Polished Concrete is the most impressive. The concrete substrate that has been adequately honed, and densified will now be refined to a smooth highly polished surface by the mechanical process of incrementally increasing the grit of resin suspended diamond tooling. The final Polished Concrete surface will reflect ambient light sources.