Thursday, December 11, 2008

Thinking About Polishing Your Concrete?

By Allen Strong

So you've finally decided you want your old concrete floor to be as good as new. Or at least look a heck of a lot different from its ugly self ten years ago. You can try to explore the advantages of having a polished concrete floor with some of the pointers below:

1. Polished concrete is almost maintenance free. I say almost because there is no available flooring material out there that's 100% maintenance free. But concrete, by itself is already easy to maintain, so you wouldn't have to worry about vacuuming dust from carpets, or waxing hard wood floors. The sheen on polished concrete almost never dulls out.

2. Polished concrete is expensive. Compared to the cheap carpets and vinyl tiles that get worn out after several years, yes concrete is a little bit above the price range of these materials. But it's not in the high end ranges of marble or slate flooring materials, and in terms of durability and how long these materials last, concrete is well worth its price.

3. Polished concrete is excellent flooring material for your home. You might start thinking conrete is too hard or too cold and damp. Well, you'll be glad to know that these trivial drawbacks can be rectified with simple solutions. Installing vapor barriers prevent moisture from migrating to the surface keeping the floor dry and radiant heating cables make sure that its warm enough for your feet. Ask your contractor about those.

4. Polished concrete is not too slippery. Actually there are many available floor conditioners which increase the friction between the floor and your feet which makes concrete, even polished ones, a lot safer. Although, if kept dry, concrete is not at all slippery to begin with.

5. Polished concrete is beautiful. What else is there to say? The designs that you can find for this trusty old material are endless. You can pattern it or color it, however you want it and it would still retain its aesthetic attributes.

There you have it, I hope these few facts helped polish your decision whether you want polished concrete on your floors now, or maybe a little bit later in the future. - 15359

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