Feature from Environmental Building News

Polished Concrete Outshines Other Flooring Options

 

This summary is a shortened, condensed version of the Full Article.

Executive Summary

Polished, densified concrete is a very durable, environmentally friendly, and low-maintenance flooring choice. This article describes how concrete floors are polished and densified, or hardened, discusses the pros and cons of polished concrete as a finished floor, and compares densification costs with other concrete finishing options.

After a concrete slab is poured and set, it is polished with large, specialized grinding and polishing machines fitted with diamond abrasive disks, usually removing 1/16-inch to 1/4-inch (1.6–3.0 mm) of the slab. A sodium silicate solution applied to the floor fills pores in the slab, reacts with calcium hydroxide in the concrete, and crystallizes, creating calcium silicate hydrate and a hard, durable floor surface. After the hardener is applied, the polishing continues with successively finer abrasives—generally ending with 3,000 grit—producing a highly reflective polished floor. This technique can be used on new slabs, or can breathe new life into old concrete.

Densifying makes concrete 40% more abrasion-resistant, 21% more impact-resistant, and up to 30% more light-reflective than untreated concrete. Because the pores in densified concrete are filled by the hardening solution, it is water-resistant and does not need to be waxed or otherwise finished, preventing unneeded use of chemicals. The flooring never needs to be retreated, reducing long-term maintenance costs. The hardness of densified concrete can cause spaces to be louder than with other flooring options, and can cause fatigue to those spending long periods of time on it, however, it is not particularly slippery. Although its thermal mass can benefit passive solar design, its thermal conductivity can also make a room feel cold and require extra space heating.

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