Polished concrete yes or no? Im thinking of doing it in a couple

Cold as fuck. Don't bother.

>>1093377
Was thinking more in terms of looks / aesthetics, i like that sort of industrial look but not too over the top.

>>1093366
My friend had a two story "barn" house built out in eastern CT. They did polished concrete for all of the floorings and stairs. Shit is SO COLD. Also they complain about it being a bitch to mount anything to the wall.

>>1093366
awful.
hope it helps ...

>>1093377
Pussy...

>>1093380

If it's about looks why not do a resin floor?

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Beautiful

>>1093381
But what did you think of the way it looked?

>>1093382
Well the alternative is floorboards. What tuens you off about it?

>>1093384
Doesnt resin tend to stand out as a coating though? As well as getting that slightly sticky feel when it gets to 100 degrees?

>>1093366
If you want to live in a storage warehouse, why not just live in a storage warehouse? The owners typically only check the containers once a week at most. A little care and good timing and you've got quality industrial living for $100/mo.

>>1093389
I thought it looked clean but mostly it just reminded me of warehouses I had seen. The reason they did it was because the family is in the concrete business and the architect was in the family. As an outsider, I think concrete is a shitty idea for flooring and exposed walls. However, the concrete countertop was fucking dope. They put in a 6 inch thick wood slab into the counter as a built in cutting board.

>>1093366
>trip and hit head on wall
>die
nothx

>>1093380
>Was thinking more in terms of looks / aesthetics
Does that pic look good to you? Because it shouldn't.

>>1093377
>>1093382
I bet the acoustics are horrendous too.

>>1093380
Brutalist as fuck

I think it looks good in photos but looks like shit irl. Get some kind of dark laminate or viny. It will look shitty, just not as much.

>>1093366
Works, is easy to maintain, but you better put in underfloor heating or you will regret it.

>>1093366
I own a small concrete polishing company, willing to answer any questions people might have.

>>1094201
can you polish flagstone floors?

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>>1094202
>>1094201
pic related

>>1094202
No idea, I only work on concrete. I know you can use the machinery for natural stone floors but haven't done it myself.

>>1094203
I would asume that if you cover that with a light layer of concrete to fill in the voids and smooth it the surface you could grind through the concrete and polish it however it would take alot of grinding.

The problem I see is that the rock is not perfectly flat, whenever the grinding heads go over the rocks it's going to jump around alot as well as chip the rocks.

>>1094205
is there any kind of floor grinder that can take out the big bumps in preparation for polishing?

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>>1094209
Yeah, Usually I'll just use my regular planetary grinder with rougher grit diamonds underneath. If it's something really bad you can use a scarifier but when floors are in that condition polishing is usually not the appropriate floor covering.

>>1094061
It all depends on the concrete being polished, if you're starting off with damaged, poorly poured or uneven concrete the final result is gonna look like crap. Keep in mind that most commercial polished concrete doesn't get polished to a high shine or use dyes to decorate it.

Parents did it, turned out terrible they're stripping it and tiling

>>1094210
Concretebro, let's say someone spills a glass of water on polished concrete floor it becomes super slippery like ceramic floor or you have some kind of traction ?

>>1094202
>>1094203
No, you cannot. The flagstone is just too brittle and is made of layers that aren't really parallel.

I've seen polished and epoxied slab floors in a large house; it kinda looked alright because it was tinted a dark brown, and the guy clearly had an interior designer work around that. However because it was a single guy living there, it was very minimalist with almost no area rugs or furniture. Kinda like a bachelor with way too much money.

It looked like a comfy dog kennel. The occasional hairline crack every slab develops blemished the polished sheen, and it wasn't warm. Not in the sense of temperature, but it wasn't homey.

He also said if there is any water on the floor, it was like ice. So he made his maid only mop the floor if he was going to be out of the house the entire day.

Its shockingly cheap though, for something like 2500 sqft the company only wanted about $12,000 to polish and epoxy.

>>1094043
i always prefered an echo, exccept in the studio of course. Which makes me think i should probs keep carpet in the studio

>>1094201
if i understand right you remove about 5mm of concrete during polishing and put a thin layer on it to seal it afterwards right? Do concretes tend to come up darker or lighter?

Also whats the best way to transistion from floorboards to concrete in your opinion? just one of those plastic border things?

>>1093386
>unicorn mask.

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Fell asleep, I'm back tho.
>>1094240
It's not slippery even when wet, you run into problems tho if the floor becomes muddy or you drop something else like soap or oil.

>>1094241
That price sounds right, but if they put epoxy over it then it's not polished concrete.

>>1094304
It depends on the look you want, polishing is done in 3 phases: grinding, honing and polishing. During the grinding phase you grind deep to expose large aggregate, a light grind for small aggregate, a very light grind for what we call salt and pepper which is only the tip of the aggregate or you can skip the step and only polish the top layer which we call a cream polish. I'll attach a cream polished pic and then a large aggregate.

Yeah most people just use transition strips that match whatever floor boards you have.

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>>1094304
Forgot to add,
It all depends on the concrete mix, I'm starting to suspect it's based on the amount of cement put it as well as additives that they put into the mix. Concrete in commercial buildings tends to come out grey. Concrete in residential is really a gamble so I always recommend we dye it. I've had residential come out grey, tan, cream and brown.

>>1094400
>That price sounds right, but if they put epoxy over it then it's not polished concrete.
I always thought they needed to do a light polish to knock down any high spots, and get a more usable surface than a regular pour.

>>1094403
yeah im worried a little about my concrete looking like how it does in this pic and not how it does in >>1094400 this pic.

I like how >>1094400 looks, is it generally cheaper too?

Can you tell me a bit more about dying?

Also a slightly unlrelated thing but i noticed in one of my rooms a very thin but long (~2 meters in a sort of curved L shape) crack. Do you think its superficial or could it be structural?

>>1093366
if you're a muhrican you probably wear shoes indoors
but if you're not, remember that concrete is hard af to walk or stand on, so not nice on your feet

>>1094415
i wear socks around my house. I currently have a room without any flooring (where i ripped up the carpet and which is one im considering either floorboard or polished carpet). It felt alright with just thin socks on. It definately wouldnt be throughout my whole house though

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Not exactly the same as what you are looking for.

But I painted my concrete floors after ripping out the nasty ass carpet.

It's not as reflective as polished so it looks less like a storage facility/garage. It's also very cheap, you could probably do a whole house for under 500.

When I started I was worried about it being figuratively and literally cold, It was a big change coming from carpet. But after living with it for 6 ish months now I'm not sure I would ever do anything other than this now.

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>>1094411
Oh yeah you're right, but they don't polish it, they just grind it. More than anything it's to texture the floor surface and open up the concrete pores so the epoxy makes a better bond. Professionals will either grind it or shot blast it before applying their epoxy/polyaspartic/urethane coatings. Home gamers will pour muratic acid.

>>1094413
The pic on >>1094403 is actually dyed brown, the difference is the size of the aggregate. The cream finish has no aggregate showing. You can use water dye to get an even color distribution or you can use acetone dye to get a molted effect like in the pic.

Cream polish is cheaper because it involves less grinding. However you can't cream polish most concrete because most concrete is not flat enough or the surface is too damaged.

This pic was in my garage, I was messing around with dyes and just polished the cream and added dye. As you can see, since I didn't grind deep enough to remove all the defects they showed through. Also you'll have to trust me on this but that floor is way more impressive in person. It looks like super shiny marble.

>>1094413
All concrete cracks, even when you add expansion joints. I wouldn't really worry about it unless it's a huge crack or it runs up your walls.

>>1094424
That looks clean bro, how long have you had it on the floor?

>>1094430

6 months as of now.

>>1094425
ah the lighting made it look completely different. I think then i want a creme finish. I just really dont want it to be brown as that would kill me. My other option as someone pointed out earlier is resin but i feel like that would give it too much of a plastic look.

>>1094424
looks interesting, got a pic of it furnished? Also i agree concrete is actually kind of warm even when its cold out

>>1094428
ah great, glad to know its not much to worry about. I think it would look interesting on the floor when polished too.

>>1094403
This guy's right. I work in a concrete factory, our specific mix is very grey and "dirty" looking. We produce walls and flooring for carparks, power stations etc.
Another part of the factory make stairway prefabs, prison cell prefabs etc, and they use a different mix which comes out super smooth and almost a cream colour.

>>1094400
I've seen the one that you refer as salt and pepper, it looks stylish as fuck, almost like granite or something expensive as hell.

>>1094415
>>1094422
>people walk barefoot anywhere

at least use some flip flops you fucks

>>1095441
Why would you wear thonfs in your house? Socks alone is enough, whats wrong with that?

>>1093366
No. They've been doing polished concrete in Hawaii recently and it really doesn't work for residential flooring. It's either really cold or it bakes in the sun, especially in the rooms that are all windows. You are going to spend a lot of money on lambskin or luxury rugs.

The only reason to use polished concrete is because it looks good and is easy to clean. But so is stone, and that isn't as subject to temperature swings.

>>1094219
Why not just lay the tile over it?

>>1094424
The problem is that your floor looks like a ceiling.

>>1095441
I only wear shoes if I have to leave my property. Even barefoot in the shop. Got them slave feet.

>>1096119
Mind posting some hawaiin pics if you have any? How thick would stone have to be i wonder

>>1096123

My guess is you need a rough surface for the mortar to adhere

>>1095441
Not this

>>1095455
This

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>>1093389

>Doesnt resin tend to stand out as a coating though?

It can look like a lot of things, it can even do a passable impression of concrete.

Mica flake will look a bit like busy stone.

Metallic will look just plain funky.

> As well as getting that slightly sticky feel when it gets to 100 degrees?

Only if a retard installs it.

>>1096261
Why don't people make a layer of that synthetic quartz if they want a stone-like look that's polished and smooth for cheap? Is that the same thing as resin?

>>1096208
http://propertysearch.hicentral.com/HBR/ForSale/?/201605222

Here's one with a mix of stone tile and concrete. They called it a "Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired estate."

http://hawaiirenovation.staradvertiser.com/2016/03/interior/resolve-flooring-needs-polished-concrete/
This article has some more residential images too.

>>1096625
Wow, that's fucking awful. They should be ashamed of themselves for trying to say that house is anything like Wright's work. The whole thing that makes FLR's houses appealing is his ample use of warm wood in architectural elements, that house is just generic grey concrete modern bullshit.

>have a small 2x2m patio
>Hey a polished finish on this would be kind of cool
>Send out for some quotes
>900-1300 dollars

Holy shit get fucked, what the hell, how can that be so expensive, it's a guy with a machine for like 1-2 hours.

>>1096681
overheads

>>1096682
Like what? Running and maintaining vehicles and machinery along with waste disposal, just like every other company on the planet?

>>1096681
You what, i found it for $100 per square meter

>>1096688
Well the machinery and diamond bits are probs rather expensive.

>>1096692
>100$ a square

Unfortunately, living in New Zealand means everyone rapes you with prices if it's a small job because why would they want to do that for a reasonable price when Lee Zhang with his new house will pay through the nose and it's a whole house too, not just a few squares.

>>1096624
I guess it's because quartz is hella expensive. Even quartz countertops are more expensive than granite unless you get some rare slab.

>>1096698
Fair enough im only in Australia but its still kinda pricey. Speaking of small jobs ive had tradies just stop talking to me about a job because of the small size

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concrete bro, how would polishing turn out in something like pic related? my brother-in-law is finishing his basement and wants to polish the concrete as a cheaper way of finishing the floor. i think its a terrible idea but want to know if its feasible to do it for cheaper than laminate flooring and can someone handy do it themselves?

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>>1096624

You can't make a solid block of glass (and especially not quartz) without very high temperatures.

As I said though, mica flake in resin is a popular solution for flooring (also countertops).

>>1093386
you know fucking damn well, that you have to explain that unicorn mask

>>1096698
Small jobs always cost more because it has to be worth the contractors time. He knows for the 2 hours of work at your house, that precludes him from a bigger job. Smaller jobs are less efficient due to travel time, setup, cleanup, and talking with homeowners about what they want.

>>1096806
Yeah and I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the attitude of all these cunts which is 'too small to waste my time with so just gouge the shit out of them and see if they go for it'

Also I hate this country because no one sends an itemised quote, it's just an email saying 'yeah mate that'll be 1000 dollars' WHAT THE FUCK AM I PAYING FOR REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

>>1096942
Its not gouging you, they're making it worth their time involved with doing the job. Some hedge their bets and aim a little high knowing they would rather do a different job for more money; but thats not a bad thing for them.

Contractors refusing to do a fully itemized quote has nothing to do with the country; thats up to the contractor. Either they spend 30 mins making an itemized list which potentially initiates hour long debates on why they charge what they charge. They're avoiding wasting time with jackasses.

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>>1096741
Laminate is going to be your cheaper option; polished concrete is cheaper in the long run when you add in maintenance costs and lifecycle. It's more durable than laminate, epoxy, vct, hardwood carpet or any other flooring option so it’ll last longer, it's also cheaper to maintain. So while you may pay $1 to $3 more per square foot to install you'll save money by not having to redo the floors every few years. This might not be the case in residential settings, but in a commercial settings where you get thousands of people walking on your floors every day it will be well worth it within a few years. Polished concrete is not something you can do on your own by renting a machine, you might get lucky but the moment you run into a problem, things can get expensive really fast.

>>1096681
I wouldn’t do that job, it’s too small to fit my machine in there and too big to do by hand.

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forgot to add name to response, I'll be around for a bit if anyone has questions.


>>1096682
>>1096688
>>1096692
I charge WAY more for residential work than I do for commercial, main reason is that all the edges are polished by hand. In a commercial setting we’re polishing just one big room and sometimes we don’t even do edges as they’ll be covered by displays/racks or will be painted on. In residential every room and hallway has an edge that has to be done, plus it’s harder to maneuver a 700 lb machine around corners without damaging walls. To give you an idea I’ll finish a 2000 sq ft commercial project in 2 to 4 days but it’ll take me 2 weeks if I’m lucky in a residential setting. Also residential concrete tends to be uneven and softer than commercial concrete which means our diamonds wear faster and the finished job comes out uneven.

>>1096698
They are charging you that much because they can spend 2 weeks doing your house and risking that it doesn’t come out right because the concrete crew didn’t finish the concrete correctly and having you refuse to pay because it doesn’t look like your instagram picture. Or they can knock out a 30,000 sq ft at $3.00 a sq ft grocery store and not have to worry about the job going bad because some concrete worker over/under troweled the floor.

>>1096942
I don’t do itemized quotes, I’m selling a service not a product. It’ll be $X to polish your concrete to an X grit level, this includes a densifier and grouting if needed as well as a chemical sealer application. If client insists to do an itemized quote I’ll tell him no or to find someone else, like >>1096947 said, it helps me avoid wasting time with jackasses.

>>1096942
There's a minimum charge to come out and do like am hour of work, probably from $50 to $150. Then if it runs a little long you tack on more per hour, but usually less than the first hour rate
Then if you get to 6 hours or so, you figure you can't really fit another job into the day so you just charge for 8 hours of work.

>>1096666
>FLR's houses appealing is his ample use of warm wood in architectural elements,
To be fair, it's not quite that either. He was all about lightness and modern materials, but also blending in his properties with the natural environment while contrasting with them. The property gets one aspect right but it sits like a boulder on the neighborhood. And internally, it's just nothing like his interiors at all.

>>1094393
Probably for payday larping

OP, we built a home 8 years ago and did concrete in the first floor. 4.5 inches with radiant heat. we added a dye to the mix, and shook on powder, and whirlygigged it in. Then put some sort of sealer. We like it. we still have some rugs, but it's warm (when heated) and not too loud.

>>1093377
Concrete has great temperature stability if you insulate correctly. Faggot.

Go for it OP. Looks cash as fuck, but remember to get a good Contractor or youll end up with bubbly and honeycombed concrete that looks like shit.

Mix design is critical here.

>>1093381

You just drill a hole in the wall and either use concrete screws or wall plugs

>>1097704

>Concrete has great temperature stability if you insulate correctly.

How is that an advantage? I only run significant heat in the morning and evening on work days. Having great temperature stability just means it will have a stable cold temperature.

>>1097712

>You just drill a hole in the wall and either use concrete screws or wall plugs

I'm going to wager they have a "normal" hammer drill and not a SDS drill, which would tend to make you fucking hate concrete.

>>1097741
How hard is it to drill a few small holes for screws if you only have a hammer drill?

>>1097740
>what is thermal mass

Run the heat in the morning. Concrete absorbs during this time.

Emits heat when you turn off.

Repeated cycles of this will mean you dont have to heat up as much during the evenings as before.

Even better if concrete is exposed to heat from the sun during the day.

Lurn a book dumfuk.

>>1097754

> Emits heat when you turn off.

Which has fuck all use, I'm not there when I'm not running heat.

> Repeated cycles of this will mean you dont have to heat up as much during the evenings as before.

It will keep the house hotter and thus emitting more energy at times when I'm not even there.

Only insulation limits heat loss. Thermal mass is a disadvantage, it carries heating power from a time where you want it, to a time where you don't want it.

Unless you just heat non stop a concrete floor will always be colder than pretty much any other type of floor, including tile. Floor heating is also easier and more efficient for tile.

>>1097747

Depends on the aggregate, it can be nigh impossible with some concretes.

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>>1097770
>thermal mass is a disadvantage

>>1097787

Small thought experiment :

Outside temperature is 0 degrees.

House with low thermal mass flooring has an average internal temperature of 20 degrees with the heat on and 10 degrees with the heat off.

House with high thermal mass flooring has 20 degrees with the heat on and 15 degrees with the heat off.

Insulation in both situations is the same. Which house loses more energy to the environment?

>>1097770
are you fucking dumb?

there is a reason slab-on-grade radiant heating is the most efficient, and it has a lot to do with concretes thermal mass.

>>1097816

The higher the average temperature of your house at equal insulation the more energy you lose, the logic is inescapable ... for those who think logically ;)

Another advantage of lower thermal mass is that the house responds faster to heating, which is good for comfort.

There is a reason above slab insulation exists (which doesn't necessarily mean you don't use a concrete floor, it can be a thin one insulated from the slab ... as thin as concrete gets any way, which is not very). It saves you from cold feet and from needlessly high heating bills.

>>1097821
>heat transfer is driven by a difference in temperature

no shit.

>Another advantage of lower thermal mass is that the house responds faster to heating, which is good for comfort.

yeah and you end up cycling your equipment way more often which BTFO's not only your efficiency but also cuts your equipment life in half and applies thermal fatigue to the concrete and other parts of the structure. cycling your temperature like that is also a good way to get humidity issues and mold.

you want your house to be operating as close to steady state as humanly possible.

>>1097821
Internal insulation is there because of the interface between super and substructure.

Optimum insulation is on the outside, but it looks like shit and comes with challenges. So you put it all on the inside so youre not switching at the interface with your basement.

;^}

We have a concrete house designed by my husband. Its 10 years old and three times the size of my previous stick frame house, and costs the same to heat and cool.

The floors are super comfy in the winter from radiant heating installed in the floor and from the sun blaring through 14' windows all along the south facing wall.

Our three Akitas dont even bother with their expensive pet beds and prefer the concrete floor in the bedroom.

Speaking of dogs: the durability of the floors is one of the reasons we went with them. Don't need to worry about scratches, dings, knicks or gouges. Where we want something we can put down an area rug which is ultimately easier to keep clean than carpeting.

We have toyed with the idea of incorporating solar heating into the boiler, but the costs of install and equipment don't yet offset the returns.

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tfw terazzo floors

If you live in socal its great. Never gets too cold here and perfect during hot summers

>>1093366
Is this the same as burnt concrete? If it is, do it. Very cheap and very good.

>>1098070
Australia, so all these people talking about heating have me laughing.

>>1097873
Nice to know dogs claws dont scratch it. Got any pics?

>>1097544
Pics? Did you diy it?

>>1098757
Never heard of it

>>1099713
>burnished concrete
I think it's the same as your polished concrete. It's very easy to do. All you have is after the concrete is a bit cured, throw some concrete mix (powdered) and flatten it again. I