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Polished concrete floor

14 replies

Wintermonster · 06/02/2019 18:48

Has anyone had a polished concrete floor in their kitchen?
If so do you love it and recommend it?

OP posts:
Wintermonster · 06/02/2019 18:49

Or resin ?

OP posts:
CarolSpatula · 07/02/2019 19:21

I’ve not got one but stayed in a holiday let with one and loved it. Looked very stylish and was easy to sweep etc. Didn’t show up all the crumbs too obviously either!

Whattodowithaminute · 09/02/2019 09:08

Yes we have this and I love it. Easy to clean (only water no detergent) and looks great. Only thing you have to be careful with is oil splashed. Wet UFH underneath otherwise I think it would be cold.

minipie · 09/02/2019 09:34

I have a friend with resin, regrets it as it marks and scratches easily. Looks nice though!

Crumbelina · 10/02/2019 14:55

@Wintermonster, I think I mentioned some advice on the other thread about my polished concrete floor being beautiful, but easily scratched and liable to oil/grease stains (although I think it's my high shine finish that shows scratches more). Overall though the scratches aren't too bad as it's an industrial/rustic material anyway and the natural patterns in the concrete disguise them quite a bit (unlike with resin). Also, it will need to be re-sealed and polished in time so they won't last forever.

One downside to consider: it's also like sheet ice when wet so needs to be dry before any little ones go near it. That said, it's not a huge problem.

Have you got quotes from companies? I really do think they need an amazing sealant and so I'd be tempted to spend more to go with decent companies like Steyson or Lazenby. I've heard from a couple of architects (with experience) that don't really recommend them and it's mostly because of the staining issues.

My sister has a resin floor and I can definitely see how they'd get marked or scratched easily. And they're also very slippy even when dry! I can't resist sliding around like a kid when I visit. Blush

Also, can I highjack a bit and ask @Whattodowithaminute how careful you need to be with your floor re grease/oil stains, please? We do find that if we drop a small bit of cheese/pastry and it's not spotted until the next day then a stain will usually appear. We had a penetrating sealer applied (instead of a topical one) and I can never quite work out if the sealant isn't good enough or that's just the nature of concrete floors and you need to be vigilant? Part of me wonders if we should have just gone with large format concrete-look tiles, but then I guess I'd moan about having to clean grout and the floor wouldn't look half as beautiful! Smile

Whattodowithaminute · 10/02/2019 15:24

‘@crumbelina’ we’ve had a stain from a plaster vine/bendaroo thong which we didn’t get off quickly enough. Luckily it’s by the glass doors so I’m hoping it will sun bleach out as it has managed to bleach another mark left by our builders.
It is slippery but with UFH it dries so fast that we haven’t noticed this to be an issue inside-we’ve had it poured for the patio too and that does get slippery but we are not outside loads when it’s wet so hasn’t been a problem so far. We have lithofin as the sealant and have been recommended to have it revealed approx annually-you can buff if with a floor sander and then paint on the sealant.

Crumbelina · 10/02/2019 16:33

Ah, thank you for the recommendation @Whattodowithaminute! We have the Lithofin stain remover (Oil-Ex) which is very good and so I'll ask the company to use their sealer when we get it resealed. I don't think our current one (Ameripolish) is good enough if you don't have any problems with dropped food (unless you hoover and clean it every day Wink). To be honest, I don't think we'd have any stains if we didn't have two very messy toddlers. Hmm

Yes, our UFH works a treat. The only issue with the wet floor is when I'm cleaning up the toddlers mess and she comes running over so I need to dry it quickly! Confused

Lindtnotlint · 10/02/2019 16:36

Awful. Stains so easily. Strongly recommend porcelain tiles (you can get beautiful concrete look ones) as an alternative. So easy to care for, and just the right level of non slip.

Crumbelina · 10/02/2019 16:51

@Lindtnotlint what stains do you have a problem with? Is it oil/grease like mine? I don't really mean a big splosh of olive oil. Even pastry or biscuit crumbs will stain if not noticed pretty quickly.

Lindtnotlint · 10/02/2019 17:00

Yes - it’s not my floor (thank heaven) but really easily stained with any kind of fatty substance. Ends up looking very reclaimed industrial/warehouse - not in a good way!

My floor (learned from experience) is porcelain tiles with UFH. I love love love it and it’s great for kids to play on, everything cleans up, it never dents or scuffs, and it looks amazing. I spent ages agonising and I truly love it.

Crumbelina · 10/02/2019 18:12

@Lindtnotlint I had the same problem when my floor was first done. The company really didn't seal it properly and stains appeared almost overnight. They've since been back twice to reseal and it's much better but still susceptible. My stain remover gets them out but I'm hoping when we next get it sealed the product mentioned above will do a decent job. Maybe that's the difference between people who think they're a terrible idea and those with concrete floors who can't see a problem?

We almost went with porcelain tiles (Mandarin Stone do some beautiful ones in their New York collection) but we had a brand new extension which needed a concrete base anyway. Once we factored in the costs of tiles and labour the polished concrete floor wasn't that much more.

Lindtnotlint · 10/02/2019 19:31

Just saying I literally hardly ever have to clean my tiles. It’s like they make dirt invisible and they are impossible to stain or crack ;-)

Lindtnotlint · 10/02/2019 19:32

And so cosy cosy cosy with the UFH.

They might be my favourite thing. Apart from maybe the induction hob. Perhaps DH...

Catamaran1 · 12/02/2019 10:06

I looked up resin flooring that someone mentioned to see what it looked like and came across this article with 3D resin flooring. Not to most people's taste but wow!

aicoat.com/epoxy-3d-floor-everything-you-need-to-know/

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