Polished concrete

[Fullofthejoysofspring]

We're planning a side return kitchen extension and I'm currently looking at flooring. Our current kitchen floor is tiled, and is a pain to keep clean. Has anyone installed polished concrete? How have you found it?

I don’t have polished concrete floors but on mumsnet read on one old thread one poster who regretted it bitterly. It was hard on her feet, legs and hips so much they moved houses.

I really like the polished effect and if anyone else can say the same then its something to consider.

Thanks! I'll try and find that thread. Other opinions would be great too.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/4184388-Polished-concrete-floors

Perhaps look at microcement? It looks like concrete but I think it would feel "softer". I had a polished concrete worktop installed in my first flat, now a rental, and it's lasted well but I agree that it could feel cold and hard on a floor.

Thank you everyone! Looks like polished cement isn't going to be the right choice. Back to the drawing board

We have something very like polished concrete, it's a concrete/resin mix but looks very similar. I love it. Works great with the underfloor heating, easy to clean and so nice having no lines. It's a bit of a faff installing and not cheap (but you don't pay labour as you do for tiles) but looks lovely.

I wanted polished concrete then heard bad experiences of staining etc. In the end we went for a grey matte finish large porcelain square tile which give the same sort of look I was after and we used it inside and outside the house so flows really well

Just read through the linked thread. I have had no issues with my back or staining. It has scratched a bit and there is one crack across the threshold where the ufh ends, but it's really fine.

I posted on the other thread as we’re buikding a new house and thinking about it for the whole (or most of) the ground floor.

I’m glad to hear you love yours stokey. Which rooms do you have it in?

Polished concrete can be beautiful elegant material if done correctly, but to me it's a finish best suited for a heavy traffic areas in a commercial application. To make it look good you need a really good installer as if installed and handled incorrectly it will stain and crack.
It can be very hard on the body when standing for a long period of time and terrible (!!) with acoustics, so you will need to make sure your interiors have lots of soft sound-absorbing surfaces.
It's expensive but fashionable but I would not use it in kitchens.

@chloechloe we have it in our large kitchen dinner and in our utility room, which was all part of a new extension, it was about 35m2. We kept floorboards in the old (Victorian) part of the house. We actually have something called microcrete which is a mix and worked out about £40/m2 cheaper than the concrete. This was where we got it from and I'd recommend them.