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This is a loaded question and ever house is different. So we thought we might put together a small list of pro's and con's to the major types.

First big difference is diamond polished or grind and seal.

• Pro Diamond polished:
  • hard to scratch as no topical coating to scratch off
  • able to achieve a variety of non-slip levels easily
  • eco-friendly greener flooring option
  • low lifetime cost
  • easy to refurbish
• Con Diamond Polished:
  • susceptible to acid etching
  • susceptible to staining
  • level of exposure and artefacts determined by the concreter who installs
• Pro Grind and Seal:
  • often cheaper option
  • very good staining resistance
  • can achieve "wet look" polished concrete
• Con Grind and Seal:
  • topical coating that can scratch
  • achieving non-slip requires an additive that can detract from aesthetics or cause floor to wear prematurely
  • harder to refurbish

The next major question to answer is the exposure of aggregate level

Burnished concrete/cream polish Class O and A):

• Pro: 
  • clean seamless finish
  • natural looking and easier to colour match between different pours. 
  • cheapest and fastest diamond polished concrete floor
• Con:
  • staining that occurs before polishing can be difficult to impossible to remove
  • pattern and finish dictated by the quality of helicopter work when installed
  • acid etching can be much more noticeable compared to floors with exposed aggregate.
  • can really only be achieved on new builds
  • small aggregate and fines can be exposed during the polishing process
  • level of finish dictated by levelness of floor

Hit n Miss/partial aggregate exposure (Class B):

• Pro: 
  • industrial look
  • works on most floors (sometimes due to installation majority of aggregate will need to be exposed)
  • can sometimes hide artefacts from pouring.
• Con:
  • level of exposure dictated by levelness of floor

Full exposure/platinum (Class C/D):

•  Pro:
  • will always level the floor out
  • can grind out high spots and to allow for doors without affecting the look and finish
  • terrazzo look to floor
  • very high end finish
• Con:
  • quality of exposure dictated by installation of concrete
  • artefacts such as boot prints and screed marks can be seen.
  • Cold joints in pour can be obvious

 

Moonan Flats

Architect/Designer: H2O Architecture
Concrete Contractor: Upper Hunter Concreting
Completion Date: 2016
Winner - . New Construction Polished Concrete of the Year 2017.

 

 

 The remote location of this house, which was designed to resemble a woodshed, created many challenges to achieve this finish. Transporting the concrete to the site was a challenge the contractor and the producer were able to overcome. Diagrind ® worked closely with the concrete contractor to ensure the concrete was placed correctly to achieve the desired finish.

The next major design challenge was when the client requested tiles to be cut into the polished concrete slab and grouted to make the floor look like it was large polished concrete tiles within the residence. The required time and patiences to mark out and cut each tile line correctly to give that natural and seemless look. This was done by using long 16-foot tracks by Festool which were suction cupped to the floor after the floor was ground to expose the aggregate and grouted. The DSC 125 Festool cutter was then used to cut a 4-mm line throughout the slab. A lot of time was spent ensuring that the pattern was uniform throughout the interior and evenly spaced.

Once cut, the cuts were filled with CTS Wunderfixx mixed with 5% black oxide. The whole floor was then grouted for a second time, densified and polished. With both internal and external spaces the floor was expertly treated to give a smooth tranisition between spaces. 

This project offered unique challenges for many trades to overcome. The entire batch plant was booked out for the day to ensure no cross contamination and each batch had to travel over 1.5 hours to site. Without the hard work and communication between the trades a project to this high of a calibur would not have been so successful.  Although the project was difficult, the high level of craftsmanship produced a superior result for the client.

 

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