Nothing beats the smooth shine of a professionally laid polished concrete floor. If you’re considering this type of flooring for your home or business, you might be wondering what factors affect the cost of installation. Is your existing floor going to cause problems? Do you have any repairs that need to take place first? Let’s try to answer some of the commonly asked questions about this kind of flooring:
Existing Floor Quality
Where an existing concrete floor is cracked or damaged in any way, there will be some grinding groundwork that needs to take place before laying fresh concrete. This is to smooth out the area. This takes extra time and so will add to your labour costs. However, this additional time and cost should be offset by the knowledge that if you cut corners, a badly laid floor will cost more to grind in the future. The better prepared an area is initially, the easier maintenance becomes in the long run.
What about repairs?
Before you go ahead, you will need to take some time to repair any damage to the existing floor, such as missing stones, holes and cracks. Other things that could hold up floor laying is if there are any bolts that need removing before work can begin.
After any repairs are completed, the floor will need to be left to harden before any further work can continue. It’s normally sufficient to just leave overnight, but again this will incur additional labour costs.
The number of rooms
Of course, the more rooms you want doing or the larger the surface area – the higher the total cost will be. You’ll want to carefully consider where you want polished concrete flooring. Multiple rooms are awkward in that equipment must be continually moved. It’s feasible but it will bump up the cost. This type of flooring tends to work best when used in one large surface area. Each space will require edging and if you have multiple floors, this can add days to a project, so you’ll need to bear that in mind at the planning stage.
When you see the size of the equipment that’s used for laying the floors, you will understand why completing the task in a small, enclosed space can be challenging and awkward. However, if you have your heart set on concrete flooring in a compact area, a professional Polished Concrete Flooring firm like http://www.monstermixconcrete.co.uk/concrete-floors.php will do their utmost to accommodate you.
Type of finish
There is a range of finishes available to suit a variety of settings and environments. Some finishes are easier to apply than others and so your choice of finish will have an impact on the overall cost of the project. Grinding is a time-intensive task so if your finish involves this, such as an exposed aggregate finish, you will see a reflection in the cost.