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How to Choose the Right Concrete Floor Finishes for a Commercial Facility

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concrete grinding

When it comes to commercial concrete flooring finishes, you get various options - each with its advantages and disadvantages. You can make your old cement slabs appear new by grinding, polishing, sealing, and coating.

So how do you choose the right concrete decorative floor finishes for your commercial facility?

Here, you will learn the different types of floor finishes and their benefits to help you make the best choice. Find the options and instructions below:

Epoxy Coating

Many entrepreneurs prefer to use epoxy coating for their commercial facilities. If you have damaged concrete, use this type of coating as it fills the cracks of old concrete slabs.

Epoxy coating is one of the finest industrial concrete floor finishes as it can tolerate traffic volumes from forklifts and other bulky machinery. You can choose from various designs, including colorful quartz particles, vinyl flakes, and metallic finishes. The coating layer application depends on the design you choose.

It's easy to clean epoxy floors. Though, the coating thickness attracts scratches that accumulate dirt and other harmful substances. You can find several epoxy coatings in different price ranges.

Polished Concrete

Polished concrete is the most versatile floor finish as you can dye it with almost all colors. The finished product is the outcome of the installation of a concrete grinder on a concrete slab. Professionals start the process using a 40 grit tool and keep doing the same until the slab is ground to 1600-3000 grit.

Once the process gets completed, you can see smooth and shiny flooring. Polished decorative floor finishes tend to become dull after some time. So, you need to repolish and buff the floor frequently. Polished floors may not be perfect against chemical stains. If you don't clean spilled soda quickly, it seeps down inside the concrete surface and leads to discoloration.

Concrete polishing is time-consuming and causes you business losses as you may need to stop operations suddenly.

Seal and Grind

Seal and grind look quite similar to polished concrete but differ in features. The sealing and grinding process start the same way as concrete polishing. It is only ground a few times to get an 80 to 160 grit finish. You don't need to take 6 to 8 passes using a concrete grinder to attain 1600-3000 grit.

Once the grinding is done, you need to apply a prime coat and a top coat of a clear urethane chemical. The application results in a matte, satin, and glossy finish that you can stain with different types of colors.

One of the best things about grinding is that it boosts the durability and tenacity of the concrete exterior. With the application of urethane, the exterior gets UV rays based as compared to the polishing of only the concrete. Urethane is easy to apply, clean, and sustain. Moreover, it is more stain-resistant than polished concrete.

Bottom Line

You’ll choose the right concrete floor finishes for your commercial facility with the points discussed above. Consult flooring professionals if required to suggest to you the best industrial concrete floor finishes suited to your requirements, preferences, and budget.

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