A long time ago I wrote a blog on polished concrete. Since then we have done numerous polished concrete jobs and I have to say that I’m really beginning to like the look. I know that might see a little funny since I wrote the several years ago, we’ve done several 100,000s square feet in the interim and I’m just now saying that I’m beginning to like the look. You see, I’ve been doing hard flooring for over 30 years and I tend to take my time before I “commit” to a flooring system. Anyhow, I’m beginning to like polished concrete as a good floor system.

I’m not as sold on the stained concrete yet but it does have a great look and I’m sure that it has it’s place out there. There have been a number of technical advancements with the stains and the newer water based stains are much easier to apply and the colours are quite stunning. however, we should remember that the idea here is to ”stain” concrete. Unlike staining wood the only portion of the concrete that absorbs the stain is the concrete paste and it is much more dense than wood therefore stains don’t penetrate that deeply into the concrete. With this in mind I don’t think that stained concrete is really appropriate for moderate to heavy commercial usage. Light commercial (offices) and residential applications probably are best suited for this type of floor finish. The plain polished concrete on the other hand is quite tuff and if the client were to implement a good maintenance plan I would feel comfortable with it on most commercial applications.