Is polished concrete floor maintenance a big deal? This is a question we get all the time. Here’s the scoop…

I love the look of polished concrete floors in industrial office spaces, restrooms and warehouses, especially when they have the color sprinkled on them. It brings out my artistic side! I swear I can see animals and faces, just like looking up at the clouds when you were a kid.

Actually polished concrete can be considered lower maintenance compared to other substrates depending on the level of appearance that the facility is willing to accept. There is no such thing as a “maintenance-free” floor. The proper processes need to be in place to protect the customer’s flooring investment from constant foot and equipment traffic, as well as weather implications like salt and sand. To give polished concrete floors a long-lasting clean, glossy appearance, it’s critical to implement daily maintenance, timely clean-up of spills and periodic restoration work.

It also depends on the appearance level the customers want to maintain. Both VCT and polished concrete require daily cleaning, which should consist of a dust mop and scrubbing. Because most soil is light, both of these surfaces can be cleaned with a water-only solution or a very light chemical dilution. So on a daily basis, the cleaning isn’t significantly different.

Some customers still burnish their VCT floors in order to achieve a higher gloss on their finish. This operation is not required on a polished concrete floor, so this would be an extra step in the floor preparation process. However, polished concrete floors do require specific treatments in order to achieve maximum performance. A hardener or densifier needs to be added to help make the concrete more resistant to surface breakdown and a special sealant is required to make the floor impervious to stains from spills. This is a definite “you’ll be glad you did expense!”

Of course you know that acidic liquids can cause erosion of polished concrete, so properly  sealing them is of critical importance to maintain the integrity and appearance of the floor.
We have several accounts that track grease, muddy foot prints, paint & ground metal findings into the office constantly and cleaning that up on polished concrete is way easier than on carpet! In fact some accounts are tearing out their office carpets and refinishing their concrete floors because of this.

When handled and maintained correctly it can be less maintenance than other types, and it certainly handles high traffic better than many other alternative

If your concrete floors need some love give us a call, Ilya our floor care expert can get you educated about exactly what your concrete floors need.