Unquestionably, polished concrete are the most durable, appealing and economical floors existing in the market today. With periodic cleaning or maintenance, owners can certainly keep these floors looking great at a much lower cost in comparison to other conventional flooring solutions available in the market. However, it is a misconception that these floors are maintenance free. Instead, they require an efficient maintenance plan to last longer.
So, what’s the best method to maintain your polished concrete floor?
In this post, I have covered the 3 most important criteria of polished concrete floor management:
1. Daily Maintenance
Clean mats on daily basis. Always put them at the entry of the room and keep changing them regularly.
Clean spills immediately to protect the surface from stains and etches.
Perform auto scrubbing or dry mopping on the floor almost every day.
Use spot treatment for high traffic areas. You may either use plain water or non-reactive cleaning agents.
Following these rules will surely keep your floor clean, however polished concrete needs more than cleaning. It requires application specific tools and chemicals that can help maintain the aesthetic appeal, durability and finishing of the surface. Overlooking on these specific tools and chemicals can degrade the quality level of the floor shine gradually.
2. Machine Maintenance
Use of diamond impregnated pads is highly recommended to maintain the floor’s shine as it was at the time of installation. Typically, these pads are made of natural hair fibers or synthetic, and are dotted with diamond powders, epoxy binders and secondary abrasives.
These pads can be used on either wet or dry floors. They are available in a plethora of sizes and shapes, so as to fit in any model of floor buffer, auto scrubber or burnisher. Whether you are looking for pads, cleaning agents, used concrete grinding equipment or anything else for building and maintaining polished concrete floor, internet is the right place to go.
3. Chemical Maintenance
Good chemistry of elements is essential to extend the life span of polished concrete floors by hardening the surface. There are a number of companies that specialize in manufacturing concrete floor maintenance products like conditioners and cleaners. Typically, conditioners are comprised of mineral compounds like calcium, silicates and potassium which combine with the elements that already exist in the concrete and together boost abrasion-resistance power of the floor.
Usually, these conditioners are sold in concentrated form and used in diluted form. You can add them in water tanks of floor buffers or scrubbers. By the way, don’t stress your mind about why manufacturers sell conditioners in concentrated form; they do so just to save on the shipping costs.
Why hire a good contractor?
As said earlier, DIY methods aren’t sufficient for efficient polished concrete management. Floors that have gone beyond their warranty period need advanced maintenance to stay shiny and young. Contractors can choose the right tools and chemicals for your floor upkeep. A floor with a daily traffic of 50 people doesn’t require the same kind of maintenance as is required for a floor with 5000 people in daily traffic. Thus, it is easy to see why hiring a contractor is a good idea for effective polished concrete floor management.
Author Bio:
Simon Hopes works as a manager in a company producing chemical cleaners and conditioners for polished concrete management. He often shares his knowledge about the industry via writing.