There's a major component of the a successful floor that is often overlooked: What is the application? Commercial, Residential, Industrial, Food Area, Laboratory or Medical? All these floors actually have requirements that spec the proper installation and maintenance.
And a garage floor is not the same of an interior residential floor, sorry.
And, I always, always, recommend a high-solid cross-linked polymer/acrylic floor finish on interior floors and I'll explain why later.
DURABLILITY: No concrete floor is scratch proof, but all have varying degrees of scratch resistance. No concrete floor is maintenance free, but require routine maintenance to sustain the look you want. Durability isDensity: Concrete is not very dense, it has about the same density as marble, ever notice how easily marble scratches and wears? There are densifyers that can added to polished concrete to increase density.
You need to know: Kids? Dogs? Back-problems? Do you like keeping your floor spotless? Or, do you like you floor to be spotless without any work? That's impossible, set the right expectations.
GLOSS: Clients say, "I want shiny" or "I want not so shiny" or "I want no shine. The Gloss: It's a matter of personal taste, the designer or architect might specify the level of gloss. It could be a requirement, a final coat lab floor needs to be non-absorbent, a gloss indicates a "lock" that repels containments.
Whatever is selected a gloss factor will affect the look of the floor particularly the anomalies (or defects) within the floor. these will "read" with more intensity depending of the level of gloss. A client may want the floor to take a major role in all elements of a home, or the client wants people to notice the floor last. Gloss makes the floor "pop", low sheen or matte finishes draw the floor into the background.
COST: People call and say, " I want polished concrete", Polished concrete has a medium cost of $10.00 per square foot. However, a low cost alternative is sealed concrete that has the appearance of polished can has a medium costs of $3.00 per square foot. Many times what make costs prohibitive are "rehab" costs, its the cost of repairing and preparing damaged or neglected concrete surfaces so they can be a good candidate for staining, or micro topping, or some other treatment. Sometimes the cost of rehab can be more than the treatment itself. The good news in that in all cases a low-cost alternative can be achieved with spectacular results.
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