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SUSTAINABLE POLISHED CONCRETE FOR RESIDENTIAL SETTINGS
Looking for flooring that’s stunning, sustainable, and low maintenance? It has to be polished concrete. This trend is really coming into its own as homeowners look for stylish interior designs that don’t cost the planet.
DirectStone is a family-run business based in rural Bedfordshire. Our team of flooring specialists create hand-finished, sustainable polished concrete for residential settings across the UK. In this blog, we look at the health and eco benefits of the flooring we create.
WHY IS CONCRETE FLOORING SUSTAINABLE?
Concrete is made from cement, water, and sand, stones, or gravel. These basic ingredients are the one of the reasons why it is universally used as a building material. Most homes already have concrete flooring, hidden beneath existing floor coverings, so creating a polished concrete floor is about revealing and recycling, rather than adding. Once created, your polished concrete floor will last for decades.
HOW IS A POLISHED FLOOR CREATED?
DirectStone uses HTC Superfloor™ machines to first grind back the surface paste, and then polish the concrete to achieve the required finish:
Diamond Grinding. The concrete surface is ground back to reveal the aggregate (made up of stone, sand, or gravel) underneath. It is this that provides the unique patterning for each floor.
Hardening & Sealing. The newly revealed concrete surface is hardened with a densifier and sealed to reduce the potential for staining. Concrete is porous, so protection against staining is required.
Polishing. Using diamond polishing pads our flooring specialists work to create either a high-gloss, matte, or satin finish. HEPA filtered extraction is used throughout the process to ensure the air quality isn’t compromised.
THE HEALTH BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH POLISHED CONCRETE
There are a number of ways in which choosing residential polished flooring enhances the healthiness of your home environment. First, it reduces the allergens that can thrive in carpeted interiors. Second, the maintenance regime required for concrete flooring is regular sweeping and mopping which helps to create a dust-free environment.
Concrete flooring also amplifies the natural light in your home. The surface is retroreflective, so sunlight hitting the surface will be reflected back towards the original source. This ‘active state’ provides the polished concrete surface with its signature ‘shimmer’ and results in perceptible enhancement of the natural light available.
CAN POLISHED CONCRETE BE INSTALLED ANYWHERE?
If there is a concrete slab available, the DirectStone team will normally be able to polish it. If we are unable to produce the finish you desire, because of faults in the concrete, we’ll offer alternatives. Occasionally it’s impossible to polish existing concrete, but we are able to lay concrete overlays which offer the same finish.
Residential flooring works best in kitchens, open plan living areas, ground floor bathrooms and wet rooms, and patios or external features.
WORKING WITH DIRECTSTONE
DirectStone has over a decade’s experience of installing sustainable polished flooring for residential settings. Each polished concrete floor we create is bespoke, and our specialist team can also restore, and repair neglected, or tired flooring. If you would like a free no obligation quote for a polished concrete floor, simply message us and we’ll respond promptly.
We work with residential clients throughout the UK mainly in London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
Would you like to talk through your polished concrete project through with one of our flooring specialists? Call the DirectStone team today on 01525 20863920
For more information on SUSTAINABLE POLISHED CONCRETE FOR RESIDENTIAL SETTINGS talk to DirectStone Ltd