Polished concrete for SE England

[tanneja]

Has anyone gone ahead and had polished concrete done by a firm in South East England?  Personally I would want a pour over the UFH too, not just the grind and polish.

 

I expected the quotes to be large, they are eye watering from some firms.  Any first hand experience would be gratefully received.

[mvincentd]

I'm Dorset so maybe different but couldn't get anyone to even come and look at it...i had 160sqm to do but it wasn't worth anyones effort!

Maybe if you commission the pour also it'll be a different story.

[Jenni]

Yes, if SW Suffolk counts as SE. 

We put the ufh pipes and manifolds in, and the reinforcing mesh. Had a company in to do the pour, approx 200m2 done in 2 days. Separate company did the polishing. It's not perfect by any means, but as a barn conversion rather than high end loft, it's good enough for us. Splitting the job up meant any risks sat with us, but that meant cost savings, and was cheaper than other floor covering options, plus it's what we wanted, ie no carpet, few grout lines. 

[Rmawdsley]

If your having your UFH in the slab just make sure that the subbase is bang on for grade so that your slab is a continuous thickness. Make sure mesh is used and packed up on concrete bar spacers (They wont squash down/collapse in areas like with plastic spacers, which will ensure your UFH pipes are at a constant depth).  Make sure you have contraction joints in all the right places once the slabs in or you'll end up with random cracking. If you want a really shiny finish then make sure sealer is applied shortly after power floating.

[jfb]

I hired a grinder and did my own polished concrete in Oxford area with ufh pipes attached to steel mesh. Done it twice now. Getting a flat pour will save a lot of time later with the initial grind. Can give more info on technicalities if needed. I didn't power float as I was advised against it by the place I hired the grinder from.

[Tony C]

I will be getting a polished concrete floor by reputable company. The quotation was £120/m2 including the reinforcement mesh. 100mm thick concrete.

https://theconcreteflooring.com/

[MortarThePoint]

I've been amazed by how expensive polished concrete floors are. I had our garage floor power floated and am pretty chuffed with how it looks for a day of graft and £350 for 60m2.

 

I genuinely want to understand rather that just stock debate, but what can people be doing to warrant a £120/m2 price? The materials aren't any more expensive are they? Say it's 100m2, that's £12k. If two workers on £200 each a day, they should be there for at least 5 weeks solid to justify that price.

 

I love the look so would like to understand why it is so expensive.

[jfb]

It takes a surprising amount of time to do the initial grind, the finer grinding is much quicker - a week in total for about 40m2 it took me. I was taking quite a bit off though as I had added a bunch of larger stones into the top of the pour and wanted them properly exposed.

Also - doing it myself I bought the grinding discs and they aren't cheap (though the initial grinding discs have a long way to go before they run out).

 

Presumably the £120/m2 price includes the concrete pour and mesh.

 

I can see how it adds up.

[MortarThePoint]

7 minutes ago, jfb said:

It takes a surprising amount of time to do the initial grind, the finer grinding is much quicker - a week in total for about 40m2 it took me. I was taking quite a bit off though as I had added a bunch of larger stones into the top of the pour and wanted them properly exposed.

Also - doing it myself I bought the grinding discs and they aren't cheap (though the initial grinding discs have a long way to go before they run out).

 

Presumably the £120/m2 price includes the concrete pour and mesh.

 

I can see how it adds up.

 

Fair enough. As I say I love the look.

[tanneja]

For what it is worth I went with Lazenby in the end, due to happen in 3 weeks.

[SimonM]

On 17/11/2020 at 17:56, tanneja said:

For what it is worth I went with Lazenby in the end, due to happen in 3 weeks.

We’re probably taking the Lazenby route. How did it go?

 

[tanneja]

@SimonM very happy, I was concerned that the floor would be in bad shape given the workmen and we had issues with rain leaks.  I had my builders over board the lazenby corex with 8mm ply and would do it again, the extra cost was very reassuring to keep the floor in good shape with all manner of building works for a good year after.  When lazenby come back to the house and polish it, it is really special.  It has blemishes and hairline cracks in places, but they are all character.  I was concerned too that the initial pour (75m2) would go on until all hours when the relationship with the neighbours wasn't the best at the time, but they started early and were finished by 5pm.  I will say the floor is not level, as the kitchen fitters have let me know, but again, all character, and feels like a floor for a lifetime.

[Bitpipe]

Make sure it's well sealed.

 

We visited a few builds with polished concrete floors that had oily stains where food or similar had been dropped and not cleaned in time.

 

We also looked at microscreed which can give the same effect and is only a few mm thick and settled on resin  - similar /m2 price. We also changed our design to use a suspended timber floor over the basement vs concrete lid, so choices were limited

 

 

[tanneja]

Yes they seal when they polish and provide sealer top up fluid.  Have been keeping on top of any spills.  They do recommend you buy a buffer for £150, I will do it but have not as yet.  

[SimonM]

On 02/12/2021 at 08:15, tanneja said:

@SimonM very happy, I was concerned that the floor would be in bad shape given the workmen and we had issues with rain leaks.  I had my builders over board the lazenby corex with 8mm ply and would do it again, the extra cost was very reassuring to keep the floor in good shape with all manner of building works for a good year after.  When lazenby come back to the house and polish it, it is really special.  It has blemishes and hairline cracks in places, but they are all character.  I was concerned too that the initial pour (75m2) would go on until all hours when the relationship with the neighbours wasn't the best at the time, but they started early and were finished by 5pm.  I will say the floor is not level, as the kitchen fitters have let me know, but again, all character, and feels like a floor for a lifetime.

Good tip regarding the extra protection ?