Harsh liquids such as solvents, soft drinks, vinegar or corrosive acid based liquids may eat away at the floor's protective finish. Left untreated, these liquids will continue to damage the floor even after the affected spots feel dry to the touch.
Please do not use abrasive, acidic or harsh cleaning agents on your polished concrete. Cleaning or scrubbing the floor surface with such agents may cause damage. Do not polish the floor with any wax cleaners or buffers and the use of steam-mops is not recommended.
Polished concrete floors are a popular option for commercial and industrial building. However, as a porous substance, it is vulnerable to excessive moisture which can cause difficulties during installation and distort the end result. Contractors should be conscious of the impact moisture has on cementitious floors.
Apart from cracking and staining, polished concrete floors can experience various other problems such as discoloration, chipping, and unevenness. These problems can occur due to poor installation, improper preparation, or wear and tear over time.
Polished concrete flooring is relatively easy to maintain. You just have to dust mop or broom sweep daily to prevent dirt accumulation.
Sealing your concrete isn't really a labor-intensive, nor costly, job. By sealing your concrete every 2-5 years, as recommended by experts, you should keep your floor in good shape, preventing cracks, pitting, and additional damage.
Mechanically polished concrete can last up to 10-12 years without any major maintenance if it is appropriately installed and maintained during that time.
Without adequate reinforcement, however, even small levels of movement can cause cracks to appear in the surface of your concrete flooring. Other factors such as poor drainage, soil movement and improper curing can also lead to cracking in concrete floors.
To prevent surface damage to your concrete flooring, we recommend you dust mop daily with a clean, microfiber cloth pad. The use of dirty pads, or rough surfaces can damage the polished concrete surface of the floor. You don't want anything that will scratch or etch the surface of your floor when you're dusting.
Both polished and sealed concrete floors require some amount of maintenance, but it's significantly less with a sealed floor. All you need is a mop and some soapy water to clean your floors every week or two. On the other hand, polished concrete needs to be resealed every few years in order to maintain the shine.
The most destructive agent of concrete structures and components is probably water. Indeed, water often directly participates to chemical reactions as a reagent and is always necessary as a solvent, or a reacting medium, making transport of solutes and reactions possible.
Polished concrete does not support mold growth and reduces dust and dust mites, reducing allergen issues overall. Because a polished concrete floor system is more durable, it's also much easier to keep clean.
CONCRETE FLOORS ARE EASY TO KEEP CLEAN
As everyone who has lived with carpet before knows, animal urine stains penetrate into the pad and can be very difficult or even impossible to remove. With polished concrete floors, even pet urine is simple to clean up without leaving a stain or residual smell.
Some of the things you don't want to use on your polished concrete flooring include: Vinegar. Windex. Swiffer products.
Never use ammonia, bleach, Mop & Glow, Pine-Sol, Lysol, or citrus-based products on polished concrete floors. Do not use a Swiffer WetJet-style cleaning tool on polished concrete, since the liquid in these devices contains trace amounts of solvents.
Instead, polished concrete waterproofing is most commonly achieved by curing two separate slabs and placing a waterproof membrane in between. The foundation slab is poured first, and once cured is coated with a waterproof membrane.
Keeping your floors dust-free is as simple as a nightly sweep with a microfibre mop. If you don't have one of these, a cotton or soft bristled broom will also do the job. Then, once a week, go over the area with a damp mop. This will remove any residual dust and really get your floors shining again.
Although polished concrete floors are stain-resistant, they can still stain if spills are not cleaned promptly.
So generally speaking, your polished concrete should not get stained easily. But please keep in mind that when spills occur, the more quickly you clean up the spills, the less likely the spills are to stain your floor.
Patching polished concrete floors takes a few steps. The first step to patching polished concrete floors is to clean the crack of debris and dust. Once clean, the crack can be filled. The patching material of choice is polyurethane strengthened with microfibers.
Honestly not too much, cracks can be repaired. Depending on the size of the crack will dictact the way the crack is fixed. Small micro-cracks can simple be grouted during the grouting step and this will cause them to simply disappear into the floor and you can only find them when really lookig for them.
cracks can be addressed several ways the most common way is to router it out and fill it with the structural urethane. and another way is to use a grind and fill type product that is sprayed in front of the grinding equipment which it creates a paste or slurry.
If you're looking for sustainable materials to use in your home, polished concrete is a great option because: Recycled materials can be used to manufacture concrete. It has a long life – meaning you're less likely to need to replace your floor for many years.
Getting concrete floor coatings or a decorative concrete overlay is not a luxury – it's an investment that can pay off over time. Not only will the investment improve your enjoyment of the home and reduce your maintenance, but it will also improve the value of your home.
Most professional flooring experts require a three phase polished concrete floor maintenance approach in order to restore a polished concrete floor to its previous glory. Generally, every 2-3 years, a polished concrete floor with regular foot traffic and weathering will require professional maintenance.