Polished Concrete

Concrete – an old material with new prospects.  

Inside every concrete slab - old or new - there's a beautiful polished concrete floor waiting to be revealed.

Honed concrete has been a preferred method for flooring in Europe for over 100 years. 

Green Rhino has imported and adapted technology from Germany to ensure only the best finishes are achieved. 

 

It's less then the cost of ceramic tiles or vinyl, and less than the cost of polished concrete pavers - and safer.  

Polishing concrete is now a current trend in Australia.  Green Rhino is proud to have contributed to its increasing popularity in Australia since importing their first shipment of equipment from Germany in 1999.

Since '99, Green Rhino has continued to research and develop methods of honing concrete to provide a professional, clean and efficient service to our customers.

 

 

Polished concrete is suitable for . . .    

  • interior floors for homes
  • outdoor areas
  • driveways
  • retail and industrial locations

Some of the many benefits of honed concrete include . . .  

  • Hard wearing, durable and long lasting
  • Quick to install
  • Easy to clean and maintain
  • saves money and time
  • Dry, dustless procedure
  • Light reflective
  • makes use of a natural aesthetic of rocks and stones usually buried inside concrete
  • with a new slab, can add coloured materials for a dramatic effect
  • Looks stunning!
    •  

 

Here are answers to typical questions.

 

 

FAQ - frequently asked questions

 

 

Is a concrete floor cold in winter?
No. The principle of thermal mass means a polished concrete floor is both cool in summer yet warm in winter. 

How so?
Thermal mass is a property enabling building materials to absorb, store, and later release heat. Buildings constructed of concrete have a unique energy-saving advantage because of their inherent thermal mass. Concrete absorbs energy slowly, then holds it for longer periods of time than other materials.

Is it resistant to scratches, marks or staining?
Yes, in fact, more so than most floor systems.

What if I spill hot coffee or red wine?
Naturally clean it up as soon as possible, as you would with any surface, but the sealer eliminates almost all staining.

How deep do you grind a concrete slab?
With most slabs we grind down to around 1.5.2 mm depending on both the location of the stone and visual preference of our client.

What type of stones are usually revealed?
All concrete includes stones, usually a mixture of black, grey and white stones. If laying a new slab, you can specify your stone colours in the concrete mix.

How is the floor sealed after grinding?
It's sealed with a water-based non-toxic sealing system. We guarantee you’ll be satisfied with the sealing process and a warranty is offered.

How long does it take?
If for example a room is say 20 metres by 20 metres (or 40 square metres), it might take around 3 days to grind and seal a typical concrete floor with a normal strength of 25-35 MPa, and grinding up to 120 grit (smoothness).  You can put your furniture back the next day, on day four.

What is MPa? 
Concrete strengths are described as psi (pounds per square inch) in the imperial system and in MPa (megapascals) in metric. These are units of pressure.   

How do I clean and maintain my concrete floor?

The cost of maintaining a polished floor is low.  Usually sweeping and/or mopping is sufficient for cleaning the floor.  Widely available buffing pads can be used to restore a polished appearance annually or semi-annually depending on need.  No wax is ever necessary or recommended. 

One school said, compared to the cost of waxing their previous timber floor, including product and labour to apply it, polished concrete saved them many thousands of dollars annually.

Case studies 

 

Residential
An architect from Clayfield had newly-laid concrete panels around a swimming pool. Green Rhino was contracted to grind and seal these panels. Conventional raw concrete was transformed into a decorative pool surround, revealing the stones within.

 

Commercial
A retail megastore chain had previously used Green Rhino for successful floor preparation at two of their sites in Brisbane.

Another of their stores in Townsville had been operating in a space of 1200 sq metres.  When the retail space next door of 700 sq metres became available, they grabbed the opportunity to expand their floor space. 

When the two adjoining spaces were connected, it was important to give the customer the perception of one large retail space.  Green Rhino was contracted to match the differing floor surfaces.  The exisiting store had polished concrete, while the new space was conventional concrete previously covered by a floor covering.

With their experience and a good eye, Green Rhino was trusted to grind the new floor to 3000 grit, to match the existing honed concrete surface. 

And all this had to be produced quickly.  Green Rhino prepared 700 square metres in 5 days - the first 4 days spent grinding, day 5 sealing, day 6 they moved in.

Any questions?   

Call us for a quote - 7.30 am - 9 pm

Tony Hocking      0413 629 316
Michael Hocking  0413 629 315  

Fax: 07 3216 4254

After hours e-mail: 

Mailing address:

Green Rhino, trading as Brisbane Flooring Pty Ltd,
PO Box 367 Northgate,  
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 4011.