This Is What Polished Concrete Floors Cost In this article we will show you clearly how much polished concrete floors cost and how these prices are calculated. Also includes pricing for microcement overlays

Polished concrete floors are the perfect solution for many different residential and commercial environments. Durable, slip resistant and each one unique, it’s no wonder that the trend for polished floors and decorative concrete shows no signs of slowing down and is frequently specified as a flooring option for both new build properties and on existing floor renovations.

Here at CARRcrete we have years of experience and extensive knowledge when it comes to the entire process of polishing concrete. We understand just how much work needs to go into producing a quality concrete floor, how much materials cost and how much our competition charges. CARRcrete have dedicated an unbelievable amount of man hours specifically working to minimise our costs so that we are able to stay one step ahead for our clients. Indeed, we believe that is why we have become the top polished concrete flooring specialist in the UK.

One of the most common questions we receive from our clients is ‘how much does a polished concrete floor cost?’ People want to know if our creations are expensive, and how much our work will set them back; of course this is completely understandable to us. While it’s hard to give a simple answer as we need to consider many different factors, this article will aim to shed some light on what those factors are, the costing process as a whole and hopefully assist our clients in working out whether or not polished concrete floors are right for their project.

The only short answer we can give you regarding what the polished concrete cost is going to be for your family or company, is that it won’t cost more than any other premium flooring solution and is comparable to quality ceramic tile or natural stone. There is a wealth of information below that should help to make the right decision for you. Please do use this article to gain a better understanding of the work involved with diamond polishing and feel free to contact us if you have any questions or queries at the end of it. Finally, before we get into the nitty gritty, we’d also like to put your mind at rest by reassuring you that you’ll never pay over the odds with us; we offer a like for like price match guarantee and will always provide you with a competitive quotation first time.

How Much Do Polished Concrete Floors Cost?

If you only need us to engage in diamond grinding and polishing of existing or newly laid floors; you can expect to pay between £40 - £80 per square metre (m2). The application of a concrete overlay starts from £80 per m2 but as we always price each project on an individual basis there are other considerations to make before finalising our quotation, the most important being geographical location (so we know how much travel time is involved), floor size, number of rooms included and condition of the concrete substrate. Please note that these prices do not take into consideration the concrete floor cost itself as we do not currently offer this as a service.

Some companies may offer lower prices than this but please do read their small print carefully and be aware of false economy. The team at CARRcrete use the most advanced techniques and processes as well as the best quality chemicals and diamond tooling to ensure your polished concrete floor is completed professionally and efficiently. It should also stand the test of time and remain in great condition for many years with proper maintenance.

If you encounter a specialist willing to offer their services for a fraction of the cost, it’s very likely they’re not going to create the same durable and long-lasting results as we would. There are many different grades of diamond tooling, concrete densifiers and concrete sealer out there and we know from experience that concrete is a very imperfect medium to work with. Each concrete slab we’ve encountered is different from the last and it’s our many, many years of experience on site that give us the knowledge of how to proceed when concrete doesn’t act as we expect it to.

Let’s now take a look at the top six factors that will determine the price of your polished concrete flooring. Read through each of these sections, and you should come away with a better insight into the level of investment you might have to make for your project.

Here’s A Few Regions We Have Worked

But please do not forget we undertake project throughout the UK

Birmingham - Cardiff - Derby - Exeter - Leicester - Lincoln - Nottingham - Sheffield - York

Top 7 Factors That Affect The Cost Of Polished Concrete Flooring

Quality of the existing concrete floor (to grind/polish) Are floor repairs necessary (cracks, holes, breakages) Type of finish required (cream, salt & pepper, stone) Size of concrete floor to be polished Number of rooms/floors (lots of edging) Geographic location (expensive food and accommodation) Fixtures and fittings (for concrete overlay projects)

Quality of the existing concrete floor

Is the existing floor in situ a newly laid concrete or has it been there for a while? In instances where the existing concrete floor has been laid months or even years ago it’s almost certain that we’ll have to grind the concrete to remove surface staining and renew the surface before polishing, so the condition here will need to be assessed as extra coarse grinding can require a lot of time and effort. Is the surface damaged and/or cracked? Is it uneven? All things we will take under review.

On the flip side, clients with a smooth, well laid or newly laid concrete can often make substantial savings. When all’s said and done, we need to work out how long a job will take and the cost of any labour involved. Issues like tamp lines, depressions from trowels and footprints all increase the amount of grinding required and therefore add to the cost.

Are floor repairs necessary?

Repairs relating to slab cracking, missing stones, and large holes can all take time to complete. The same goes if our team members have to remove bolts and other such items from the surface (usually commercial or industrial floors) before they can start work. That takes time away from the primary process of polishing the concrete surface.

Often, those repairs need to be undertaken and then left to harden sufficiently before any further works can be done. That means sometimes we might have to leave the premises early and return the following day. This increases the amount of time the job will take and the amount of labour required, which will increase flooring cost.

Type of finish required

At CARRcrete, we offer a range of different finishes to ensure our polished concrete floors suit every potential requirement, environment and slab. However, as you can probably imagine, some finishes take more time and involve more work than others to complete.

Our InfinityFloor Cream finish doesn’t involve any grinding of the surface as it’s been subject to careful smoothing with a power trowel, so this procedure naturally doesn’t take as long as others and is priced more cost effectively as a result. Exposed aggregate finishes such as our InfinityFloor Stone (this looks similar to the terrazzo floors of old) take a lot of more time because of the amount of grinding involved in order to reveal the stones. Grinding is time-consuming, labour intensive and uses a greater amount of tooling that polishing options do.

Gloss level is taken into consideration too, and often a high gloss finish will incur slightly higher charges than concrete flooring polished to a matt finish.

Size of concrete floor

It’s not going to be a surprise to you that the cost of your polished concrete floor will depend on the size of the area to be worked. We usually start with a basic per square metre/square foot price and then look at the other factors mentioned here. Don’t worry if you’ve taken your measurements in square foot (sq ft), we can work with that too! The larger the floor area; the lower the cost will be and it is always less expensive to polish one large room rather than multiple small rooms.

Due to the costs that we naturally incur on all works and the nature of the tooling that we need to use which is diamond based. we have found it necessary to a minimum job charge that we need to rely on for all jobs under 40m2. Our minimum job charges range from £1950 to £2350 plus vat and if your job falls into this category we will tell you in advance and explain why you are not being charged as per our regular pricing structure.

Number of rooms/floors

Taking into consideration the size of the project to be worked as mentioned above, we also need to know how many rooms are included with any area given. Numerous rooms are often inefficient in that our workers need to continually move their equipment into the optimum position and adjust the power cables as necessary.

If you ever manage to see the size of the equipment our workers use, you’ll understand why compact spaces can become somewhat of a nightmare. Still, we always strive to satisfy all customers and clients, and if it’s possible to create a polished concrete floor in any area; we’ll do our best to achieve it.

Each room will also require edging, and that can take time depending on the size and shape of the space. Going from 1 room to 2 increases the amount of edges from 4 to 8 so you can imagine that edging alone can add days to large projects, If you use partition walls, it could make sense to remove them before we begin work on your floor so that our team only has to focus on one huge area rather than lots of small ones although we appreciate that this is not always possible.

Geographic location

The postcode in which you reside could also play a role in determining the cost of your polished concrete flooring solution. We need to take travel time into consideration, and this could increase costs particularly if your premises are over 4 hours away. Unlike many of our competitors, we don’t add charges to cover food and accommodation costs but some bustling cities do charge a premium for these basic needs and we may need to factor this in on occasion, particularly when working on site with a larger team. We would ask you please understand, working in areas like London are always going to be more costly to us than working in cities such as Derby or Newcastle and this will be reflected in our quotation.

Fixtures and fittings

While we only undertake grinding and polishing works on concrete floors that are empty and obstruction free, we are able to apply our PROtop Loft overlay around certain fixtures and fittings. Due to the extra time applying our overlay around fixtures will take, this is often more expensive than if we are applying the overlay to an empty, open area.

Soft concrete floors are always more expensive to polish

I bet you didn’t realise that there was such a thing as a soft concrete floor! Whenever we’re asked to work on an existing concrete floor, it’s one of the first things that we need to check before finalising any quotation as soft concrete is far more abrasive to our tools than harder concrete and always requires more attention and time. Sometimes, our dedicated professionals have to apply a chemical hardener (concrete densifier) to strengthen the surface and ensure it’s strong enough to meet our high standards and that any polish given will last. Softer concrete will also force us to use certain tools of a grit that would be normally be unnecessary on a harder floor, therefore increasing the length of the works required.

Do you have space for an overlay?

An overlay is a cementitious product that is applied to an existing floor surface. Our overlays are usually between 3mm and 10mm in thickness which means most people can fit one into their property without causing issues with predetermined ceiling and door heights. We always recommend using an overlay such as our environmentally friendly PROtop or PROtop Loft products as they have been designed to remove many of the inconsistencies we associate with standard concrete, and they can help when your aim is to totally change the look of any existing concrete flooring.

In fact, if you like the cloudy grey appearance of our InfinityFloor Cream finish, then an overlay is usually the easiest way to ensure you get guaranteed results. If you have a concrete slab, screed slab, or a tile floor, there is a decent chance that one of our overlay products will be suitable for creating your polished concrete floor. Unfortunately, as we don’t work with epoxy products at CARRcrete we are unable to offer overlay services on anhydrite screed flooring.

The cost of polishing concrete

When we flip it and ask about the business costs, then yes, it can cost a small fortune when polishing concrete especially if incorrect tools and equipment are used. Professionals have to learn the most popular techniques and then invest in lots of expensive equipment, tools, machinery and consumables. Flooring materials can vary massively in quality and you need to know what works and what doesn’t. It can also take many years of experience to learn how to get the best outcomes with problem concrete, and so you have to factor the cost of labour into any calculations and workings.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much quality training available for people who want to learn how to polish concrete, and so most real experts have a wealth of hands-on experience. While we always think you should choose our brand, that is just another reason why you need to research any concrete polishing specialist thoroughly. As there is this lack of training, some of our competitors never manage to achieve the best results, and that means you’re at risk of wasting your investment.

Thankfully along with Dave Carr at the helm, CARRcrete employs the most educated and experienced concrete polishing professionals in the country, and so you can trust us to meet and even exceed all your expectations. We have developed one of the largest genuine work portfolios in the industry, and you only have to check online to see hundreds of positive reviews from previous customers. Unlike many of the other companies bidding for your money, we develop and design our own custom machinery and diamond tooling based on our needs and requirements, so when we say our InfinityFloor polishing system is unique we really do mean it.

No other group in the country does this. We hope you agree that our brand is the safest and most logical choice for all your concrete polishing requirements. Thus, one final time we ask the question – is polished concrete flooring expensive? Not when you consider the wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise we put into the polishing of your floor and the duty of care we offer our clients old and new.

Polished concrete maintenance costs

It’s wise to consider the costs involved with looking after your concrete once you’ve had your floor polished and invested time and money in it; you’ll be pleased to know that polished concrete is low maintenance flooring. We recommend having a dust mop that you use daily and then damp mopping weekly to protect against stains and additional coatings of sealer are usually not required. It really is no more hard work to look after than other decorative options such as vinyl and tile. No special polishing equipment is needed although for special occasions you can high speed burnish your floor to revive or increase the gloss level. We will talk you through this while on site.

Some last tips for getting a quality polished concrete floor include:

It’s worth checking that the company you choose owns their equipment. Some firms will increase their prices by adding rental costs to your bill. We don’t believe this to be acceptable, and so you should always look elsewhere if someone tries to do this.

Taking a look at testimonials and portfolios to ensure you’re dealing with a reputable brand with a wealth of experience behind them. Make sure that the photos shown in their portfolio are works they have completed, sometimes doing a google search with the photograph is enough to see it actually belongs to someone else - other companies use our photographs all the time!

If you’re now ready to get the ball rolling and receive a free quote or estimate for your polished concrete flooring project you just need to make contact with our team. We will gather as much information as we require to make the calculations and then provide you with an accurate price for the floor finish of your choice. If you have any questions about anything, we are only a telephone call or email away!

No job is too big or too small for us to consider, please let us know the square meterage or square footage when you speak with us. Once we’ve given you an initial quotation for the works based on the concrete being in good condition as per our specifications, we will plan in a site visit to do a concrete inspection for all jobs that book in with us and once the site visit is completed, your quotation will be finalised.

Any changes to the original quotation will be explained to you in writing so you will always be fully informed. By organising this this way, you’re always in control. You’re not going to risk any deposit payment paid to us and you’re able to cancel anytime (terms and conditions apply). We hope we’ve answered your questions regarding how much floors cost and we look forward to hearing from you!

Be sure to read our guide to polished concrete here.

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