concrete floor ottawa | The Floor Company

What Are The Different Types of Garage Floor Coverings?

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

Concrete is very resilient and can stand up to all kinds of abuse if it provides the right protection. The garage floor has to endure traffic, oil spills, heavy objects falling on it, and other such problems. To maintain its looks, it’s essential to apply a good, resilient coating to it. There are three ways to go about this. You can apply a latex paint on the floor, add an epoxy coating, or apply polyurethane.

At The Floor Company, we recommend our clients to consider their needs and requirements carefully before choosing a garage floor coating. Let’s consider the options:

Latex- This is the most affordable coating available to you. Latex is very easy to apply. It’s essentially like paint and you need to do nothing but use regular rollers and brushes to apply a coat onto the floor. Unfortunately, if you want something this affordable, you’ll need to compromise on the quality.

Latex coatings are susceptible to peeling and chipping. You’ll also need to apply several coats of it to get an even finish. In essence, it’s great for a quick, cost-effective application, but not so great for resilience and durability.

Epoxy – While this coating is slightly more expensive than latex, it’s still quite affordable. This material is resilient and will last for several years. You’re essentially coating your garage floor in plastic when you apply this material. The finish is very glossy, sleek, and smooth, giving your garage a clean look.

This material won’t lift, is very durable, looks great and has many colour and finish options. However, the application process is complicated and should only be done by a professional concrete floor coating team.

Polyurethane –This is the coating to choose for the professional garage. It has a very high level of durability and can resist chemical and oil spills very well. It’s also available in a variety of colours and finishes for an attractive garage. However, this coating is more expensive and might not be for the regular home garage. The application process is very complicated as well and you’ll need to hire a professional concrete floor coating team.

For more information on polished concrete, or to get an estimate, you can contact us at The Floor Company. If you’re calling from Ottawa and surrounding areas, dial 1800 461 3121. If you’re calling from Kingston, Belleville, Peterborough and Durham, dial 1877 277 9877. You can also email us at info@thefloorcompany.com or fill in this contact us form.

The Floor Company

Address: 1117 Newmarket Street, Unit B, Ottawa, ON K1B 4N4

Phone:(613) 706-6664

Epoxy Flooring Over Concrete vs. VCT Tiles

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

Epoxy Flooring Over Concrete vs. VCT Tiles There are several flooring treatments you can place on a concrete substrate. Some of the more popular applications, especially for commercial, high traffic floors or garages are epoxy flooring and Vinyl Composite Tile, (or VCT). Both of them are used in a variety of different applications with great results. But how do they compare?

Here’s a brief overview of the merits of both and how they compare against each other. While the end decision usually comes down to the budget, both have distinct advantages.

Affordability

Without question, the upfront cost of VCT is more affordable. The tiles aren’t that expensive, laying them doesn’t cost much by way of time and effort. Naturally, if you’re on a strict budget, VCT is a good option for you.

On the other hand, an epoxy coating is more expensive and more difficult to install. Sometimes, the upfront cost of the installation is a deterrent. However, if you have room in your budget, this is a better long term solution in comparison to VCT.

Maintenance

The key difference between epoxy coatings and VCT is maintenance. The coating requires little to no maintenance. You can simply wipe or mop the surface regularly to preserve its looks.

This is where VCT might fail. While vinyl doesn’t require too much maintenance to preserve its looks, you might need to wipe, buff, and wax it regularly. This can become tedious after some years. Moreover, over time, wax get’s accumulated and needs to be stripped completely before reapplying. This can add to the costs.

Application

Both epoxy coatings and VCT tiles are easy to apply on your concrete substrate. In both cases, the substrate needs to be in good enough condition for the layers to look good.

Most people can install VCT as a weekend DIY project. All you need to go is clean the floor thoroughly, apply a thin layer of glue, and then add the VCT. Any DIY person can accomplish this easily.

Applying an epoxy coating requires a little more skill. You need to account for the curing time between different coatings so if you plan to do it yourself, the project would take several weeks. A professional will be able to finish quickly and do a great job.

For more information on polished concrete, or to get an estimate, you can contact us at The Floor Company. If you’re calling from Ottawa and surrounding areas, dial 1800 461 3121. If you’re calling from Belleville, Peterborough Kingston or Durham, simply dial this number-1877 277 9877. Alternatively, email us at info@thefloorcompany.com or use this contact us form to connect with us.

The Floor Company

Address: 1117 Newmarket Street, Unit B, Ottawa, ON K1B 4N4

Phone:(613) 706-6664

How Long Does It Take to Polish a Concrete Floor?

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

Polished concrete floors are fast becoming a popular flooring option in commercial and residential properties. Concrete is certainly more resilient than most other flooring materials available today. It is also low maintenance so you don’t need to worry about doing more than an occasional mopping to maintain its looks.

The polishing time depends entirely on what level of polish you want, the size of the floor, and the obstructions. Here’s a look at what’s involved in the polishing process.

The Polishing Process

There are four different levels of polish, from satin-like finish to very high-gloss. To attain different finishes, we use progressively finer grinders. Needless to say, the lower levels of polish take less time. However, the process is the same.

Step One – We start by using coarse diamond and metallic matrix grinders. These are enough to remove any kind of blemish, stains, small pits, coatings etc. This process essentially prepares the floor for further polishing.
Step Two – During this process, we use grinders with diamond abrasives in resin or plastic matrix. Depending on the level of polish we need, we use increasingly finer grits to achieve the task. For high gloss finish, most contractors will use 1500 or finer grit.
Step Three – During the polishing process, we also apply internal impregnating sealer to the floor. This penetrates the concrete surface and protects it. It also densifies and hardens it, making the surface more resilient. The hardened surface doesn’t need much maintenance.

What Tools Are Used?

The polishing process is achieved through a machine with different levels of grinding grits. The process is quite akin to sanding wood; for more shine, finer sandpaper is used.

Accordingly, for the first step, about 16-20 grit is used to remove any coating, and to level the surface. Then we move from one level of grit to other. After the surface is polished with a 150-grit, a chemical hardener is added to the floor.

After that progressively finer grits are used to achieve the desired levels of gloss. Depending on the area, the level of polish, and the obstacles, the polishing can take upwards of 2 to 3 days. However, you can use the surface immediately after the polishing is done.

For more information on polished concrete, or to get an estimate, you can contact us at The Floor Company. If you’re calling from Ottawa and surrounding areas, dial 1800 461 3121. If you’re calling from Kingston, Belleville, Peterborough and Durham, dial 1877 277 9877. You can also email us at info@thefloorcompany.com or fill in this contact us form.

The Floor Company

Address: 1117 Newmarket Street, Unit B, Ottawa, ON K1B 4N4

Phone:(613) 706-6664

Eco Polish Decorative Concrete Flooring

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

“Eco Polish” is how we have branded our grinded concrete clear epoxy floor. We have coined it this because it is both economical and ecologically friendly.

The Eco Polish floor is recommended for those who want an exposed aggregate floor but also need stain resistance, deep colour, water proofing, salt resistance and more.

It is especially recommended for those spaces that are commercial and street facing in climates that get snow. This is because traditional exposed aggregate floors, such as polished concrete, are often porous. Porous floors that are installed in frequently wet and salt exposed areas will certainly degrade years before an epoxy coated floor.

Here is the Eco Polished Concrete process:

1) First we grind the floor to expose the stones and evenly remove all of the “cream coat”. This ensures even saturation of the epoxy leading to a consistent colour and durability.
2) Then we repair the floor. Typically this means filling cracks, joints, holes and divots with an epoxy paste we make using the very grinding dust from your floor, to help with colour keying to your final surface.
3) We then coat the floor in solid epoxy. (The 100% solids part means there are no smelly solvents used.)

So far, we have described our basic Eco Polish floor. At this point, the floor is complete and contains all of the benefits we went over above. However, the floor may have some imperfections such as air contamination, dust, bugs etc… caught in the surface. This happens at times because the epoxy is sticky when it’s curing for up to 8 hours.

As a highly recommended option, we suggest finishing this new surface with one coat of urethane. Urethane (available in matte, satin, and gloss sheens) is preferred because it provides UV stability, abrasion resistance and, by nature of installation method and its quick cure window, a near perfect sheen and texture.

Another great benefit to our Eco Polish concrete floors is that they are very forgiving. Should you run a busy commercial space for example, and your maintenance lapses, these floors are usually quite resilient and will recover rather well as compared to traditional non-coated polished concrete.

While Eco Polish floors may take about 30% longer to install than regular polished concrete, the longevity and ease of ownership create a great reward long term, and the look is unparalleled in the industry.

We think you’ll love all of our exposed aggregate options, speak to a professional today to help decide which one works for your space.

Why is Polished Concrete so Popular?

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

Today, there are many people who are considering having a polished concrete floor on their property. The option is becoming increasingly popular amongst homeowners who have had a chance to witness some truly stunning designs. At The Floor Company, we’ve seen many people opt for polished concrete flooring and never regret it.

What is Polished Concrete?

In essence, it’s a concrete floor that’s highly polished to give it a shine. You can add different colours, create a variety of patterns, embed aggregates, pebbles, and even recycled glass to get a beautiful design. These floors can be polished to have a dull, matte look, low sheen, a slightly cloudy shine, or a high, glass-like sheen with clarity.

Why Are They so Popular?

Polished concrete is becoming popular because of the wide variety of benefits they offer compared to flooring alternatives:

Design Options – There’s no end of choice here. You can have any colour, design or the finish you need. The sheer versatility of concrete is one of its best features. As mentioned earlier, you can create stunning designs and effects by adding aggregates like coloured stone, crushed shells, recycled glass, etc.

Relatively Low Cost – While the costs vary from place to place, concrete flooring is relatively cheaper to other flooring options. The polishing cost depends on the number of rounds the grinder would have to make on the surface. If you want a highly glossy floor, it’ll be more costly.

Longer Life – Polished concrete is resilient and not as susceptible to damage as other flooring options. With careful maintenance, you won’t need to replace it for several years.

Health Benefits – Concrete flooring is actually very hygienic. The possibility of dust mites, mold, dirt, etc is low. Moreover, you don’t need to use hazardous coatings, or adhesives. It’s a highly sustainable flooring option.

Low Maintenance – It requires very little maintenance. You can mop it daily with water and floor cleaners. The floor won’t require waxing or sealers and will maintain its sheen for a long time. It is recommended that you use only neutral pH cleaners on the floors.

Because of the various benefits of polished concrete floorings, it has become an ideal option for both residential and commercial properties.

For more information on polished concrete, or to get an estimate, you can contact The Floor Company. If you’re calling from Ottawa and surrounding areas, dial 1800 461 3121. If you’re calling from Kingston, Belleville, Peterborough and Durham, dial 1877 277 9877. You can also email us at info@thefloorcompany.com or fill in this contact us form.

Self-Levelling Epoxy Flooring Vs Concrete Levellers

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

Concrete floors and wood sub-floors are never perfectly flat or exactly level. All pre-manufactured flooring has a specific allowance for levelness and flatness. When it comes to getting a floor level and flat to the specification required, a concrete self levelling overlay or underlay is often the solution.

BEFORE Self Leveling Concrete Process

There is a difference between and underlay and an overlay, in fact, in our opinion they should be called pre-layments and final-layments.

Underlayment: This is a leveller that is not designed to be used as a finished surface. It is to be used as a base for a flooring system such as carpet, tile or hard wood.

Overlayment: This is a levelling agent or system that can be a wear course or final floor topping. It is still recommended that it be sealed with epoxy or similar.

DURING Self Leveling Concrete Process

Now, focusing on overlayment, let’s discuss the reasons one should choose epoxy over a concrete or gypsum bases overlayments.

Firstly: adhesion. You might think concrete would have the best adhesion to a concrete but in fact epoxies have been shown to have a much stronger bond. This is because when applied, epoxies are much more liquid like than concrete and therefore are able to penetrate the slab and expand in is pores. This requires proper surface preparation via grinding or shot blasting.

With concrete overlays, the bond is achieved on the surface only using a proprietary binder or primer. While this does work in effect, it’s not nearly as strong or as well bonded as 100% solids 2 part epoxy.

Another huge benefit to using epoxy for a self-leveling overlay is the fact that epoxy itself is a sealer. In theory, assuming your floor doesn’t require more than one coat of epoxy self-levelling overlay, you could do one coat and your floor would be level, sealed and the colour you want.

AFTER Self Leveling Concrete Process

With a concrete self-levelling overlay you would have to wait for the concrete to cure, sand it, then clean and vacuum and then apply an approved sealer.

Unlike concrete overlays, epoxy overlays have many options concerning non slip and final sheen. Epoxies also bond well with other coatings where as concrete overlays often fail in the department.

To ensure the best outcome when levelling a floor you will not be covering with other flooring, you best bet is to choose a leveller that can withstand years of wear and tear on it’s own without requiring a sealer. That solutions, is self levelling epoxy. If you have any questions about Self-Levelling Epoxy Flooring Vs Concrete Levellers, ask our team today!

Are Concrete Floors Cold and Damp?

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Greg Bell in Blog with Comments Disabled

Concrete can be a very cold material, as the material itself is smooth and unforgiving…however, concrete is no colder than ceramic or stone, so why give concrete the cold shoulder?

Unlike other materials, with concrete, you have the ability to install radiant heating cables, which are special cables that give off plenty of heat. By putting these in your concrete floors, you will experience heated flooring with concrete!

Concrete floors end up being warmer with this method, and if you are designing a home as opposed to simply re-flooring a room, see about allowing as many windows as possible, so that the concrete can take in the heat from the sunlight and hold it in, thereby making the floors even warmer (wintertime would be a nightmare without any sort of heating for your concrete floors).

It can become a terrible hassle if a concrete floor is built on a subgrade that does not drain accordingly, as this will cause your concrete floor to become awfully damp. Dampness can also occur from not having insulated the area properly enough, as moisture and water will then seep into the concrete and cause inevitable dampness.

So, for ensuring that your concrete floors are warm and dry, you must make sure that your floors are laid and installed correctly, and a bit of research on your own time would not go astray, as it would be in the greatest of benefits to you to know about concrete flooring installation beforehand, that way you can make sure the contractor is doing things correctly (if it’s a younger contractor, you run the risk of him not knowing any “tricks of the trade” or whatnot).

In today’s society, methods are being used to help stop moisture and water from getting in and under your concrete floors (besides insulation), and that is through contractors and carpenters placing a vapour barrier within the concrete slab, in order to protect from the invasion of moisture.

You see, at the end of the day, if your concrete floors are put in correctly, and they are heated properly, you would not have much to worry about in the way of walking on a stone-cold floor in the wintertime.

If you have any questions for a concrete professional, contact us today!

Acid Stained Concrete Vs. Dyes and Tints

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

While most people are happy with a natural coloured concrete slab, some opt for a more brilliant colour or just a slight change in the tone of grey and light beige’s that are naturally occurring when polishing and/or sealing concrete.

Acid Stains

In the past, the most common way to change the colour of a concrete slab was to do an acid stain or acid wash.

Acid stains require a lot of labor and immense amounts of water to be introduced into the slab in order to carry the acid and the resulting reaction that occurs when the acid and concrete properties meet.
Acid Stained Concrete Vs. Dyes and Tints colour chart
While this technique is time tested and proven, it does present certain issues such as adding a lot of moisture to a slab that is going to be sealed next.

Using water to penetrate and stain a concrete slab means that the slab will have to dry for many days prior to a sealer being applied. Even when using a water-based sealer, there is a certain risk that is being taken when applying it to a floor that was recently wet or damp. The sealer could flake off or be weaker in the long run. Also, if you require an impact resistant floor or wish to finish with a coating such as an epoxy or a polyaspartic, the floor must be grinded first prior to being sealed.

When doing an acid stain, this is not necessarily the best outcome as grinding the floor prior to staining it will reduce its ability to take on a new colour

Concrete Dyes

Decorative concrete dyes and concrete dye systems have come a long way and, in our opinion have replaced acid stains as the go-to product to use for staining concrete that will be sealed or polished.

These decorative dye systems are first sprayed down on the floor and either scrubbed in or left to dry. There is no need to neutralize them with large amounts of water or neutralizing agents. This means that, the floor can be polished or sealed on the same day that it was stained.

Another advantage to using concrete dyes as opposed to concrete acid stains is that the colour is much more predictable because there is no requirement for a chemical reaction in order to achieve the look that you are going for.

Concrete dyes can be used to change the overall colour of the floor but can also be used to create borders, accents, logos or really any other effects you may be going for.

If you would like more information about concrete dyes and stains, please contact us today to talk to one of our specialists.

Polished Concrete Floors for Commercial Locations

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

When choosing a concrete floor for your commercial location, it is always important to remember the environment that your floor will be presented with.

If the environment will be exposed to a lot of salt under foot traffic or especially large amounts of traffic, despite popular belief, polished concrete is not necessarily the best choice or even a good second choice.

While polished concrete floors are stronger and more abrasion resistant than epoxy coatings or other similar coatings or sealers, they do remain porous under a very thin layer of guard. This guard is used to prevent immediate staining on polished concrete but is certainly not a topping or permanent blockage to staining and salt penetration.

If your commercial concrete floor is an interior space that will not be exposed to contaminations such a salt and gasoline, polished concrete may very well be the better solution where abrasion resistance and impact resistance are the most important.

If you need your floor to be a good mix of both a coating and polished concrete, a middle ground can be found by using a floor coating with a more highly abrasion resistant topcoat such as an acrylic or polyurethane.

There are, again more options for commercial concrete flooring that can be discussed with an expert in the field. Some of these options may not even include coating or polishing but rather a chemical treatment of the floor to change its property to allow for a dust free abrasion resistant and impact resistant floor with no visual change to its sheen or colour.

Among all of the options available to you for commercial concrete floors, they can each be customized to match your needs even more closely. Such as, additional coats or self-levelling sand bases to increase the life and impact resistance even further.

Another thing to pay attention to is the common misconception that a non-slip floor needs to be an abrasive floor, or a floor with sand in it. This is not actually the case. There are many ways to put a top coat on a floor without having any type of texture that makes it hard to clean in order to achieve a higher slip resistance.

Some of these options include a non-slip wax or a topcoat of urethane. Not only do these finishes provide a lower slip factor to the floor, they also protect the underlying investment by creating a wear barrier that is less expensive to install and maintain.

The best way to know for sure what the best option is for your commercial space is to contact one of our commercial flooring experts and go over the exact use of a your space. Our experts will be able to inform you to make the right direction.

Polished Concrete Flooring Explained

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Greg Bell in Concrete with Comments Disabled

Polished concrete is the process of changing the properties of a concrete slab. First, the floor is honed in order to reduce high spots and remove weak and dusty concrete capping. Second, the floor is hardened using an environmentally friendly process. This hardening process reduces the size of the pores in the concrete and then the floor is polished using progressively finer diamond grits or diamond fragments embedded in metallic or resinous segments, once this process is complete, the new highly modified surface is guarded using a penetrating sealer and then literally baked using friction heat from a high speed burnishing process. The end result is a floor with a beautiful and naturally occurring sheen that although shiny, is not slippery.

Check out some of our polished concrete floors in our gallery

Let’s get the most common question out of the way first; is concrete cold? Polished concrete, although not as warm as carpet, tends to be warmer on the feet than tile. This is because unlike tile, polished concrete absorbs more air temperature because it is a more porous material than a glazed tile. While not as warm as carpet or any other flooring, with an underlayment or a subfloor under it, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

Unlike linoleum or other floating floors, polished concrete does not make an artificial squishy sound under your foot. Polished concrete leads to a high quality natural stone feel adding a rich high end feel to your home.

Other advantages to polished concrete are its natural reflective properties. These properties give your space a calming characteristic that is conducive to a natural and relaxing environment.

If you have children, pets or an environment that requires frequent sweeping like a woodworking room or art studio, polished concrete cannot be beat. You can see such floors at big box stores like Ikea, Home Depot, Walmart and more residential areas like high end lofts and condos.

Polished concrete is the process of changing the properties of an existing floor as opposed to purchasing and adding a floor to your space, therefore, the environmental impact both during installation and in the future when modifying or disposing of a property is greatly reduced compared to using a manufactured product.

Installing a polished concrete floor in your home or commercial location could take 2-3 days depending on the amount of square footage. If you are looking for a flooring company to turn your floor into polished concrete, contact us today for a free no obligation estimate.

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The Polishing Process

What Tools Are Used?