Does anyone know if polished concrete is easier or cheaper than "conventional" tiled floors?
Does is there any special equipment to do it or is everything pretty standard here in LOS?
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Does anyone know if polished concrete is easier or cheaper than "conventional" tiled floors?
Does is there any special equipment to do it or is everything pretty standard here in LOS?
you get get tile pretty cheap (in bkk anyway) but polished concrete is definitely cheap. no specialty equipment required but you'll need a decent contractor to apply the final topping.
if you like the darker marbled look of polished concrete you can rub the surface with motor oil (sounds odd but i've done it on numerous projects) just adds a bit of contrast
Wouldn't think so!
We had to seal our factory floor and it is a nigtmare re: preparation and the epoxy resin used to seal the surface is very expensive.
Also you have to redo heavy traffic areas and after about 5 years.
Stick to ceramic tiles and you can buy them now for less than 100 Baht per square metre.
Strangely, I've heard the opposite to what R1 just posted; that polished concrete is relatively expensive, especially when compared to standard finishes like marble and ceramic tiles.
Hopefully someone who has done both can clarify.
^^ As above Marmite!
Are you back from your MC trek?
Nope.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loy Toy
well, cheap tiles can be DIRT cheap.....including labor you can get below 600b m2. i use polished concrete on a lot of sites....not talking factory floors here. residential kitchens, decks, etc... so we're not talking epoxy coatings, that shit is very expensive (although i have a good supplier who does it for 1,100b m2). can't compare marble prices to concrete, marble is far more expensive. with ceramic tiles, if you shop around enough you can find some seriously cheap crap, but it's exactly that....crap.
find yourself (or PM me) a good local concrete guy that has done toppings and polished finishes, you won't regret it.
:-)
Jeez. I hope not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loy Toy
oh ya, a great alternative to concrete floors is viva-board cut into tiles. looks just like concrete and you can easily replace damaged areas.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...41/003_005.jpg
shown here used on walls.....awesome stuff
Looks crap.
Viva board done correctly looks great.
It can look ok on the floor also, but much prefer the full polished concrete look, no joins, on floors.
VB depends on the finishing as to if it looks good or crap.
^ Right, looks nice in this pic.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...s/10649/21.JPG
for sure,done correctly it looks pretty sharp. there's a german product, Pandomo (VERY expensive) that is self leveling and wears much better than concrete...also available here but like i said....super expensive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nawty
I am doing the polished concrete floor on a house we will be building next year.
Doing it for both looks and budget, primarily for looks and budget second.
nawty, you doing your own house or fitting it out for someone? just curious :mid:
i think polished concrete looks sharp and a good alternative to plain old ceramic tiles.
New house.
Interesting slant from a Thais observation.....I just finished a very nice house here in Bkk, a young hi-so Thai guy bought it. We were going to do the polished concrete in 3 areas, 2 upstairs balconies and the carport.
He did not want this at all, he loved everything else, but not this, the only thing he changed on me. When I asked him why...because it can look very nice and trendy and modern, he said it looks 'cheap and nasty' and did not like it at all. Lucky I did not try to introduce the galvanised iron sheets into the kitchen area lol.
So, with this in mind, we are doing the next house whole floor this way and when it is done, it will look good.....however, should the new owner not like it, I am going to allow the extra height to simply lay down tiles should they wish....their cost of course.
i think an industrial look doesn't appeal to the masses :-) i encounter the same thing daily.
good luck with this build
Good thinking. The look is an acquired taste and many prefer a more traditional finish.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nawty
Never seen polished concrete, can someone nice put a couple of piccies up?
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnthonyR1
that is a bit patronising, after all, the "masses" have to live with it
if you want your house to look like a factory, fine, lots of concrete and exposed pipes is the way to go, although that trend is getting a bit dated now
mind you, polished concrete can look good in the right places, and with a bit of colour thrown in, can look excellent
^ how is it patronizing? based on my dealings in construction most people stray from that look and opt for traditional or traditional-ish.
to each his own.
Working on tiling actually, was told that polished floor comes to about same price...
We get our tiling i think for about 400 thb / meter, but what a nightmare !
They do not check any level,making channels deep mor then 1 cm, REDO - REDO... amazing Thailand...
The guy told he had a good profesional team, Wow, i had to hand them a level over, and now (almost) no more REDO !
They work on tiles of 10 inch i believe...
Came out with that :
120 meter square tiles at 110 thb meter + VAT = 14'124 Thb
Cement bags 40 at 170 thb + VAT = 7276 Thb
Sand 4 cubic at 400 thb = 1712 Thb
Work 5 days, but now 7 allready 20'000 Thb
Total 42'112 thb / 120 meter square = 350.95 Thb - but a crap job they done !
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...ing_Rework.jpg
This is how wrong it can go by taking a so called professional team over here...
Here they were taking off quite a bit of th other days job and next day they did not come to work, as the task was to difficult...
For the boards, there is as well SMILE board, they have a 3 meter by 120 cm board, Viva has only th 240 cm by 120 cm as biggest choice...
Was planning to do the office walls with those Smile boards but finally opted for the messy bricky way...
here ya go..Quote:
Originally Posted by jizzybloke
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
http://www.concretenetwork.com/photo...crete_2774.jpg
damn didn't know that top one was so big... anywho it gives a good perspective... Tiles end up with all kinds of hollows too and tend to crack, obviously that is not a problem with plain concrete..