Many homeowners and project managers decide to install a concrete floor because it’s one of the most cost-effective solutions for concrete flooring in Winnipeg. They’re attracted to the overall hardness and durability that concrete offers, as well as the faster timeline. In an effort to keep speeding up the timeline and cutting costs, many people begin to wonder whether it’s truly necessary to coat their concrete floors before finishing.
Is it possible to simply leave the concrete without a protective coating?
Professionals will tell you that concrete really does need a coating in order to protect the concrete itself. The coating will help to preserve the concrete for longer periods of time, allowing you to protect your initial investment.
How does coating your concrete help to preserve your environment and your floors? Take a look at these top benefits that will have you convinced that coating your concrete is the right choice.
Your floors will require less maintenance
This is quite possibly the most significant advantage for property owners who coat their concrete floors. The top coating will make their floors slightly slicker than the unfinished concrete, which makes sweeping and dust mopping your floors simpler. The broom or mop will glide right over the surface, picking up all traces of debris.
In fact, the only maintenance that you will need to do with your polished concrete floors is to sweep and mop them. Homeowners may find that simply dust mopping their floors on a regular basis is enough to clean them most of the time. Daily or weekly wet mopping may not even be necessary, depending on the traffic.
Coated concrete will also require less maintenance when it comes to scrubbing inevitable spills from the surface. The coating will work to prevent these spills from seeping into the surface and creating permanent staining. Whether you spill a cup of grape juice, oil, or some sort of chemical, a coating can keep you from spending hours scrubbing the affected area clean.
Overall, your floor will look newer for much longer periods of time with less work from you. Isn’t that exactly what every property owner ultimately wants?
The property will be less dusty
Concrete without a coating can put off a tremendous amount of dust with heavy traffic. In a private residence, this could mean increased home maintenance to take care of furniture. Commercial properties may have a hard time keeping merchandise clean on the shelves. In both instances, a dusty floor can make for reduced air quality throughout the property.
If you or your customers suffer from allergies, the dust in the air may be problematic for your health long-term. You will be forced to change your HVAC air filters more frequently in an attempt to capture this dust, but much of it will still sneak through the filter. It could lead to an increase of asthma-like or cold-like symptoms in addition to the extra housework.
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), the lungs can react to dust in a number of different ways. Dust may simply cause inflammation and irritation, or it could cause fibrous scar tissue in the lungs over a long period of time. It can lead to rhinitis, tracheitis, or bronchitis.
Of course, a dusty surface is also bad for the overall longevity of the floor. If the concrete continues to generate dust day after day, that means that the top surface of the floor is slowly eroding. It will be more susceptible to faster erosion, particularly in high traffic areas that are subject to more sand, dirt, or gritty substances.
Ultimately, the dust is terrible for your long-term health but it can also mean an early demise for your concrete floor.
Coating can improve your lighting
Did you ever consider what coating could add to your property aesthetically? In addition to being a better option for the long-term care of your floor, coating also produces a certain sheen. The shine inherent to a particular coat can vary from a more matte finish to a glossier coating, depending on your preferences. However, you will see many of the same benefits with both matte and glossy coatings.
The glossier your floor is, the more likely it will be to reflect any kind of light that shines on it. Whether your property has artificial lighting or lots of natural light filtering through the windows, this shine can help to multiply the light in a given space. Light will bounce off the surface of the floors to create an atmosphere that is brighter all around.
Not only does it naturally improve the lighting in your property, but it can also lower your utility bills as a result.
Consider how much brighter your property will be with a coating. If you opt for a shinier version of the coating, your property could be significantly brighter. This may allow you to decrease the number of lightbulbs or the wattage of your current bulbs. Do your current windows let in a lot of natural light throughout the day? You could find that even the smallest amount of natural light will suffice instead of using artificial lighting.
Minor changes like these can effectively lower your utility bills on a monthly basis. The cost savings monthly can help to even out the initial investment of coating the floor.
A concrete coating comes with a host of benefits for property owners and homeowners alike. It can make maintenance easier, help to improve the indoor air quality compared to uncoated concrete, extend the lifespan of your floor, and lower your utility bills. When you consider all of the advantages that go along with a concrete coating, you will be amazed at what a difference it can make.
Don’t let yourself to be tricked into skipping this essential step. You may be tempted to skip the financial cost and time investment of having experts coat your floor in order to speed up the construction work. Unfortunately, you may find yourself regretting that decision just a few short months down the line. Talk with your local concrete professionals today to see what coating could offer your property.
