Today’s business owner has a plethora of options to choose from. Hardwood, rubber, cork, and linoleum all have properties that can make them a good choice for your business. Polished concrete, however, remains a very attractive option for most business owners. Concrete is the second most consumed material after water, and there are quite a few very good reasons for that. Here’s why you should choose concrete flooring.
Durability
Concrete is extraordinarily durable. This means that it can withstand a lot of pressure; concrete floors can be built to handle anything from foot traffic to heavy machinery. This makes concrete an attractive option for retail and industrial spaces alike. Concrete’s durability also means it’s resistant to chipping and scratching, which can be handy in areas where objects are likely to be dropped.
Long Lasting
A further side effect of the durability of concrete is that your floors will be incredibly long lasting. There’s a good chance you’ll need to resurface and polish your concrete on a regular basis, but these maintenance tasks are a fraction of the cost of installing new flooring. Concrete floors can last almost indefinitely, which is why they have remained popular for a variety of construction projects; there’s a reason that the Roman colosseum is still around today.
Resists the Elements
Well installed concrete floors will have an innate moisture resistance system; concrete is also non-flammable, which means it’s essential if your business involves any high temperatures. These qualities can seriously help mitigate damage to your building, so if you know foot traffic will bring in a lot of snow, or you’re at risk for fire damage, concrete is a great choice.
Aesthetics
Thanks to new polishing techniques, polished concrete can have any number of beautiful colors and patterns polished into it, with what’s known as polished concrete topping. This allows business owners to customize their flooring while retaining concrete’s durable qualities, instead of having to settle for a more drab grey look.
Disadvantages
Concrete, for all of it’s wonderful qualities, does have a few disadvantages.The material is less suitable for areas where you expect people not to be wearing their shoes. Concrete’s hardness means it doesn’t have any give when you step, which can make it hard on your legs if you spend all day walking on it without appropriate footwear. The material can also get cold quite quickly, so if you don’t have material covering your feet, you’re liable to get a bit chilly. Durability means that while concrete isn’t likely to break, items dropped onto concrete floors might not stay intact.
That said, if you don’t expect a lot of shoeless foot traffic, concrete is likely a wonderful option for your business. Hire a specialized industrial flooring contractor who specializes in polished concrete for your new flooring. Experts in concrete flooring will fit the floors to any space you need.
