Some of our customers are determined to opt for a light or nil exposure polished concrete floor for their residential homes. Concrete consultants typically try and dissuade home owners from this type of finish as the floor can end up looking like plain concrete (think shiny, clean garage floor).
This plain concrete look has very little 'bling' about it and flaws in the concrete finish are obvious. Home owners often regret the decision to go light instead of a deeper grind random or full aggregate exposure floor, especially when they understand that to redo the floor as full exposure to remove imperfections requires the entire polishing process to re-commence from scratch doubling their polishing cost!
The quality of a light or nil exposure polished concrete floor is totally dependant on the workmanship of the concretor.
Blemishes and faults can including different coloured areas, trowel, skreed and helicopter marks, and random unexpected areas of aggregate exposure. These 'imperfections' are common for light exposure finishes and unfortunately often not appreciated by the home owner.
- Pros
- Slightly lower cost as less grinding required.
- Plain concrete appearance.
- Durable machine ground finish.
- Cons
- No 'bling' - plain concrete appearance.
- Skreed and helicopter marks, boot prints and flaws in the slab visible.
- Random areas of aggregate.
- Cost is doubled if the floor needs to be re-done as random or full exposure.