What environment works best for polished concrete?
Industrial polished concrete is best deployed in dry warehousing and manufacturing environments. Polished concrete is becoming more popular for large logistics and distribution centres for both palletised and robotic distribution systems. Providing an easy-to-maintain floor, the polishing process smooths and refines the floor. It can also be used to smooth and level concrete for level sensitive equipment, manual handling equipment and importantly AGV and AMR Robotics.
The beauty of polished concrete is that there is no further treatment, no coatings to wear out, you simply micro-polish it with the cleaning pads and water. It’s the simplest floor to maintain.
Slip resistance is a factor – if it’s dry – it’s one of the most slip-resistant floors there is – we have completed pendulum tests exceeding 80 PTV in the dry when the gold standard is much lower at 36 PTV. However, if it’s wet or has any contamination the slip resistance is higher. The environment and use is definitely a consideration in choosing polished concrete.
One of the biggest advantages of polished concrete is its light reflection. Dirty, grimy and dull concrete floors don’t reflect light well. Many of our clients are able to turn off their factory lights and just allow natural daylight through skylights as polished concrete increases light reflection by 70% saving them on their electricity. This has genuinely been seen through the summer months in the UK and only partial lighting is needed in the winter.
In the end, clients can end up with a mixture of resin and polished concrete in industrial settings. We often suggest this rather than running resin over the entire floor. Use resin where you have a wet production section and then look at dry environments where you can simply polish the concrete which will be cheaper over time. Polished concrete is a LEED qualifying finish. Its environmental impact on installation can be 3-13 x lower than other solutions. However, it’s in the life span of the building where the environmental credentials of polished concrete really shine!
Polished concrete is the panacea for some clients – it solves many problems, and we often hear “I don’t know why we didn’t do this years ago”.
If you are interested in understanding how industrial polished concrete can help your business, get in touch with us today!
