I know of this veneer concrete flooring as an alternative to lished concrete, however as a veneer, it is a thin pour over a solid substrate. Unfortunately the very nature of a first floor is suspended, (although sufficiently supported) it will have flex and movement in it, which this opttion does not favor. The reason is due to cracking, and resurfacing the cracks are unsightly. As a designer, and working on my own renovation, I looked into this option and the technical implications for my build. It was not recommended although possible. I did however find one other alternative, called xlite, which are large scale tiles that replicate the look of stone, marble and concrete too. The tiles run in 3000 x 1500 sheets, so Grout lines are limited and hardly factors. In fact that the unique scale of tile, which is lightweight and has a fantastic thermal mass, great insulative quality is so different, makes this system a feature on it's own.

Second attempt was with Windex and same paper towel, which cleaned the two honed surfaces up pretty well. The lighter Raw Concrete seems to have been easier than the Sleek Concrete. And finally, to get rid of that pot scratch I used a non-scratching Scotch brite pad (what we usually use on dishes) with some diluted Soft Scrub. This one took a little more elbow grease but I'm satisfied with the results. My opinion is that comparing the two surfaces (honed vs. glossy) there is a marked difference. That being said, I currently have tile from 1978 and grout lines that are so deep and narrow I have to scrub them out with a toothbrush. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. We decided to go with the Raw Concrete after all, and like others have said, just expect that it'll take a little more work and show a few more stains. But then again, isn't that the whole point of concrete? That it looks industrial? I hope this has helped someone. If anyone is interested I'll try to post some more photos and real life feedback in a couple of weeks once ours is installed.

we have decided to go with concrete floors in our new build. the foundations have just been done, and the team came through and power floated the floor. It rained the next day, which showed us the full effect of what the floor will look like (the builder said its good for it to rain too as means less likely to crack) and we LOVE it! so much so that i rang the builder and asked him to be careful on the hallway floor too as we want to continue the concrete finish up there as well. We arnt going for a ground floor as i find it a bit too busy and we are wanting a more relaxed industrial look. This is the photo i supplied the builder and it looks pretty much the same. The finish is achieved as soon as concrete foundation is poured. they "buff" the concrete, which "burns" the top, giving it quite a organic look. once this is done, the floor needs to be protected from chips etc while they build, then all that needs to be done is sealing once the build is finished. it came in alot cheaper than tile, or wood, but more expensive than carpet. our house is north facing with a lot of glass on that wall. the architect told us that the thermal mass from the flooring will be awesome! keep us updated on what you choose. :)

If it is a new house or a new slab make sure that you your builder knows that you intend to polish the slab so the correct preparations are done, and more care is taken in the top layers of the slab with a good even distribution of the aggregate. Polishing an existing, old slab is always a bit of a gamble as you never know what you will discover. Sometimes the polishing reveals cracks, or patchiness in the distribution of the aggregate, or parts that have been filled or levelled. I have had clients who were so diappointed with the rustic, patchy nature of their old slab once it had been polished that they ended up tiling it with a concrete-look tile, which provided a much more consistant finish. But the process of polishing then tiling was very expensive!