OSO Floors: Transforming Dull Concrete Into Stunning Concrete Floors
March 2022
Do you have a concrete floor in your home’s garage or basement or in a commercial facility that really needs an update? Recently, we met with Erin Rodriguez, owner of Oso Floors, to talk about the options they can offer to turn those dull and boring concrete floors in your garage, basement or commercial office space into stunning improvements that will last a lifetime.
With a 20-year history of reconditioning concrete floors, the crew from Oso Floors has the experience to deliver a beautiful, revitalized concrete floor, no matter how big or small the job may be. While the work in preparing the concrete for a particular finish is very similar, according to Rodriguez, there are three different finishes that Oso Floors offers to upgrade a concrete floor: epoxy, polished concrete and grind and seal.
Preparing the Concrete for Finish
Knowing how to properly prepare the floor is essential, irrespective of which finish you choose. The pros at Oso Floors will make sure that this preparation process is done properly. It is essential that the floor is properly cleaned. But before cleaning begins, any cracks or patch areas that need care will be addressed. In garages, oil spots will need to be removed and the floor will need to be degreased.
Epoxy
An epoxy coating will have a hardener and a resin that, when mixed and applied to concrete, creates a very strong and chemically resistant floor that is able to withstand nearly any set of demands. Moreover, concrete floors covered with an epoxy coating can be stunning with respect to the color and design that a professional can incorporate into the finish. Not surprisingly, an epoxy floor finish is the most expensive of the three concrete floor coverings offered by Oso Floors.
Polished Concrete
Polished concrete is as it sounds, a process where Oso Floors will come in with the proper grinding equipment and grind the concrete surfaces, whether new or old, to a high-gloss finish. The heavy-duty machines are used to gradually grind down a concrete surface to the desired degree of shine and smoothness, similar to sanding wood.
The advantages of polished concrete for residential clients are that it is less expensive compared with traditional floor coverings, such as hardwoods or carpeting, less vulnerable to damage, easy to clean and available in a wide range of colors. If you have ever seen the damage a large dog can do to hardwood floors, you might want to check out polished concrete floor.
Compared to epoxy-finished floors, polished concrete flooring uses no harsh chemicals and it will produce little to no toxins during installation. Polished concrete also increases light reflectivity by up to 100%—not quite as much as epoxy flooring, but enough so that many people will still see lower utility bills due to a reduced need for extra lighting.
While almost any structurally sound concrete floor, whether old or new, can be polished with proper preparation, there are some exceptions. That is why you need to consult the professionals at Oso Floors to determine if your floor is suitable for polishing.
Grind and Seal
A grind-and-seal concrete floor is exactly as it sounds. The concrete floor is ground, cleaned and finally has a topical sealer applied. A stain color can be added during this process with several varieties of colors available.
Oso Floors will recommend the best type of sealer for your project, depending on your floor goals, requirements and space.
How is grind and seal different from polished concrete, you ask? It may be hard to spot the difference between polished concrete and sealed concrete because they can look almost identical. The principal difference is that with polished concrete, the concrete is polished using finer grits of diamond abrasives until the floor reaches the desired level of shine and with sealed concrete, the finish is achieved from a topical sealer.
Upgrading the appearance of your concrete floor can add life and vibrance to almost any existing concrete floor in your home or a commercial space. However, to do it right we recommend you contact a professional like Osos Floors.
For a free estimate call Erin at 317-762-2776 or go to osofloors.com.