Texas Concrete Polishing
Whether you are searching for new flooring for your home or office, you have the luxury of choosing from a wealth of options. These include wood, tile, and, yes, polished concrete floors.
While we obviously may be biased, we believe that polished concrete floors are a terrific choice for your residential and commercial needs. There are many reasons for this—ranging from the inherent durability of concrete floors to their sheer beauty. But having said this, there is one benefit that can be easily overlooked when deciding between different types of flooring.
Essentially, polished concrete floors are more environmentally sustainable compared to their peers. In fact, the majority of our customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, at the very least, account for their environmental impact when selecting among different types of flooring. Whether or not you are a believer in climate change or global warming, this characteristic within polished concrete floors can save you money in the long run. It can even unlock new opportunities in commercial construction.
The Inherent Sustainability of Polished Concrete Floors
By choosing concrete flooring, you are taking advantage of a significant number of environmentally friendly attributes. These attributes are difficult to find in other types of flooring.
First, let’s look at concrete itself. Concrete is essentially cement mixed with several different ingredients—like water. Cement has several sustainable qualities. Limestone, which is the primary ingredient in cement, can be easily found throughout the world. In fact, it is the most abundant mineral on earth today. The other components of cement, like fly ash and silica, can be generated from manufacturing waste. In other words, concrete is made primarily of natural ingredients. While it does take some work to mix them and actually produce the concrete, concrete itself is more sustainable than wood or tile floors.
Polished concrete floors contribute to sustainability efforts because of their durability. If properly cared for, concrete floors can last a lifetime. Concrete itself is strong and durable, meaning that it will rarely need to be replaced. Not only can you be confident that your floor will maintain its quality for years to come, but a long replacement time lessens the need to bring in additional materials and energy to replace your flooring. In other words, you are saving time, money, and preventing additional carbon from entering the atmosphere. This cannot be said of wood or tile flooring, which must be replaced more often. When you do replace wood or tile flooring, you must find new materials, ship them to your office or home, and have them installed. This takes a substantial amount of energy. The more you do this, the more harm that it causes to the environment.
Also connected with this slower replacement schedule, concrete flooring requires less maintenance than other alternatives. Generally speaking, once the concrete is sealed, it is not going to discolor or stain. The quality is going to persist for years to come. By contrast, if you were to purchase tile flooring for your home or office, you would need to consistently clean and maintain it. You would need to purchase soaps and other cleaning supplies to polish your floor. Consequently, the waste from these cleaning supplies and products can cause damage to our environment.
Concrete flooring can be a great natural source of air conditioning. This is because concrete is a great conductor of cold when exposed to different levels of thermal energy. As you may have noticed in your own life, concrete feels cold when you touch it with your skin. Heat leaves concrete very quickly, allowing you to quickly cool down if you are feeling warm. While you may get a similar feeling with tile, it isn’t as pronounced. With wood flooring, for instance, you won’t feel this effect at all. The natural cooling effect of concrete flooring allows you to not only save money on air conditioning but to avoid the negative environmental effects of air conditioners.
Concrete provides some key sustainability advantages in the recycling process. Yes, polished concrete floors can last for a significant amount of time, yet there may come a time when you need to replace your floor. When that occurs, the discarded concrete doesn’t necessarily have to go to a landfill. Instead, the materials within your concrete floor can be broken down and used in commercial-grade ground installations. Smaller pieces of this ground-down material can also be valuable in construction, specifically because this material can become a key ingredient of gravel roads. Other flooring materials, like tile, for instance, end up sitting in landfills until they decompose. Alternatively, they are burned in an incinerator, which causes even more carbon to enter our atmosphere.
Finally, concrete offers some key advantages in commercial construction. By using concrete in your commercial construction projects, you may be able to access credits under Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (“LEED”). In other words, in addition to leveraging the key environmental benefits of concrete flooring, you can take advantage of some extra cash in your company coffers. It is hard to find equivalent benefits when installing tile or wood flooring.
Doing Your Part to Preserve Our Planet
By choosing polished concrete floors, you are automatically able to take advantage of its flexibility, durability, and beauty. Once installed, polished concrete floors do not require much maintenance and can last for long periods. Instead of focusing on the durability of your floor, you can focus on other more important things in your life.
Nevertheless, there are some key environmental advantages that you can obtain with concrete flooring. While it may not be the primary reason why you are purchasing polished concrete floors, it can be a terrific added benefit. By purchasing this flooring, you are helping your friends, neighbors, and colleagues to create a more sustainable world.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of polished concrete flooring, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We at Craftsman Concrete Floors love our work and enjoy serving the Dallas-Fort Worth community. You can reach us at info@craftsmanconcretefloors.comor by calling 214-663-5848. We look forward to hearing from you!
