Concrete polishing for a bathroom renovation retail showroom in Melbourne
Haynes Polished Concrete was engaged by a bathroom renovation retail showroom in Melbourne who wanted to get polished concrete floors as part of a makeover to attract new customers. Their old showroom had carpet which was getting a bit tired and worn out. They had considered getting new carpet, but decided to get polished concrete flooring instead because they wanted something that looked amazing and would last a long time.
Getting mechanical concrete polishing for a high end showroom like this makes a lot of sense. It creates a premium look and feel that will impress a shopper as soon as they walk in. It also matches this type of retailer very well too because most bathrooms would have a solid flooring surface like tiles or concrete, so people will be able to relate to the ‘look’ very quickly.
The other big benefit for this retail showroom is the light coloured floor will help bounce light around the showroom to make it feel warm, inviting and help show off the products on display. Since these areas receive higher than normal foot traffic, your choices reduce to those that are durable and can withstand continuous use. Let’s also not forget that these spaces need to help build your business’ reputation, so the type of flooring you select should look great and represent your brand.
Polished concrete full stone exposure with a satin polish
The owners of this retail showroom considered other flooring options like floating timber floorboards, carpet and even tiling. Although once they added up the costs of sourcing those materials, preparing the floor, getting them layed and even sealing those types of surfaces it became pretty clear to them that polished concrete flooring for their showroom would make much more sense.
They chose to upgrade from just a basic concrete sealing service to get fully polished concrete flooring with a full stone exposure with a satin finish. As you can see in the photos above, there is lots of texture in the surface, a nice mixture of earthy colours and a very bright overall look. It goes well with the timber display cabinets and big windows with lots of natural light that this showroom has. Retail locations are usually illuminated to increase the appeal of the items in the eyes of the buyers. You can amplify this effect with polished concrete flooring, which is a highly reflective surface. If there are areas with low or natural lighting, polished concrete will provide a solution for you. It reduces your store’s reliance on lights, which also helps with your electric bills.
More than likely, your business or retail space receives a high amount of foot traffic on almost a daily basis. Therefore, you will agree that the floors should be durable to survive the influx of customers and visitors.
For many years concrete has been known for its sturdiness. In fact, it is considered one of the most durable materials in the world. It is why polished concrete is the flooring type to go for if you own a showroom. The durability of concrete adds to the strength of polished concrete. It also helps keep the floors looking new with the ability to withstand a steady flow of foot traffic, you do not have to replace them at all.
Converting a showroom with carpet to polished concrete flooring
Converting an existing retail showroom in Melbourne that has carpet on the floor to one that has polished concrete flooring can be done quite easily. A landlord can do it in preparation for a new tenancy or an existing tenant can request for it to be done to improve how their retail outlet is presented.
You won’t need to apply for a DA because getting the floors polished won’t require changes to the structure of the building and simply uses the existing flooring. Using polished concrete flooring in Melbourne is a popular choice for retail showrooms, cafes, bars, clubs and other high traffic public areas because it is the hardest surface choice available which means its durable, easy to care for, looks amazing and can handle heavy foot traffic. There is no other flooring surface material that can match it.
This is why our company gets asked to convert so many showrooms from floor boards or carpet to mechanically polished floors. For landlords it makes it really easy for any tenant to work with & they don’t have to worry about customers spilling drinks or food, scratching the floor or even slipping while it creates a long term flooring solution requiring minimal maintenance.
It is very easy to have carpet removed from the existing floor. Once that has been done, we can grind the concrete floor to make it very smooth and ready to be polished. Depending on the condition of the existing floor we might need to repair any cracks or other damage to the floor.
Why is polished concrete such a great surface for showrooms
In this example the bathroom renovation retailer needed an easy way to display their products on retail shelving in their indoor showroom. They were renting the property long term so it didn’t make a lot of sense to invest in putting more carpet down when they knew it would wear relatively quickly.
By using the existing concrete slab there wasn’t any requirement to buy other materials or add anything to the existing showroom. It is a simple process to get a concrete grinding service and then have it polished so that it is ready to be used.
It is then simple to clean, it will handle lots of foot traffic from shoppers visiting the showroom, will be hard to scratch and is great for the environment because timber or other materials aren’t being added to the building.
Retailers using sustainable materials is a respectable route for any brand to take. Choosing sustainable materials shows your compassion and care for the environment. When you use polished concrete, you can align your company with a noble cause, which frames your business in a positive light. Using polished concrete is a sustainable option because;
- It uses materials that are abundant such as aggregates, water, and most especially cement.
- Concrete is locally produced, which lowers emissions and energy required for transporting the material, for instance.
- Its thermal mass makes it energy efficient because of its ability to retain and absorb heat.
- There’s minimal waste involved when mixing concrete for a project.
- It is most likely already there on the site, most retail showrooms are built on concrete slabs so you have the material already there, ready to be used.
Can polished concrete be used for a Melbourne showroom that has an outdoor area?
Some modern showrooms in Melbourne have very large openings that allow the retailer to have an indoor and outdoor area for shoppers to walk around in. This lets lots of fresh air and natural light into a shopping area space and makes it easy for people to move around freely. If there are feature products they can be moved outside as a special feature for example.
If the outdoor portion of the concrete floor isn’t covered or sheltered from the weather then what our company can do is provide a honed or pavilion finish to the whole area or just to the portion that is outside. This will ensure the surface reduces the chance of someone slipping if it is raining or there is water on the ground.
We make it really easy to create an incredible indoor or outdoor showroom area for either existing or brand new showrooms in Melbourne
How do you remove the existing carpet, tiles or floorboards in a showroom
If you are an existing retail showroom tenant it is possible to convert your floor space from one flooring material to another. It just takes some planning to move any retail display fixtures as well as stock or other display materials. Once this is done, any existing floor material can be removed so that the concrete polishing process can begin.
This could take up to three days depending how large the area is.
Once the existing materials have been removed we can prepare the concrete surface by grinding the concrete to remove adhesives or other imperfections to make sure it is completely smooth to being polishing and sealing. This is a very common process for properties in Melbourne that have a retail showroom especially for floor spaces that are up to 1000 sq metres in size.
What flooring finishes are available for showrooms
For retailer they wanted a full exposure finish so that the floor had lots of texture and would reflect the light from outside. In other situations you can choose a floor finish which is either matt or full gloss which can be chosen before we begin our work. The difference comes down to how deeply we grind the concrete and what type of sealant is used after it is polished.
The colour of your floor will depend on the type of concrete mix that was originally poured, how far we grind, the lighting (natural or ceiling) and the sealant we use. For a lot of showrooms the idea is the floor should not overwhelm the space visually so they are often quite muted and simple so that the items on display are the hero for shoppers to look at.
Let Haynes Polished Concrete transform your showroom with gleaming polished concrete floors. Adding a polished concrete floor to your showroom will add value and prestige to your retail location.
