Polished Concrete Newcastle | Commercial Floors

Blast Prep Grind operator running a dust-extracted floor grinder along a stocked aisle in a trade store, exposing aggregate in the concrete

Gloss level and stone exposure

Polished concrete gets specified by two things, and they're independent of each other. Getting them right is most of what separates a floor you're happy with from one you're not.

Gloss level is how far the polish goes. A matte finish stops around 200–400 grit and reflects almost nothing. Semi-gloss lands around 800. High gloss runs to 1500 or 3000 and gives a mirror-like reflection.

Aggregate exposure is how deep the slab is cut before polishing starts, and it decides how much stone shows. Cream leaves mostly cement, salt and pepper brings up an even speckle of fine aggregate, and full exposure reveals the larger stone.

You can have a matte floor with full stone exposure, or a high-gloss floor with almost none. We'll walk you through both against your space and its lighting before we start, since neither can be changed once the floor is down.

Commercial polished concrete floor after grinding and densifying

Where polished concrete works

Polished concrete suits most commercial interiors, though the reasons differ from one to the next. Across Newcastle the work splits fairly cleanly between the industrial floors out west and the retail and office floors closer in, and a Kooragang warehouse isn't specified the same way as a Honeysuckle showroom:

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Warehouses and distribution centres

Takes forklift traffic and pallet loads without the joints and wear of coatings. Common through the industrial estates at Mayfield, Kooragang and Beresfield.

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Retail and showrooms

A finished floor that reflects light well and holds up to constant foot traffic, from CBD tenancies to the larger centres at Kotara and Wallsend.

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Offices and commercial tenancies

Quiet underfoot, easy to clean, and no floor covering to replace in five years.

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Hospitality and food service

Sealed and dense, so spills lift off rather than soaking into the slab. Common through Honeysuckle and the CBD hospitality strip.

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Aged care, health and education

Reduces dust in the air and cleans down easily in high-hygiene environments.

styles

Honed, semi-honed or fully polished?

These are points on one scale, not different products. The scale is how far the grinding and polishing goes.

Honed stops or grind and seal stops early, around 200–400 grit. A matte, non-reflective surface. Popular in offices, cafés and retail where a mirror floor would look wrong, and it shows marking less readily than a gloss finish.

Semi-honed or semi-gloss carries on to about 800 grit for a low sheen and some light reflection. The middle ground, and the most commonly specified interior finish.

Fully polished runs to 1500 or 3000 grit for a high-gloss, reflective floor. It looks impressive and brightens a space by bouncing light, though it shows scuffing more and needs a little more upkeep.

We'll tell you what's realistic on your slab before you settle on a look. On a new pour, talk to us before the concrete goes down — the mix and how it's floated decide what exposure is available later.

How the job runs

Step 1

Assessment and test patch

We check slab condition, flatness and moisture, then cut a test patch to confirm what exposure is achievable and agree the finish.

Step 2

Grinding

Remote-controlled Husqvarna grinders cut the surface back through progressively finer diamonds to the agreed exposure level.

Step 3

Grout and densify

Pinholes and minor imperfections are grouted, then a densifier hardens the slab and closes its porosity ahead of polishing.

Step 4

Polish

Successive resin passes take the floor to the specified gloss level, anywhere from 200 through to 3000 grit.

Step 5

Seal and handover

A penetrating guard is applied, the floor is cleaned down and handed over, with maintenance guidance for your cleaning contractor.

technique

Industrial polished concrete floor in a warehouse

Can your existing slab be polished?

Usually, but not always, and it's worth knowing before you plan around it.

A slab needs to be structurally sound, reasonably flat, and free of moisture problems. Cracks can be filled and colour-matched, and pinholes are grouted as part of the process, but a slab that's badly out of level or actively moving isn't a good candidate.

The bigger unknown is aggregate. How much stone you can expose depends on where it sits and how the slab was poured and floated, and that can't be established with certainty from the surface. On an existing slab we'll usually cut a test patch first so you can see what's actually in there before committing to a finish.

If the floor currently has tiles, vinyl or an old coating on it, that comes off before any grinding and polishing starts — see floor covering removal and tile removal.

Compliance

Working around your operation

We install polished concrete floors as a subcontractor to Newcastle builders and shopfitters, and direct for facility managers and property owners. Either way the work has to fit around a live site.

Our grinders are remote-controlled and vacuum-extracted, which keeps dust down and means an operator isn't walking behind the machine all day. That matters more than it sounds — it's what makes it practical to polish a floor in stages while the rest of a facility keeps trading.

Most commercial concrete polishing in Newcastle runs out of hours, over weekends or in sectioned-off areas. Tell us the access window and we'll build the program around it.

Where we work

Newcastle CBD

Honeysuckle & Wickham

Mayfield & Kooragang

Kotara & Wallsend

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Get your Newcastle polished concrete priced

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between honed and polished concrete?

Indoors, they're the same process stopped at different points — honed is matte at around 200–400 grit, polished continues to 800 and beyond for gloss. Outdoors the distinction matters more: a gloss surface gets slippery when wet, so external areas get a matte honed concrete finish instead.

How long does a polished concrete floor take?

It depends on floor area, slab condition and how many grinding passes the exposure needs. A large open warehouse floor moves quickly; a broken-up office floor with edges and columns takes longer per square metre. Grouting and densifying add curing time between passes, so we give you an area-per-shift figure and program it against your handover date.

Is polished concrete slippery?

Dry, a polished floor has similar slip resistance to most hard flooring. Wet, a high-gloss finish becomes considerably less grippy, which is why gloss levels are kept lower in wet areas and outdoors. Where a figure is required we can slip test the finished floor to AS 4663.

Can you polish a floor while we're still operating?

Usually yes, in stages. The grinders are remote-controlled and vacuum-extracted, so a section can be closed off and worked while the rest of the facility trades. Much of this work runs out of hours or over weekends.

Do you polish outdoor concrete?

No. A polished surface gets slippery once it's wet and doesn't cope with UV or thermal movement, so outdoor concrete gets a matte honed concrete finish instead.

How much does polished concrete cost per square metre?

Price depends on the gloss level, the exposure you want, the condition of the slab and how much preparation it needs first. Larger open areas work out cheaper per metre than tight, broken-up spaces. A Newcastle warehouse floor and a CBD office floor of the same area are not the same job.

Gloss level and stone exposure

Where polished concrete works

Warehouses and distribution centres

Retail and showrooms

Offices and commercial tenancies

Hospitality and food service

Aged care, health and education

Honed, semi-honed or fully polished?

How the job runs

Assessment and test patch

Grinding

Grout and densify

Polish

Seal and handover

Can your existing slab be polished?

Working around your operation

Newcastle CBD

Honeysuckle & Wickham

Mayfield & Kooragang

Kotara & Wallsend

Get your Newcastle polished concrete priced

Frequently Asked Questions

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