Concrete Staining & Polishing

Polished concrete is the slab refined into a finish — ground and densified so the surface itself becomes hard and reflective. A coating is a separate material bonded on top.

The practical difference is failure mode. A coating can delaminate, peel or scratch through to a different colour underneath. Polished concrete has nothing to delaminate; it can be re-honed decades later and look new again. Coatings win on colour range and on covering a slab that is genuinely ugly.

Acid stain reacts chemically with the lime in the concrete, so the colour is permanent, UV-stable and beautifully variegated — but the palette is limited to earth tones and the result is genuinely unpredictable, varying with the slab own chemistry.

Dyes penetrate rather than react, giving consistent, repeatable colour across a much broader range including greys and charcoals. Dyes are less UV-stable, so we use them indoors and reserve acid stain for patios and anything in daylight.

Most can, but not all. A slab needs to be reasonably flat, structurally sound and hard enough to take a polish — very soft or badly spalled concrete will not densify well.

The other variable is what is in the slab. Once grinding starts, whatever aggregate is down there is what you get: a light grind keeps a cream finish, a deeper grind exposes sand, and deeper still exposes stone. We grind a test patch first so you can see the actual floor before committing.

Dry, a polished floor typically has better slip resistance than polished stone or high-gloss tile, because the texture is in the surface rather than in a coating.

Wet is a different question, and it is why we specify differently outdoors: patios and pool decks get a slip-rated sealer or a fine aggregate additive rather than a high-gloss polish.

Interior polished concrete needs dust mopping and occasional damp mopping with a neutral cleaner. No waxing, no stripping, no resealing — that is the main reason commercial clients specify it.

Stained and sealed patios need the sealer refreshed every three to five years depending on sun exposure. It is a straightforward reapplication, not a re-do.