There are a number of ways to seal concrete flooring. Acrylic sealer, paste wax, and diamond polishing with an impregnating sealer to name a few, each with its own unique result.

Our core philosophy on decorative concrete revolves around creating value and less waste with a sustainable flooring system. We think the very best investment for longevity in flooring is diamond polished concrete with impregnating sealer that is pushed into the concrete creating greater shine and stain resistance. Very few companies do this in residential flooring because it's expensive and there’s a lot more training required for the artisans to do this well.

That said, we take care of people with concrete floors even if we didn’t originally do the floors.

We are often asked to polish stained concrete flooring, only to learn the floor is covered in acrylic sealer. That sealer tends to scratch, peel off and is frankly hard to fix five or ten years out.

With paste wax, while comparatively inexpensive, the shine will fade in six months time. It will be more stain resistant with a richer color but it does not stay shiny as long as a diamond polished floor. Additionally a paste wax finished floor doesn’t hide the nuance of concrete floors. Paste wax often accentuates the textures in different concrete, not always a good thing.

With our recommended method, a diamond polished floor, the color tends to be more subtle but the shine lasts much longer and will not scratch like plastic sealers.

Retrofit vs. Re-wax

There are two options to refinishing these floors.

1. Rewax the floor — The color will be more intense, not be as shiny and less stain resistant, but it is much less expensive to re-wax than to retrofit.

2. Retrofit a diamond polished floor (hardware finish) — more expensive, stay shiny longer, more stain resistant.