When you choose a finished flooring option by Dancer Concrete Design, protecting your concrete surface is the best way to create and maintain a good-looking, long-lasting floor. We want to share measures that you can take to provide the best conditions for your floors and ensure you get BEST WORK every step of the way.
Before We Start
With concrete as your finished floor, you want to protect the surface from damage before we start. This may include an installation of a protective barrier or informing other trades to care for the concrete as they work. We suggest hanging signs around the job site, informing other trades that the concrete will be the finished floor. Ask your Project Leader for a set of laminated DCD signs.
These are additional steps that you can take to safeguard your floors before we start our installation:
- Marks left by curing blankets and/or building materials may ghost or shadow in the finished floor.
- For enclosed spaces, we recommend using heavy-duty construction-grade cardboard, like Ram Board, taped together with breathable seam tape during the curing process. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installation.
- Clean up any spills on the surface immediately. Replace any soiled floor protection, like Ram Board.
- Oil will always leave permanent stains on a finished concrete floor. Inspect lifts daily for leaks. The equipment should be repaired or removed from the job site if leaks are found. Inspect tires for rocks, screws, or other debris. These can cause scratches or divots on the concrete surface.
- Do not allow any pipe-cutting operations in areas that will receive polished concrete flooring.
Read our full resource guide on New Poured Concrete Surfaces to learn more about best practices for new concrete.
After We Closeout
After we closeout our installation, you may have additional construction work before the project is complete. You will want to protect your finished concrete surface then as well. Dancer Concrete Design offers an option for installing a protective barrier of Ram Board. Ram Board is a construction-grade cardboard that withstands foot and lift traffic.
There are also necessary precautions that protect the finished surface during the remainder of construction:
- Only use pencil or blue chalk to mark the surface. Only mark the surface if needed.
- Only use blue tape on this surface.
- Lift items up and placed down on the floor. Never drag items across the surface.
The items listed below will stain the surface:
- Red chalk, oil, adhesives – tape – liquid nail – silicone, gasoline and solvents, PVC primer and glue, Sharpie, and various other substances all leave a permanent mark on the concrete surface.
- Untreated steel left on concrete can leave rust spots.
Maintaining Your Floor
Maintaining your new floor is an important part of preserving its durability. Not maintaining your floors can lead to a dull finish, lose its sheen, and become less stain resistant. Our flooring systems only require simple maintenance for your floor to look excellent and perform well for many years. We wrote an in-depth blog post on best practices for all finished concrete systems.
Maintaining your floors after installation is the best way to preserve their longevity. We understand that floors need to balance aesthetics, durability, simple maintenance, and safety. Our goal is to balance real-world practicality with good design.
Following the above recommendations will protect and extend the life of your concrete flooring. See our Client Resources to view PDF guides for additional detailed recommendations. Reach out to your Project Leader, call us at 260-748-2252, or email us at create@dancerconcrete.com if you have any questions about your flooring system or how to protect and maintain your concrete surfaces.
