If you are shopping for a polished concrete flooring contractor the pricing you get may vary drastically…so what does that mean. First it is important to understand what goes into the concrete polishing pricing model.
Components of the Cost of Polishing Concrete Floors:
1. Condition of the Floor: This determines where the starting step for the polisher is going to be and how many steps they have to take to achieve the floor you want. Obviously, a big part of every job is how long it is going to take. The cost of polishing concrete floors is most importantly determined by the condition of the floor: is is new, old, clean, or dirty. If the contractor has fully inspected the floor, then they have hopefully determined properly the condition of the floor and how long the job is going to take.
2. Joint Filling: If the contractor included joint filling in the quote, this will make the price higher of course. But sometimes you have to look for it and understand what is really being quoted. If the building is new, the joint filling can add up to $2/LF of joints to the cost of polishing concrete floors. However, there is existing joint filler that needs replacement the price will usually double. It is important to understand what portion of the job is joint filling so you can compare the polishing cost to the other quotes.
3. Edges: In the concrete polishing world, there is really no machine that will get completely next to the edges of walls or other items such as columns. This means that the contractor will do this part by hand and it is often very expensive and time consuming. If polished edges are included in your quote, you might want to ask the contractor to break it down to see if that is worth it to you. A cheaper alternative: Paint a border along the wall.
4. Disposal & Clean Up: Has your contractor included these cost in their quote or have they left it up to you to provide dumpsters. These extra fees need to be considered when evaluating contractor to polish your concrete floors.
Comparing the Cost of Polishing Concrete Floors:
Once you have several quotes (at least 3) and you have determined that the contractors are all quoting the same scope of work and including the same steps, clean up, and finished expectations, then it is safe to assume to the best price wins, however, if the contractor’s proposals don’t look similar … and the prices are very different… you might need to ask the questions to make sure that going with the best price is right for you!