The art of concrete: take a walk on the wild side; pour an easy-care, attractive floor.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 February 2008
• Author: Maynard, Barbara

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When the new concrete floor of Gary Byers' airplane hangar froze last year, he had a couple options. With the top one-quarter of an inch crumbling from frost damage, he could have replaced the entire 4,200-square-foot floor at a cost of about $100,000. Instead, for approximately $40,000, he hired Concrete Polishing and Artistic Staining to repair the surface. So far, he is impressed with the results.

Polished and stained concrete has evolved in recent years. Gone are the days of repeated waxing and worrying about scratching the surface. Today, Jim Vermillion, owner of Concrete Polishing and Artistic Staining in Chugiak, said diamonds are used to grind and polish the surface, followed by an application of a chemical hardener and densifier. The final surface is durable, reflective and easy to maintain.

"I tried to scratch it. I tried to mess up the shine before I used it and you can't do it," Byers said. "It really chemically hardens the concrete so that it's really hard to scratch."

The cost to install polished concrete varies with the desired options, such as intricate staining and...