High gloss Geoshine™. Basalt and hornfels with black oxide.
Geocrete clients are welcome to visit Nissl Eichert’s headquarters to view their new Geoshine™ floor.
Bold black floor in historic showroom works like poetry
When high-end hydronic slab heating experts Nissl Eichert sought to upgrade their historic showroom, they knew they needed a specialist capable of creating a floor that would do justice to both their product and the property’s heritage.
Thankfully, it wasn’t difficult to find the man for the job. Owner Jake Williams had heard glowing reports about Paul Warner, who has over many years built a reputation in Victoria for creating floors of enduring beauty. “When it came to choosing someone to polish our floors at Nissl Eichert Hydronic Heating’s new showroom, Geocrete Concrete Polishers was the obvious choice,” Jake said.
Built in 1889, the property originally housed a bakery, green grocer and apartments in yesteryear Canterbury. Despite extensive renovations and modifications, the building retains much of the character and charm of the original architecture, with impressive double story brick walls retaining its original structure and attesting to a bygone era.
For the present project, the original floor was ripped out, and brand new concrete was poured on a network of hydronic pipes, a system made for efficient heating through the natural process of convection and radiation. Paul Warner assisted in the design and palate of the new floor, recommending a black oxide tint and an aggregate of basalt and hornfels, with its sparkling mix of gold-like browns, blacks and greys.
Before the concrete set, it was saw-cut to promote cracking in predetermined lines, which were then filled with black high-strength leveling compounds. These cuts are only obvious when you are standing on top of them, but the pattern injects a geometric element into the design.
Paul then ground the floor to a full stone exposure, and polished it to an ultra high gloss sheen using a specialised polishing pad with 8000 diamond grit. As a comparison, gemstones are polished using a 5000 grit, and an 1800-3000 grit is the industry standard for producing a high gloss.
Polishing an in-fill floor adds a whole new element of difficulty to any polished concreting job, and Paul had to be very careful not to damage the building’s brickwork. His craftsmanship is evident in the 5m polished concrete step that was polished by hand and appears sculptured with a knife.
Black polished concrete is a bold insertion into a heritage building, yet the lustrous Geoshine™ floor complements the crisp white walls and rustic red bricks, proving that a mix of new and old can work like poetry.
Jake Williams was certainly impressed: “We could not have been happier with the end result of our floors and could not give a better recommendation for Paul’s services.” Jake said he welcomes Geocrete customers to drop in to Nissl Eichert’s showroom and inspect Paul’s work.
