High gloss Geoshine™. White granite, bluestone with standard grey base.
A Geocrete original the start of something extra-ordinary
Back in 2009, polished concrete artisan Paul Warner was on the verge of trademarking an extra-ordinary product.
At the time, polished concrete was an emerging industry that was quickly gaining traction in the Australian building and design scene. Paul, now one of Australia’s leading polished concrete specialists, was compelled by his passion to improve on the industry’s technologies, and the results of his efforts and experimentation were grabbing Melbourne’s attention.
“I just wanted to write to you to express my gratitude for the job you did on my slab. The final product came up like glass and I couldn’t be more happy. You truly are the leader in your field.”
This testimony came from a happy Geocrete client in the seaside suburb of Williamstown, whose highly-glossed floor Paul created in 2009, when Geocrete was in its infancy.
At this time, Paul was putting in thousands of hours testing different processes, chemicals, machinery and techniques towards the development of his signature polishing system, Geoshine™, which he introduced to the market only a year later.
The Williamstown clients engaged Paul to create a sleek polished concrete floor in the large open plan living area of their seaside home, part of a breezy extension behind the original home’s heritage-listed street-front facade.
Sandwiched between the home’s original cypress flooring and the new hardwood decking, the polished concrete provides a dramatic contrast between the two timber floors.
Supplied by Hanson Concrete, the floor was created with a concrete mix of sizable pieces of bluestone and granite, set in a standard grey base. According to Paul, the mix’s impressively chunky 20mm aggregate pieces are back in vogue. “From 2013-2019, we saw a period where smaller 10-14mm aggregates with a terrazzo ‘flavour’ were all the rage. Now, we are seeing a trend for lovely larger aggregates again,” he said.
Another striking feature of the floor is the range of colour and sparkle. “Quartz, mica and feldspars are three minerals that give granite its wonderful glittery pop,” Paul said. While the bluestone being mined nowadays is decidedly brown in colour, the bluestone available ten years ago was a very dark black. The hint of brown in the floor’s neutral palette comes courtesy of the five percent mix of a metamorphic rock called hornfels.
The owners chose a full stone exposure and stunning high gloss sheen, which would soon become a hallmark of the Geoshine™ polishing system.
For Paul, the floor was more confirmation that Geoshine™ was set to make a huge impact on the Australian polished concreting industry.
“I had begun to manufacture my own concrete densifiers, grouts and penetrating sealers, and was experimenting with adding more densifiers and more applications. The results were excellent: floors of exceeding shine and uniformity, and much stronger and longer lasting than any other polishing system that I had used previously,” he said. A global industry front-runner, Geoshine™ hit the market in 2010 as one of only five trademarked polished concrete systems. It now leads a market of only ten systems worldwide.
B&D Concreting’s Umberto Bellini, one of Paul’s concreter workmates many years earlier, also played an important role in the floor’s success by crafting a perfectly placed slab.
If you’re looking for a floor of exceeding beauty for your own home or premise, please get in contact with Paul to discuss your ideas. Umberto Bellini can be reached on 0409 166 760.
