ModernCrete

Before I moved into my new house, I tore out the existing floors and hired ModernCrete for diamond polishing. They did a fantastic job, and their customer service /​general interaction was off-​the-​charts great. They went far beyond expectations– superior service, fantastic people. I couldn’t be happier with my floor. Hire em!!!

We had the initial idea to put wood flooring down on the 1^st floor of the new house with tile in the kitchen. I kept coming back to stained concrete though. I just liked the look of one solid piece. Finally after much convincing and showing her that the price would be less, my wife went for the idea too.
My wife and I went to Modern Crete’s showroom and looked over many colors and etchings with Stacy. We discussed doing a Yin Yang symbol in the entryway but ultimately decided against it. But it you wanted one, or anything else, Modern Crete can do it! They can even stain your floor blue! Looked beautiful. Like water! But we came away thinking we’d go for something more on the brownish side of the spectrum.
We also learned there are different types of stains, but generally the acid stains work the best.
The general consensus was that an overlay would work best of all to cover up our carpet tack holes (many people do leave these and stain different color borders), imperfections and such.
Dan, the owner, and his top concrete specialist, Ben, came out personally to trowel on the overlay over 1400 sq ft. That was interesting to watch and a little tricky with the way our house is designed. It’s very open, but the kitchen has two openings and the wall forms a sort of island. So two people have to be troweling at one time always keeping their edge of concrete wet. Finally they meet and pull it out the front door. By the end of the day it was dry! These guys are pros and pulled it off.
Because of the way the stains react to overlays vs the original concrete, Ben recommended doing color test samples in the area where the stove would eventually sit after the overlay was complete. That’s where we chose our final color out of a choice of four.
Ben then sprayed the whole floor with the stain. Now my mistake was, after he did this, I brought my wife over to look at it. It’s really not complete and doesn’t look right until it’s sealed. She sorta flipped out. Dan had to come over and try to explain the process again which he patiently did, I tried explaining, she just wasn’t getting it. Finally I just begged her to look at it again after it was sealed. So that’s the caveat here. Don’t look at your floor until it is sealed!
So Ben sealed it maybe up to four times in places where the overlay was completely absorbing the sealant. Each time the stain got a deeper and richer look. Oh by the way, there is a glossy seal and a satin seal. We went with glossy, but if you have pets and high traffic you may want satin. And is that seal ever stinky. It fumigated the house of bugs! Don’t breathe it lest you be fumigated as well!
The whole process took about a week to complete. And now the wife loves it. So does everyone who sees it. It needs to be waxed again and we haven’t even moved in yet. That’s pretty normal to do every month.
And just an FYI, there is a waiting list typically for Modern Crete. We had to get on the schedule and it was about a 3 week wait. Even after we were pencilled in, people were calling wanting our spot! These guys are popular (they even did a certain celebrity’s home recently) and well worth it. You don’t want just anyone doing your floors! Can’t believe I am the first to Unilocal about this crew!