Moving into our ancestral home, which hasn't been occupied in years, I quickly noticed that the floor is in need of renovating. The upper floors are wooden, but they have holes here and there. Now that's easy enough to fix, but of more concern to me was the ground floor. It had either broken or missing tiles, with what seems to be a concrete floor below. As I would have little luck replacing the old-style wooden tiles, I decided to remove them as my first task.

Removing the tiling made me realize just how mundane concrete floors look. Desperate to find a way to fix it, I surfed the web for a site that could help me out. Eventually, I found this site that focuses on polished concrete floors. I curiously looked at some of the sample concrete flooring. I was blown away at how they looked, even on camera.

A polished concrete floor looks entirely different to what you'd imagine concrete can look. The shine can be made to look reflective and professional, as to what you would have casually noticed in some office floors. That finish is very beautiful, but not for a house floor, I'd think. Fortunately, further poking around has led me to discover that you may add some color and aggregate to the concrete to make it more homey.

Polished concrete, as it turns out, is also easy to clean and maintain. It isn't as porous as other floors are, and it also does not need to be waxed too often. It's perfect for someone like me, who cannot be bothered to do prolonged house cleaning.

I doubt I would be able to renovate our home floor like this myself, though. Fortunately, the site also links to a message board. This will undoubtedly help you find contractors in your area: Failing that, there's probably at least one user there who'd be willing to give helpful advice.