Creating a Sophisticated and Stylish Concrete Retail Floor for Tiffany & Co.

The Challenge

Create a sophisticated and stylish polished concrete floor for a Tiffany & Co. retail store on 5th Ave. in Midtown, New York City.

This Tiffany retail location is a temporary store located next door to their renowned flagship store. Tiffany & Co. dubbed this temporary location, “a pop-up store.” The ‘pop-up store’ serves as the short-term NYC retail location while Tiffany’s renowned flagship store, featured in the book and 60’s blockbuster, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” undergoes a total restoration.

The pop-up store’s designers wanted an extravagant floor worthy of the world-famous jeweler. Yet, because it was for a temporary location, they had a less than extravagant price in mind. Nevertheless, the flooring had to be flawless!

The Outcome

Majestic Flooring Solutions Corp., a New York-based concrete coatings and decorative concrete floor contractor, was up for the challenge. Majestic opted to use Duraamen concrete products on this project. Specifically, Duraamen’s new Terrazzi Sprayable Polished Concrete Floor System.

Sprayable Polished Concrete (The Terrazzi System) is a new technology developed by Duraamen Engineered Products, Inc. It’s ideal for contractors who must install polished concrete flooring in challenging circumstances like a tight budget or timeline. Clients with retail stores or office and business spaces are prime candidates for the use of a sprayable polished concrete overlay.

The Terrazzi sprayable polished concrete technology allowed Majestic to install 18,000sq.ft. of polished concrete floor in the Tiffany & Co. retail space on time and budget. Even with strict cost constraints, and installation occurring amid the busy Midtown setting, the finished flooring was impeccable. The result made the store’s designers and Tiffany & Co. very gratified clients.

Overview

As any contractor worth their salt will tell you, ‘surface prep’ is the key to a flawless, long-lasting floor. This project is no different. Majestic started with a comprehensive surface preparation strategy that included grinding the existing Terrazzo substrate in the center of the floor and sanding the wood areas on the edges of the space. The wood and terrazzo floor joints get reinforced with the use of fiberglass scrim fabric.

Next, a heavy-duty epoxy and silica mixture was troweled over the entire floor and left to cure overnight. The hardened epoxy-silica mixture was cleaned and retouched in preparation for an application of Duraamen’s CP1000 primer. Applying CP1000 is the first step when installing the Terrazzi Sprayable Polished Concrete Flooring System. Two coats of CP1000 primer were used with 24 hours between coats.

With the primer dry, Duraamen’s Arapido sprayable polished concrete microtopping (also a part of the Terrazzi System) was sprayed over the whole floor. Spraying a micro-topping/micro-cement in this fashion requires minimal personnel, which saves man-hours and thereby installation costs.

The Terrazzi system was developed so contractors can profit from polished concrete floor projects with demanding timelines. It consists of our CP1000 primer, Arapido micro-cement, choice of concrete colorants, Cast-on polished concrete aggregate, and your choice of sealer.

To create the floor’s dramatic and sophisticated appearance, the borders and inlay areas were highlighted with a black concrete dye. Duraamen’s Deso Dye Concentrate for concrete was used for this purpose.

Duraamen’s Cast-on, a mixture of finely-graded aggregates and minerals specific to the Terrazzi Polished Concrete Floor System, was broadcast across the entire floor. The Cast-on aggregate adds the finishing touch—a glint or a gleam.

Depending on how Cast-on is applied, nuanced concrete surface sheens may be achieved to fit all tastes. Cast-on also improves the floor’s abrasion resistance. For this project, the floor has a marbleized visual texture with subtle dark grey and white tints reminiscent of natural concrete coloring.

The floor was polished with 100-grit resin pads once it had entirely cured.

The final steps consist of sealing the floor. To ensure proper adhesion of the sealer to come, the floor was once again coated with CP1000 primer—a light mist coat followed by a heavy coat. Then the final topcoat/sealer of Duraamen’s Perdure U90 was applied. Perdure U90 is a chemical-resistant, polyurethane coating available in gloss or satin finishes.

One final note. It’s worth mentioning that the finished floor was 1/4″ or less in places. Therefore, the elevator and escalator saddles did not need to be removed or replaced to install the floor. One more way the Terrazzi system saved valuable time and money for both the contractor and client.

All the flooring system’s components totaled ¼ inch or less in applied thickness, and the math mattered. The thinness meant elevator and escalator saddles could remain in place, along with the railing system’s base along the atrium edge.

With one story down, there were three more to go. Majestic completed each story’s floor in one week—the entire project was completed in four.

Benefits:

• Contemporary polished concrete flooring offers a unique look. Nearly infinite color options can be created, meaning no two floors are the same. Custom interior design projects are easily realized through color, texture, and material choices.
• Concrete flooring and walls last for the life of your business or home.
• Concrete flooring and walls are low maintenance. For commercial properties, a concrete floor should have a clear sealer reapplied every 2-3 years. For residential flooring resealing is only needed every 4-5.
• Because Duraamen’s polished concrete microtopping and overlay products are known for their high-quality, contemporary style and trend-setting advancements towards ease of installation, they are used by contractors nationwide at comparable costs to other types of flooring.

Cost:

Installed by a pro $10–$12 per square foot.

Outside of Manhattan concrete flooring costs vary depending on your geographic location and the thickness of the overlay. Thickness is determined by the condition of the existing substrate. Is the substrate new, old, level, good condition, deteriorated, plywood, or gypsum?