Curious about what to expect when creating a polished concrete floor? Polishing concrete is comparable to sanding wood, yet more intricate and requiring heavy-duty machinery.
Prep
Polished concrete floors can be created from either an existing slab or from a new concrete slab pour. If an already present slab is being used, any blemishes in the concrete need to be repaired. This can include cracks, holes or fractured joins, which are each filled and disguised. Additionally, if the slab is covered with any other type of flooring like timber or tiles, they will need to be torn up and the glue thoroughly removed.
Grind
The next step is the grind. Rough grinding commences and progressively finer grits of diamond-clad disks are used to gradually wear down surfaces. This is continued until the desired degree of shine and smoothness becomes apparent. To finish off the grind, a liquid chemical hardener is applied to make the concrete dense and protect it from the inside out (an internal impregnating sealer). The sealer sinks into the concrete and becomes invisible to the naked eye.
Polish
To create the glossy finish, the exposed slab is then polished in a similar style, whereby the grit is gradually increased as the polish progresses. The polish is carried out with coarse diamond segments bonded in a metallic matrix at first, these segments are coarse enough to remove minor pits, blemishes, stains, or light coatings from the floor in preparation for final smoothing. Dependant on the condition of the concrete slab, his initial polish can be a three to four-step process.
Optional Stain Guard
For the easiest maintenance of the completed floor, an optional stain guard can then be applied to protect the floor.