No EPOXY, NO TILE, POLISHED!
- Thread starter XR80David
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volvo
Well-known member
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Have you thought of having them throw some color stain on it first?.... .H
Have you thought of having them throw some color stain on it first?.... .H
They offered that, but I like the plain polished concrete look...
comp
Well-known member
pic looks like is is sealed ???
AlphaGarage
Well-known member
So, you're going to have them remove the epoxy and then polish?
What problems are you having?
nissan_crawler
Well-known member
I have $5 on piss poor prep.
Polished concrete is the next big thing that is going to happen to concrete. Have been studying it and seeing the market for this grow and looking to possibly expand into it as it does look great when done right. Good luck with your project and show us pics when its done.
sneezer41
Well-known member
great as long as your cars don't leak, or you don't spill anything, or..........
truly, it is fine for a residential garage that you never plan on having a car that is over 5 years old in.
truly, it is fine for a residential garage that you never plan on having a car that is over 5 years old in.
5wndwcpe
Well-known member
I looked at having my floors polished and every (and I mean every) concrete guy I talked to said the first time it got wet, I'd be on my ***. It looks neat, but I'd me mighty pissed after paying that much to have it polished, fall, break my freakin' arm and then pay to have it shot blasted to rough it back up. 
WolverineCoatings
Well-known member
It's not exactly a new thing... I see a couple of others are spelling out the drawbacks.
boiler7904
Well-known member
How many steps are they planning to use when they polish the floor? One of the buildings we just finished used polished concrete in a welding training room. They had the contractor eliminate the finest grit / last step so that the floor wasn't too shiny and the weld flash reflection wouldn't blind guys.
You definitely don't want to use this where you'll have water or other liquids on the surface. You will end up on the ground.
Staining is also a potential problem if you don't get to a spill immediately.
You definitely don't want to use this where you'll have water or other liquids on the surface. You will end up on the ground.
Staining is also a potential problem if you don't get to a spill immediately.
Wolverine it is true it is not exactly new. I am just saying it is becoming more popular as a concrete finish alternative. The market for polished concrete is growing and there are draw backs to almost any product if you want to dig and find them. I personally wouldn't recommend it for a garage floor as I think it is more of a commercial service over residential. I would suggest an epoxy system for garages but if they want to polish the concrete then go for it each person has a different tastes that is why there is chocolate and vanilla. I think polished is great for office buildings and acid stains are good for basements and office buildings as well. I guess I was wrong that it is not new but tried to say it was something that was being done more than in the past.
musgofasta
Well-known member
A few retailers out here at doing polished concrete in their stores. Especially warehouse type grocery stores. They're definitely not slippery. I'm wondering if they're putting a wax (for lack of a better word) for the shine and provide some grip.
Would the VCT tile coatings work on concrete?
Would the VCT tile coatings work on concrete?
WolverineCoatings
Well-known member
Yes... they wax it... EXTREMELY frequently
Yes... our AuraShine 3511 would work... BUT... when it is used on polished concrete it MUST be done ALOT more frequently than if it were on VCT. The same would go for most other floor polishes/waxes.
WolverineCoatings
Well-known member
They are going to use Sodium Silicate and then at the end they MIGHT wax it with a floor polish. These are NOT barrier coatings and do NOT seal the floor. The floor polish may enhance the contact angle of the liquid to the floor (make it bead) which will help it penetrate slower (give you more time to get it up quickly). You will need to clean up spills immediately or they may (and probably will) penetrate and stain your shiny concrete. Gasoline will dissolve most floor polishes. Brake Fluid is probably the worst thing you will have in your garage. You want to get one (floor polish/wax) that is at least fortified with urethane!
If you want, check out the companies website that is going to do mine.
http://www.heritagebomanite.com/
WolverineCoatings
Well-known member
They look like a reputable outfit...
I know various people that have had it done by them and are happy with the results.
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
Our local WallyWorld has polished concrete with an acid stain. I hate it!!! It looks great, don't get me wrong, but with the wrong shoes you just about bust your keester everytime. A tennis shoe is fine on it, but a harder soled shoe will slip and slide. And our shop did it years ago and still has them. They do get buffed on a regular basis and if you don't keep them sealed, they will stain very easily. Just because they are polished soes not mean they are resistant to oil and such. Our are sealed with a product called Stonecraft, Stonecrete, or something along that line. It was a Grainger product and gets put down every 6 months. It the same stuff that concrete and tiles get when they are outside. Then it can be run over with a buffer every so often.
WolverineCoatings
Well-known member
Dude,
You just admitted that you go to Wal-Mart! DOH!
You just admitted that you go to Wal-Mart! DOH!
Mlynch
Well-known member
I am a contractor that works in polished concrete, epoxy, and polyurea/ polyaspartic coatings.
Polished concrete should never be waxed or coated... it can/should be sealed with a penetrating sealer like a natural stone but never a topical sealer. Its counter productive to polish concrete just to coat it.
Also i noticed a lot of people mentioning the slip issue... If the floor is smooth it doesnt matter if it is epoxy, marble, polyurea, or waxed vct standing water will cause a hydroplane effect. Point in fact polished concrete has a higher nonslip coeficient compared to waxed vct(the standard for comercial floors). Do you guys think companies like lowes, home depot, and walmart didn't do R and D if their flooring would be slippery and if it was an issue would it not have been changed. I honestly think this is more of a common misconception that if it is shiny it must be slippery.
Polished concrete should never be waxed or coated... it can/should be sealed with a penetrating sealer like a natural stone but never a topical sealer. Its counter productive to polish concrete just to coat it.
Also i noticed a lot of people mentioning the slip issue... If the floor is smooth it doesnt matter if it is epoxy, marble, polyurea, or waxed vct standing water will cause a hydroplane effect. Point in fact polished concrete has a higher nonslip coeficient compared to waxed vct(the standard for comercial floors). Do you guys think companies like lowes, home depot, and walmart didn't do R and D if their flooring would be slippery and if it was an issue would it not have been changed. I honestly think this is more of a common misconception that if it is shiny it must be slippery.
comp
Well-known member
what type of sealer do you like ???
Jaguar Fan
Well-known member
I was looking at a house for sale (new construction -- spec home in a small development -- very modern). The entire first floor of the house was polished concrete -- it looked fantastic. I wondered about the slip issue, but of course couldn't get an answer from the realtor.
Mlynch
Well-known member
Specifically for the polished concrete? Most of the time just densifying is sufficient for most floors...
Or were you asking something else entirely?
Mlynch
Well-known member
They make excellent floors... even (and especially) in residential environments! So i take it you passed on the house?
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
IO just looked at the box here at work and the product that is used is Stonecoat - terrazo/concrete sealer. I previously thought it was also used for outside tiled surfaces but was wrong.It comes from Grainger and is used for indoor purposes. $104 for 5 gal. and in the Toolroom where I work and get a lot of chips and abuse on the floors it will last for around 6 months in the high traffic areas and probably a good year or better in areas without heavy traffic. Water will bead on it as well as any oils will wipe right up. 5 gallon would last the average homeowner with an average garage a couple of years.
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Mlynch
Well-known member
This stone coat is most likely an acrylic floor finish (wax/topical coating) This is NOT something you would use with polished concrete.
However if you have a plain gray (not polished) garage floor this would be the cheapest way to get a shine. This is a topical sealer/finish... it will scratch easily and need to be maintained on a regular basis so in the long run the headache and labor dont necessarily make it the cheapest or best looking option. It is very similar to what they put on VCT tile to make it shine.
You should note that the word sealer is used genericly for several very differnt processes.
Kevin54 the concrete in your shop that WAS polished years ago is staining for reasons other than "polished concrete just stains easily". Similar to a granite countertop the densifying and polishing process on concrete closes the pours of the concrete so water and the like should not be able to penetrate the surface. high traffic and wear areas would need to be redone(every 10 years or so) as the shine is worn off and the pours are opened back up otherwise those areas would be more suceptible to staining... otherwise a penetrating sealer can be used with great effectivness w/out a topical coating. Penetrating sealers are often used with natural stones and sometimes pavers... they are used only to fill up pours and not to sit on top. What you have in your shop that they are buffing is basically waxed concrete not polished... even if it might have been polished at one time. It will act just like vct and need to be redone resulting in big labor costs over time.
The big difference here is the wearable surface... with polished concrete the wearable surface is like stone (because it's concrete). If a topical sealer is applied then the wearable surface is now the sealer(more like plastic). It is a much softer sacrificial coat that needs to be constantly striped cleaned and reapplyed to keep it looking decent because it gets beat up, dulled, or worn off much much quicker. It removes the functionality of the polished concrete from the floor. So why do people do this if it makes no sense? It is a cheap lazy way to renew the shine and sometimes because they dont know better. It is like pinching a penny to lose a nickle.
However if you have a plain gray (not polished) garage floor this would be the cheapest way to get a shine. This is a topical sealer/finish... it will scratch easily and need to be maintained on a regular basis so in the long run the headache and labor dont necessarily make it the cheapest or best looking option. It is very similar to what they put on VCT tile to make it shine.
You should note that the word sealer is used genericly for several very differnt processes.
Kevin54 the concrete in your shop that WAS polished years ago is staining for reasons other than "polished concrete just stains easily". Similar to a granite countertop the densifying and polishing process on concrete closes the pours of the concrete so water and the like should not be able to penetrate the surface. high traffic and wear areas would need to be redone(every 10 years or so) as the shine is worn off and the pours are opened back up otherwise those areas would be more suceptible to staining... otherwise a penetrating sealer can be used with great effectivness w/out a topical coating. Penetrating sealers are often used with natural stones and sometimes pavers... they are used only to fill up pours and not to sit on top. What you have in your shop that they are buffing is basically waxed concrete not polished... even if it might have been polished at one time. It will act just like vct and need to be redone resulting in big labor costs over time.
The big difference here is the wearable surface... with polished concrete the wearable surface is like stone (because it's concrete). If a topical sealer is applied then the wearable surface is now the sealer(more like plastic). It is a much softer sacrificial coat that needs to be constantly striped cleaned and reapplyed to keep it looking decent because it gets beat up, dulled, or worn off much much quicker. It removes the functionality of the polished concrete from the floor. So why do people do this if it makes no sense? It is a cheap lazy way to renew the shine and sometimes because they dont know better. It is like pinching a penny to lose a nickle.
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Garage Guy
Active member
We shadow box around the perimeter of the garage floor.
comp
Well-known member
Mlynch
Well-known member
If i am not mistaken someone earlier in the thread asked how the edges and corners are polished.
I think he is refering to a painted border coming 3 or 4 inches off the wall to hide the unpolished portion of the floor... this is a way of getting out of polishing the edges and doing it in a decorative way. The edges can be polished, however, with hand held grinders and diamonds if the "framing" or "shadow boxing" is not prefered. It is pretty labor intensive (and a PITA) for such a small floor so to keep costs down i could see why he would want to use such a method to keep the price reasonable.
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