Polished Concrete...A Review

[cavalry]

I wanted something a bit different when I built my shop. I am on epoxy all day so I kind of didn't want to look at it at home. I like epoxy but it does have its limitations for a working shop. I already owned the equipment to grind the floor and liked the look so I did this "small" floor as an experiment.
Like any finishing job this one started with prep. I bought my place when it was only a few years old but the original owner is responsible for 99% of this mess. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent pulling up oil. This was the state of the floor after the initial degreasing and pressurewashing.
I think I used every homebrew, internet certified, expert advised, proven technique out there to pull up the oil. Every de-greaser known to man, various solvents, absorbents, steam, pressure washing, etc, etc. In the end the only thing that pulled up the oil was careful application of heat. Enough to pull the oil out of the pores and vaporize it but not so much as to spall the concrete. Anyway, this is before and after removing oil

 

[cavalry]

As mentioned I own my own concrete grinder. Its a small machine 110v, 16", I do not recommend this at all. I spent a week solid of 10 hour days to do 1500 square foot. I have access to a bigger machine but its making the owner money every day so its limited to weekends to use.
The original side of the shop the concrete was pretty rough, not a broom finish, more like a rake finish. They used 3/16 steel as screed keys and it was all proud of level by a lot. Rough grinding down all the poor concrete work and through steel was not fun to say the least. I densified 3 times and stopped at 600 grit applied a polish and burnished.

 

[Snip's]

WOW..... What an improvement...
My house was built in the mid 40's and looks a million times worse....
I too have not found anything that will remove the oil that's soaked in....

Please tell me more about your heating method...

 

[larry4406]

That looks fantastic!

 

[cavalry]

Here we are 3 years later. The floor still looks reasonably good but I try to keep up on it by putting a polish on it once a year just down the high wear areas, it takes about 2 hours to do.
I like my place clean so I bought a robot-vac, It was the best decision ever. Sweeping gets the big chunks but the fine dust just gets pushed around. This also encourages me to clean up after I am done for the day as the robovac will drive though greasy rags making a huge mess.
Things I always get asked or statements made;

-Is it slippery? No. Its less slippery than epoxy by a long shot, even tracking in snow.

-You will never be able to use that and keep it nice. Oh really? I have painted 4 trucks in there, rebuilt planetary axles on a 20KLB wheel loader, split a tractor, welded, plasma cut, the list goes on.

-Will oil stain it? Well, yes and no. If you clean it up promptly it will not be a problem, if you let it sit for hours or days, yes you will stain it.

So the bad...
Salt off vehicles is like battery acid. It immediately eats the polish and etches the concrete. It can be covered up with more polish and looks ok, but at some point it would need to be all stripped and ground again to look nice. I have since been told about another polish that is more for my application and is used in dealer showrooms and the like. If I ever grind it down again I will try that.
Solvents. This polish does not play well with most solvents. Once the polish is gone the minimal protection is as well. Again it can be fixed by reapplication and does not have the etching problem salt does.
This requires you to work differently if you want to keep it nice. The same concepts could be applied to epoxy. I have limitless access to cardboard sheets. I hack off a square and put that under where I am going to make a mess, or if a small job a pig mat. This protects the floor and makes cleanup super simple, just pick up the cardboard and throw away.

So would I do it again? I'm not sure with the current polish I am using. This other stuff that was recommend to me, it it performed better maybe.
I look at epoxy in a working shop as a 5-7 year refresh, that's a substantial time and money investment, and if you want it to look good requires everything to be removed from the shop. There are lots of things to weigh out.

 

[cavalry]

Please tell me more about your heating method...

First off it needs to be dry. if you have a moisture problem this is likely not for you. You can use an open flame I found propane works well. Focus on a small area and heat it gently and from 6" away, you will see the concrete take up moisture from the propane, drive that moisture off in small circles and heat a bit more. DO NOT GET GREEDY OR YOU WILL SPALL! You will see the oil getting wicked up and it will smell like burnt oil. Move on after that to another area. If you cannot touch the concrete its way too hot. This does not leave the concrete clean after, just pulls the oil out. There will be a brown residue from the burnt oil, this comes up with abrasion or power washing. You can and will damage the concrete by over heating. Go slow and steady.
Hot air heatguns do not have enough power. Electric "paint burners" work well for just small spots and are pretty gentle but seem to leave more burnt oil residue.

 

[Snip's]

Use something like a rosebud torch running off a LP tank?

 

[cavalry]

Use something like a rosebud torch running off a LP tank?

You could, but the hotter and faster you go the more risk you run for popping your floor. If you work fast and are not worried about the risk then a big burner would work.
I found a handheld LP torch on a 20lb cylinder worked well. Lots of control and you can see whats happening, not an inferno. Its a slow process.

 

[Snip's]

Thanks!

 

[Dyers78]

That looks fantastic. Any reason you don't coat with ballistix, or something like that, to get better protection?

 

[cavalry]

Any reason you don't coat with ballistix, or something like that, to get better protection?

There are hundreds if not thousands of floor products out there to choose from, all stating they are the best. I used the consolideck line as its specific to polished concrete and kind of a big name, with the thought process being there would be complete compatibility of products between the densifier, sealer and polish with no surprises. In retrospect, I should have talked more with their tech line, because the polish they helped me choose was not their best.
I had a floor guy tell me that L&M Petrotex would have been a better choice for what I do. I am not familiar with Ballistix, I will check it out.

 

[67CarGuy]

Thanks for these details, it's very helpful!

 

[sweet victory]

Thank you for sharing. The floor looks great and looks like it's holding up well!