After a "densifier"....what are the options

[Bsheffer]

I have a friend who literally manages millions of square feet of cleaning and maintenance for commercial properties. He just picked up a few $5000 floor polishing/grinding pieces of equipment and has offered to let me borrow them.

Currently, I am planning on going with the epoxy route with my garage floor but my current thinking is that polished concrete would be much more consistent with the other materials in my house as the house is $100 percent stone.

He is just getting his polishing process put together for his commercial loading docks but they have done a trial run on one dock and are very happy. I might be a little off but in general, they used a densifier and then will use some type of anti-skid product on or in that product with the final product. I asked him what the "top-coat" will be and he said there is none.

I told him that from what I remember reading, once you use a densifier in/on concrete, I didn't know if that precluded you from mechanically profiling the concrete in the future to accept an epoxy solution. I am NOT doing anything heavy duty in my garage. No lift and very light mechanical work. Am I out in "left field"....

 

[Garage Flooring]

So typically a densifier, such as TL37 is used in the first couple of stages and then a conditioner such as TL40 used in the final stage. The thing you have to understand is grind and polish is not a one and done situation. You have to maintain the floor.

 

[Bsheffer]

Justin, realistically, what might this entail in a garage that is more of a "gentleman's garage" vs. a garage that is being used daily for mechanical work?? I know the guys in the big box store run those floor cleaners around every few weeks and then do some type of repolish every few years but that environment has almost 24/7 foot/cart traffic vs. my garage which is basically very light pedestrian traffic with cars going in and out a few times daily.

 

[Shea]

I see you are from MD. The first thing you would need to do is protect the floor finish from road salts and deicng fluids. Polished floors loose their luster fast under those conditions.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I have a friend who literally manages millions of square feet of cleaning and maintenance for commercial properties. He just picked up a few $5000 floor polishing/grinding pieces of equipment and has offered to let me borrow them.

Currently, I am planning on going with the epoxy route with my garage floor but my current thinking is that polished concrete would be much more consistent with the other materials in my house as the house is $100 percent stone.

He is just getting his polishing process put together for his commercial loading docks but they have done a trial run on one dock and are very happy. I might be a little off but in general, they used a densifier and then will use some type of anti-skid product on or in that product with the final product. I asked him what the "top-coat" will be and he said there is none.

I told him that from what I remember reading, once you use a densifier in/on concrete, I didn't know if that precluded you from mechanically profiling the concrete in the future to accept an epoxy solution. I am NOT doing anything heavy duty in my garage. No lift and very light mechanical work. Am I out in "left field"....

Justin, realistically, what might this entail in a garage that is more of a "gentleman's garage" vs. a garage that is being used daily for mechanical work?? I know the guys in the big box store run those floor cleaners around every few weeks and then do some type of repolish every few years but that environment has almost 24/7 foot/cart traffic vs. my garage which is basically very light pedestrian traffic with cars going in and out a few times daily.

I see you are from MD. The first thing you would need to do is protect the floor finish from road salts and deicng fluids. Polished floors loose their luster fast under those conditions.

I think a better option for you would be something like TrueLock PPC http://www.garageflooringllc.com/tl...le-interior-exterior-concrete-sealer-coating/ otherwise you are looking at a relatively high maintainance schedule -- which involves borrowing the last grit you finish at and continually buffing the floor.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

I see you are from MD. The first thing you would need to do is protect the floor finish from road salts and deicng fluids. Polished floors loose their luster fast under those conditions.

Absolutely correct. The salts you will drag into your garage from melting road snow will make your densified, polished floor look like a mess before long.

I would consider a quality coating as your sacrificial layer. Pick a clear coating to highlight the look of the concrete.

Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bsheffer]

Thanks for the info but one concern I had still deals with this notion that once you go down the path of using densifiers, does this preclude you from possibly going to more of a top-coating solution like an epoxy???

 

[Shea]

Not at all. You may need to grind for the concrete surface prep after applying the densifier however. After that you can top coat with what you like.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Straight or extra-strength densifier is fine. Added water repellents are not favorable.