is there a difference between a grinder and scarafier?

[v7guy]

getting ready to grind the old coating that remains on the garage floor so I can etch and lay down the wolverine stuff. All I can find locally are scarafiers. The rental place said it would do the same thing.

Is there a practical difference between a scarafier and a grinder?

 

[mark52621]

I ran into the same problem when I did my floor. No grinders only scarafiers for rent. I gave the scarafier a shot, because my floor had many deep waves and ridges. It leaves a very rough finish.

The finish was like a serrated knife, a bunch of troughs with a sharp edges between them. About like a miniature rumble stripe. I can't imagine leaving a garage floor that rough. Around here farmers use the scarafiers to rough up concrete for livestock.

I ended up using an angle head grinder with a diamond cup wheel to smooth the concrete. And let me tell you that job sucked.

My suggestion is to only use the scarafier if you have to remove a lot of concrete. If you do use it, count on finishing the floor with a diamond cup wheel. If your floor is flat and you just want it smoother a diamond cup wheel will get the job done.

I may have photos of my floor at different stages, I'll post them if I can find them.

 

[Ovidiu]

What mark said.

Scarifier and grinder is NOT the same thing. I used both on my floor, right before I applied the Wolverine epoxy

The scarifier was first because I had a HUGE lump in my crappy garage floor and I had to remove A LOT of concrete to make it flat(ter). The finish it leaves is like you see on the roads when they take the top part of the concrete off in preparation for the new one, just like mark above described. you would need A LOT of epoxy to make it look anywhere flat after the scarifier.

The grinder smooths out the surface, so that's what you probably need, either handheld or walk behind, whatever you can find.

 

[v7guy]

thanks for the advice guys.

I've got a cup disk for a handheld, was just hoping to not be on my hands and knees trying to grind the floor.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Scarifier has the aggresive steel wheels, looks like karate stars.
Rips the surface up, primarily used before you "resurface" a floor.
Resurfacing can be done with a slurry mix, trowel down or broadcast methods.

Grinder has stones that move in a rotating fashion, primarily used before coatings or for grind/polish purposes. Less aggresive, generally.