Polished Concrete Floors

[billy780]

Anyone on here done a polished concrete floor in their garage?

I just did one in my new garage and I am very pleased with how it turned out. I had done a few of them on projects at work and like the fact, there is very little if any maintenance and they do not allow oil and water to penetrate and ruin the concrete.

Just have to remember you are finishing concrete so you have to deal with the potential of different aggregate in the finish.

Also need to make sure you are using a contractor that is properly trained in making these floors look correct.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Great job! We do polishing through our Prep-Crete Division and find its cost prohibitive for the average customer, and most people dont want to tackle it themselves. Also for proper production bigger machines are needed which require 3 phase power which isn't usually available in a residence.

You did a fantastic job!

 

[Northislander]

Welcome to the forum Billy and your floor looks great.
I am in the process of building my suspended slab garage and just poured the bottom studio floor on Tuesday it is power troweled and sealed concrete with titanium dioxide added to make the floor lighter should come out somewhere between light grey and white when cured. I did a polished concrete floor at my lake cabin we added brown dye to the mix and ground the floor down to a 1600 grit finish. I seriously considered a ground and polished floor on my garage but the need to waterproof the suspended slab above the studio nixed that idea. I still havn't made the final decision of how i'm going to seal my garage slab yet.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Cost and the fact that polished Concrete is not salt or chemical resistant makes this a dicey choice for a home garage.


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[Armorpoxy]

Be super careful about attempting to seal suspended floors since in our world they are not floors but ‘roofs that get driven on’ hence the need for a roofing system or similar. There are no good standard sealers made for this.

In our 20+ yrs in the biz we find only two things work if you didn’t install a roofing membrane system.

First Ribbed garage mats like our Armorcover. These catch and channel water from run offs. Can’t penetrate or fail. Second install a commercial flexible membrane parking deck system. These are thick built up coatings like used in parking garages. Thickness on this coating system in the 125-150 mil range vs. 1 mil for a sealer and 20-30 mils for an epoxy.

We carry both. Do not use any Epoxy or regular floor coating system. They are brittle and when the floor develops cracks guaranteed to leak.

Thank you.


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[LegacyIndustrial]

Welcome to the forum Billy and your floor looks great.
I am in the process of building my suspended slab garage and just poured the bottom studio floor on Tuesday it is power troweled and sealed concrete with titanium dioxide added to make the floor lighter should come out somewhere between light grey and white when cured. I did a polished concrete floor at my lake cabin we added brown dye to the mix and ground the floor down to a 1600 grit finish. I seriously considered a ground and polished floor on my garage but the need to waterproof the suspended slab above the studio nixed that idea. I still havn't made the final decision of how i'm going to seal my garage slab yet.

You need a flexible waterproof membrane system, similar to what we use for pool decks. Common sealers will have no value.


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[Northislander]

Hopefully OP doesn't mind me responding and hijacking his thread?
I am either doing a membrane and porcelain tile I also like the idea of the armorcover ribbed mats. Havn't looked into the logistics and cost of getting the rolls delivered to Canada yet.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Contact us directly with rolls needed and postal code do we can get shipping prices.

 

[Northislander]

A couple questions on the Armorcover you mentioned ribbed does this mean the diamond and coin patterns are not recommended in this type of installation?
I assume i would use seam tape and/or contact adhesive in the install.
Also this is a sometimes garage sometimes woodshop with wheeled tablesaws, bandsaws etc. being moved around the space.

 

[Armorpoxy]

If waterproofing is the goal then the Ribbed is best as the rib channels entrain the water run off so it won’t travel on the surface. If you use the other patterns you lose this benefit but if you seam them well with carpet tape or adhesive then you should be ok.

We don’t recall ever selling anything but Ribbed if the goal was preventing water from going below.

If you go the traffic coating system that’s another solution and would make it easier to mover your gear around.


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[lakeroadster]

Cost and the fact that polished Concrete is not salt or chemical resistant makes this a dicey choice for a home garage.

Additionally, is there something on the surface of these polished floors for traction? They seem like an accident waiting.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Actually they are naturally not slippery since they have micro scratches on it from the diamond pads. Higher glosses like 1600 or 3000 are more slippery but usually not used in high traffic areas.

Polished concrete is used extensively at Walgreens, Home Depot and other major high traffic locations where slipperiness would be a huge concern.

Test with slip meter have shown them equal to or less slippery than coated floors with non skid additives.


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[lakeroadster]

Actually they are naturally not slippery since they have micro scratches on it from the diamond pads. Higher glosses like 1600 or 3000 are more slippery but usually not used in high traffic areas.

Polished concrete is used extensively at Walgreens, Home Depot and other major high traffic locations where slipperiness would be a huge concern.

Test with slip meter have shown them equal to or less slippery than coated floors with non skid additives.

Oh, come on man. Really? Are those tests on a dry surface?

The difference being in a garage you drive water / snow covered vehicles into your garage.

It's slippery as hell at Walgreens, Home Depot if a liquid is present.

 

[Northislander]

As i mentioned in an earlier post my cabin concrete floor is ground down to 1600 and i am in and out with wet shoes and mopping with soapy water it's never very slippery.
I believe this is the same science behind all our old commercial buildings having ground terrazzo floors with no sealers the micro scratches from grinding give you the traction

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Oh, come on man. Really? Are those tests on a dry surface?

The difference being in a garage you drive water / snow covered vehicles into your garage.

It's slippery as hell at Walgreens, Home Depot if a liquid is present.

It's a double edge sword. The products you need to help protect the finish do improve the surface making it more slippery (when wet or oily).

Deny the polished surface any treatments and it starts to dull (under traffic).