Polished concrete for shop floor?

[FearTheH]

Does anyone have polished concrete on their shop floor? How is it holding up? Any regrets? Part of our floor at work is polished concrete and seems to hold up nicely with constant fork truck and pallet jack traffic. The cleaning guys go over it(the main aisle ways anyways) twice daily with the floor zamboni. I'm in the planning stages still and just trying to have all of my ducks in a row as I'm just now clearing the land. Epoxy would be nice but at approximately 36x46 is going to be well out of budget. I will be DIYing the entire project start to finish minus the concrete which will be contracted out. Thanks guys

 

[Rock knocker]

Won't it be slick if wet? CenturyLink Field (Seahawks and Sounders) had a very nicely finished concrete floor at concession and entry level. It was so slippery when wet they sdand blasted most of it, which is also a nice look.

 

[FearTheH]

That's a good point... can't work on projects if I incur injuries. I wouldn't sandblast it though just to keep it easy to clean. I may just end up leaving it the way it is after its cured. I couldn't imagine what epoxy would cost to cover that type of area lol

 

[jmiller_2308]

I have polished in my shop without issues. It is nice for sweeping but yes, it could be slick if it were wet. I actually don't understand the allure of urethane as I've found those floors to be more dangerous than my polished floor. Sure, you can put chips in it to get better grip but then it makes it harder to sweep. I like my polished floor.

My shop is a shop, not a parking garage so I don't have issues with wet vehicles tracking in water. When I do bring a car in that is wet I squeegee the water out and with the HVAC it is dry in no time. My friend has hydronic heat and his floor dries even faster.

 

[RPH]

Would love to have the polished look. But at $7.00 per square foot and I had 2100 square feet of area that was the end of it.

 

[FearTheH]

I may still consider it...it's going to be a garage/shop/storage but I'd still like to keep things nice.
RPH, was that to have it done professionally? Or for materials and equipment rentals?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

How can you afford polishing ad not epoxy?? Epoxy is around 1.00 vs 7-10 for polish.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RPH]

Professional, I looked into buying the equipment but the initial cost was still steep and the thought of grinding the cement every which way at 7" diameter wheel was discerning. I would still be grinding. It's just a shop but it's my shop and I do want it nice too. Just couldn't justify it. Still like the look though.

 

[FearTheH]

How can you afford polishing ad not epoxy?? Epoxy is around 1.00 vs 7-10 for polish.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1. I've never seen a price to do polished, I still believe your figure is having someone else do it.
2. I've talked to multiple people with plain 2 car attached garages that have went with epoxy and said they were out anywhere between 1500 to 2500.

I don't have to have a finish on the floor at all, I was just wanting opinions as to the labor as well as the longevity of polish as well as a cost to rent the equipment and do it myself.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Polished floors are not a great idea for a garage unless this is the home to some trailer queens.

Salt water (from roads) will immediately begin to chew away at the finish. Oils, fluids, etc... can stain it.

Epoxy is chemical and wear resistant. We have coated many polished floors (here in Florida) for the reasons mentioned. It is tough to keep it nice.

 

[FearTheH]

This will be more of a shop and not a garage for daily driven vehicles...one bay will be dedicated to a 48 chevy 5 window truck project, along with metal shop, a lift for doing routine maintenance work as well as side work, a space to shoot some pucks indoors and a lean to with down draft system.
I've been torn in this area more than any other because I would like a nice looking floor but not blow a ton of cash...given the expenses of both, would acid staining be a more cost effective solution?

 

[Steve_mc0]

I wonder if a densifier / sealer combo would suit you better? Cost effective and will look good.

 

[FearTheH]

I googled that and it definitely gives it a glossy look like I'm wanting, how is the chemical resistance of that?

 

[Steve_mc0]

Yeah I've been doing a bit of research in this thread:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352057

It will only give a gloss if you buff it afterward. Check out the links in the thread above for chemical resistance figures etc.

 

[Jsf721]

Look up twister pads. We sell them at work. Jan SAN store will have them. I'll get you a link. Price is not too bad and can be done with a good heavy floor machine if your concrete guy leaves you with a fairly smooth end result.

You may need several grits. I have used the 3000 to repolish terrazzo.

 

[FearTheH]

How do you think I would fair by using the densifier/sealer and then going over it with those twister pads? I found a website that shows those pads being about 36-40 bucks each for 17", does that seem right?

 

[Jsf721]

That is about right on the retail side.

On our best column we sell the 20" 3000 grits for $ 39.00/pad there are 2/case for our customers who buy in quantity. If you give your zip code, I will try to find a dealer near you and see if I can arrange some professional courtesy.

How do you think I would fair by using the densifier/sealer and then going over it with those twister pads? I found a website that shows those pads being about 36-40 bucks each for 17", does that seem right?

 

[bdamico]

Look up twister pads. We sell them at work. Jan SAN store will have them. I'll get you a link. Price is not too bad and can be done with a good heavy floor machine if your concrete guy leaves you with a fairly smooth end result.

You may need several grits. I have used the 3000 to repolish terrazzo.

sorry to thread jack but how do you like the twister pads for stone floors. I have to restore my jerusalem stone floors

 

[FearTheH]

It looks like if I rent the floor machine(I have a good friend who will probably let me "rent" one for free), buy the pads, as well as the lithium silicate densifier, it looks like it'll give me the durability as well as polished look I'm looking for without all of the grinding.
My zip code is 24175 but am not sure when I will be ready for this step. I have been considering doing this when it is just a slab before I start erecting walls. Any clue if this will be beneficial to me or if I should wait until it's under roof?

 

[lakeroadster]

FWIW: The shop I had about 15 years ago had a very very smooth concrete floor.. too smooth. Any moisture at all and it was like glass.

Even when dry it was problematic. I recall placing an aluminum extension ladder against the wall. The ladder didn't have rubber foot pads or pads with "teeth" on the front of them, just smooth aluminum foot pads. I climbed the ladder to about 10 feet.. and then the ladder slid on the smooth floor right out from under me.

I vowed to never again have a smooth or painted concrete floor in a shop.

Opinions vary, I choose function over form.

 

[FearTheH]

My only concern about a smooth floor is when I do any body work, wet sanding in particular, causing a slippery surface. But in reality even an untouched concrete shop floor is pretty slick when wet so caution needs to be exercised regardless.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune but glad you are okay.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Polishing is usually cost prohibitive for a shop. A suggestion is to use our SPGX whuch you can add a small particle size non skid so it's not slippery, but not gritty so super easy to clean. It gives a polished marbled look at a cost of 50 cents or less per sq foot.

https://store.armorpoxy.com/mm5/mer...=A&Product_Code=SPGX-GAL&Category_Code=AULTRA

 

[n20junkie]

My shop floor is a machine burnished finish that was done when it was poured.

It cost a few more bucks, but it's beautifully smooth. Water makes it very slippery, but machines and car dollies roll very very nice.

 

[jask]

I had epoxy in our old workshop and polished concrete in the new shop and will take a burnished/cut concrete every time. it will be slippery if you leave pools of fluids all over or like to leave nuts bolts and bits of slippery plastic on the floor ( you will only do that one or two times ).. but it is easy to maintain and clean and does not chip or lift like epoxy and if I was adding traction texture to epoxy I would just leave the concrete rough.

 

[swharris]

How about this product/process? Slab Armor

http://www.multiquip.com/multiquip/slabarmor-closer.htm

Have no experience with them or know much about them. Obviously this is for NEW slabs only. Below is an article about the product.
https://www.concretedecor.net/decorativeconcretearticles/vol-16-no-3-april-2016/new-technology-delivers-the-shine-without-the-grind/

 

[Jsf721]

I have only used them on terrazzo, concrete and marble.

sorry to thread jack but how do you like the twister pads for stone floors. I have to restore my jerusalem stone floors

 

[Jsf721]

I'd do it last. It's a wet process so not to much dust. A little sling but nothing too bad. All you need is a mop bucket with. Wringer for clean up.

sorry to thread jack but how do you like the twister pads for stone floors. I have to restore my jerusalem stone floors

It looks like if I rent the floor machine(I have a good friend who will probably let me "rent" one for free), buy the pads, as well as the lithium silicate densifier, it looks like it'll give me the durability as well as polished look I'm looking for without all of the grinding.
My zip code is 24175 but am not sure when I will be ready for this step. I have been considering doing this when it is just a slab before I start erecting walls. Any clue if this will be beneficial to me or if I should wait until it's under roof?

 

[Jsf721]

If you have polished floors at your Home Depot those are the 3000 grit twister pads originaly done by a contractor with a 175 machine and maintained periodically in house by HD by putting the same pad on he bottom of their auto scrubber.

I have trouble shot some stores and it seems the people running the scrubbers don't know the difference beyween a red cleaning pad and a diamond pad which is green and Brown.

 

[Notgrownup]

I used legacy etching and clear with the grit...I love it... polished is fine but if you get it set it will be very slippery...

 

[FearTheH]

Thanks everyone for all of the great information. The slick surface is somewhat of a concern for me, however if you have fluids(oil, and especially antifreeze residue) the unfinished concrete even becomes a heck of a slip hazard. I'm pretty **** about placing everything back in its designated locations when not in use. I actually saw where someone used just a straight up sealer and it looked great so that may be the route I go. Until I browse through the links you guys have provided, at which point I may find something more to my liking.