Polished concrete maintenance

[stealman]

I have polished concrete floors in my house they are two years old. They are in good shape, however in the kitchen there are some stains. It mostly looks like something dripped on the floor and it took the shine away. They are more obvious when the floor is wet after I went mop it. There are also some dog claw scratches. I can't feel them , but I can see them at the right angle. The last steps in polishing this floor was with using diamond abrasive pads dry. The floor guy left one with me. Can i use this pad to remove the stains and scratches? If so what machine would I use with the pad? Any other advice?
Thanks

 

[stealman]

I just looked at the pads they left. They are 27" twister pads. A red and a white.

 

[Cairo94507]

Watching this thread. We are going to have a polished concrete floor poured in our garage, 1550 sq. ft. I believe that will be the easiest to maintain.

 

[benwah]

I have polished concrete floors in my house they are two years old. They are in good shape, however in the kitchen there are some stains. It mostly looks like something dripped on the floor and it took the shine away. They are more obvious when the floor is wet after I went mop it. There are also some dog claw scratches. I can't feel them , but I can see them at the right angle. The last steps in polishing this floor was with using diamond abrasive pads dry. The floor guy left one with me. Can i use this pad to remove the stains and scratches? If so what machine would I use with the pad? Any other advice?
Thanks

Do you have any idea what sealer/guard was used?

Typically I will go in and microfiber sweep the floor, mop the floor, burnish the floor with like a 1500 or 800 grit burnishing pad, apply 2 coats of guard, let it cure, burnish the floor again and call it good.

Stains can be tough to remove. There are cleaners out there that can help. Polished concrete floors are reactive surfaces. Most sealers/guards are breathable and allow moisture to pass thru.. Acidic foods and liquids must be wiped up in a timely manner to reduce staining.

It would be a good idea to pre-treat any areas that the sealer is missing, after cleaning. Then, apply the 2 additional coats to the entire floor.

If you're not looking for a high gloss finish, a lot of the time you can get a eggshell-semi gloss sheen from just applying the guard without burnishing.

 

[CombatNinja]

Watching this thread. We are going to have a polished concrete floor poured in our garage, 1550 sq. ft. I believe that will be the easiest to maintain.

"Polished concrete" and "easy to maintain" do not belong in the same sentence.

 

[Sumboodie]

Watching this thread. We are going to have a polished concrete floor poured in our garage, 1550 sq. ft. I believe that will be the easiest to maintain.

Be careful when entering the building with snow under your boots, it's slippery.

 

[stealman]

I do not know what stain guard was used. Does it make a difference if I use a different brand? When you say pretreat the stains, what would you recommend? Where can I buy these products?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[benwah]

Well using a different sealer may change the overall look, so you have to keep that in mind. We don't know if you have a penetrating, semi-penetrating/semi-topical, or a topical sealer.

I personally use Ameripolish 3DSP for my guard and Ameripolish Stain Slayer for stain reduction. I would recommend these overall, 3DSP is a semi-penetrating/semi-topical. So it will deflect small scratches and is burnishable. You can find them by searching on Google.

Apply with low pressure pump sprayer and a microfiber mop. Wear an N95 or better respirator, not dust mask, when applying. 2 coats 30 mins apart.

If you have a fully penetrating sealer it is mostly recommended, in my opinion, that another fully penetrating sealer be used. But if you have scratches, that makes me feel like you have a topical. Can you provide any pics?

The vendors here carry similar products that you may be eligible for a discount with. May want to check in with them also. Holler with any q's

 

[Cairo94507]

OK, good to know. Snow will not be an issue as at most we get 1-2" of snow occasionally during the winter. Typically gone within 24 hours. I always thought polished concrete was the easiest to maintain. This is not going to be hard-core welding, cutting, etc. shop. More of a car maintenance relaxing area.

 

[stealman]

The instructions that where provided say my floor was treated with a liquid surface hardener, in addition it has been mechanically diamond polished in conjunction with specific diamond abrasives. The surface has been treated with a stain guard product, which is a penetrating sealer.
Will different brands of penetrating sealers look different?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Unfortunately we agree with above that polished concrete is often sold as low/no maintenance and that its somewhat bulletproof which it is not by far, especially for staining and such. We would attempt to clean it as best you can with buff pads or gentle cleaners, and then seal it with Ballistix which we carry and is specifically designed to seal polished concrete as one of it's benefits.

The Ballistix will prevent staining from acids like tomatos and lemons and wine, and spills will just wipe up.

 

[Armorpoxy]

It depends on the use and care. Home centers which have PC maintain regularly, in a residential application it could be almost never.