working at a new school thats being built, and it has a polished concrete floor, in the common areas. You can see the rocks in the cement and it looks really nice. Contractors have their tools and supplies laying all over it. Seems like this would be the toughest floor, that still looks great. Does this get a clear coat, or just a polish like a vct?
polished concrete negatives?
- Thread starter mx500
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theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Slipper when wet.
LegacyIndustrial
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Polished floors can't be sealed with conventional sealers and waxes can accumulate and discolor the floor over time. They will stain without a "StainGuard".
Cons: salt will eat it up and it's slippery when wet, not a good choice for snowbelt garages.
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Cons: salt will eat it up and it's slippery when wet, not a good choice for snowbelt garages.
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Hi,
Properly polished concrete generally is generally not slippery. It's used in many public areas that see plenty of wet feet. Most home centers and Walgreens use polished concrete exclusively. It gets a burnished stain blocker for protection, never a wax. Very low maintenance, high cost per sq ft, and can't be done without special equipment.
Our Prep-Crete Division polishes hundreds of thousands of sq feet per yr so we have some pretty good experience with it.
Properly polished concrete generally is generally not slippery. It's used in many public areas that see plenty of wet feet. Most home centers and Walgreens use polished concrete exclusively. It gets a burnished stain blocker for protection, never a wax. Very low maintenance, high cost per sq ft, and can't be done without special equipment.
Our Prep-Crete Division polishes hundreds of thousands of sq feet per yr so we have some pretty good experience with it.
Justanoldguy
Well-known member
Concrete floor polishing equipment wil also polish the aggregate if that is the look that the customer wants. It takes longer and costs more due to excessive diamond tooling wear since the aggregate is harder than the concrete, but does give a nice look.
Correct, an improperly sealed floor will absolutely get salt eaten, but current technologies of high performance stain blockers burnished in with high speed burnishers will give many, many years of salt and stain protection.
Major home centers, food stores, and large retail chains use polished floors and they get literally tons of salt tracked in, and the floors still look good after many years of use. Of course, there is no maintenance free floor so over time, yes, they should be re-polished and sealed if needed. Generally though we find that almost no one will pay the money for a true polished floor in a home garage.
Customer care and cleaning also has a lot to do with longevity, as it would with any surface such as epoxy, tiles, etc.
Major home centers, food stores, and large retail chains use polished floors and they get literally tons of salt tracked in, and the floors still look good after many years of use. Of course, there is no maintenance free floor so over time, yes, they should be re-polished and sealed if needed. Generally though we find that almost no one will pay the money for a true polished floor in a home garage.
Customer care and cleaning also has a lot to do with longevity, as it would with any surface such as epoxy, tiles, etc.
Chucktown
Well-known member
We polished our floor 2 years ago. We used it for a kitchen for 14 months while we renovated the house. Not a single stain on the floor, anywhere, despite my 2-year oldsbest efforts. The floor is not any slippier than regular concrete when wet.
My only complaint with the floor is that my contractor was an idiot and poured the slab on a windy day, and some leaves were embedded during the trowling process. Those leaves and acorns have now degraded and broke off during the abuse during the year. There are maybe 5-6 spots in the entire 23-24' garage. I plan to put a thread together once I have the time.
My only complaint with the floor is that my contractor was an idiot and poured the slab on a windy day, and some leaves were embedded during the trowling process. Those leaves and acorns have now degraded and broke off during the abuse during the year. There are maybe 5-6 spots in the entire 23-24' garage. I plan to put a thread together once I have the time.
LegacyIndustrial
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Those spots can be filled with an epoxy patch filler and polished using a hand machine.
This is the same machine used to polish counter-tops. We use one to make sample slabs to test products on.
They are not too expensive and can be used as a conventional grinder as well.
This is the same machine used to polish counter-tops. We use one to make sample slabs to test products on.
They are not too expensive and can be used as a conventional grinder as well.
Chucktown
Well-known member
thanks for responding! I actually bought a small starter kit that included the pads very similar to what you pictured, but never bought the grinder. Do you have a recommendation? I tend to buy overkill for whatever project I'm working on.Those spots can be filled with an epoxy patch filler and polished using a hand machine.
This is the same machine used to polish counter-tops. We use one to make sample slabs to test products on.
They are not too expensive and can be used as a conventional grinder as well.
LegacyIndustrial
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Coincidentally, we are selling these ourselves. 179.00 for the polisher kit and a full set of diamond pads, delivered.
Off site deal.
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Off site deal.
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