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Almost any structurally sound concrete floor, whether new or old, can be polished. However there are some exceptions, for example with new floors no special mix design is required to achieve good results – although the floor should be in place at least 28 days before polishing begins to ensure adequate curing.
How do I make concrete look polished?
How To Polish Concrete Floors Step 1 – Prepare the Area for Polishing. Step 2 – Polish the Concrete Floors Using a Coarse Grit Abrasive Disc. Step 3 – Polish the Concrete Floors Using a Fine Grit Abrasive Disc. Step 4 – Polish the Floors with an Extra-Fine Grit Abrasive Disc. Step 5 – Apply a Coat of Concrete Floor Polish.
Can you polish already laid concrete?
While pouring concrete over an existing slab is possible, there are a number of challenges if you choose to go down that route. An alternative solution is to polish the existing slab. You’d be happy to know that any concrete surface can be ground back and polished up.
What concrete is used for polished concrete?
Polished concrete is much like standard concrete with chemical densifiers added to fill the pores to give a dense, durable matrix. The surface is then ground down with diamond polishing tools to achieve the required level of smoothness, shine and finish specified.
Is it expensive to polish concrete floors?
How Much Does It Cost to Polish Existing Concrete Floors? The easiest and cheapest way to achieve this modern look is by using existing concrete floors. On average, the cost per square foot to polish existing concrete floors is anywhere between $2 and $15, based on data from ImproveNet.
What is the difference between polished concrete and epoxy?
Polished concrete is fashioned by running a grinding machine repeatedly along with a polishing head for gaining the polished, smooth, and fine surface. While on the other hand, epoxy flooring is created with multiple layers of epoxy applied to the floor with a depth of a minimum of 2 millimetres.
Is polished concrete slippery?
While highly polished concrete looks great, the downside is that it can be slippery when wet. This means that while you’re free to choose the desired level of aggregate exposure for you outdoor surfaces, honed concrete for outdoor use can’t be highly polished and is only available in a matte finish.
Can you put a thin layer of concrete over concrete?
How Thin Can You Pour Concrete Over Existing Concrete? The thinnest that is usually used when pouring concrete, in general, is about 2 to 2 ½ inches. That also applies to this pouring new concrete over old concrete. Any thinner than 2 inches would be too thin.
How can I make my concrete floor glossy?
There are a number of ways to do this, but using a glossy sealer can give your floor an attractive, polished appearance. Clean the floor. Select a sealer. Mix the sealer thoroughly; an electric paint mixer is the best strategy, but you can mix by hand, as well. Pour some sealer into a paint tray.
How do you make concrete shiny?
After you stain your concrete floor with the color of your choice, you should apply a concrete sealer. A glossy sealer creates a shiny surface, and an acrylic wax adds an additional protective coat.
Is it easy to polish concrete floors?
Polishing concrete is not an easy DIY project, since it requires heavy equipment and special diamond tooling. We recommend hiring a professional concrete polishing contractor to complete your project. They will have a thorough understanding of what it takes to achieve the best results.
Does polishing concrete create dust?
The downfall is that dry polishing creates a ton of dust. Air quality and safety are the most important purposes for dust collection systems, but also important is keeping the dust off of the floor so that the scratch pattern can be seen while grinding.
Is polished concrete waterproof?
Polished concrete provides an environment that is resistant to damage from chemical and oil spills, as well as, slip and water resistant. Water-resistance is a special and important quality when you have concrete floors because concrete is naturally a very porous substance.
Is polished concrete cheaper than hardwood?
Because material costs for polished concrete floors are six to eight times lower than that of high quality hardwood floors, polished concrete is significantly less expensive than wood in new residential construction. In 2021, a typical white oak floor install can range from $12 to over $22 a square foot.
Are concrete floors bad for your health?
According to experts, concrete floor systems can cause everything from bunions and ingrown toenails to shin splints, lumbar strain, and achilles tendonitis. It can also lead to lower back pain, stress fractures, knee pain, and worsening of arthritis symptoms.
What is the average cost of concrete polishing?
Polished Concrete Cost. Economical: You can expect to pay between $3 and $12 per square foot for polished concrete, depending on your location and the complexity of the project. Polished concrete pricing is dependent upon how many levels of grinding are needed to get the floor to a smooth surface.
Is polished concrete more expensive than epoxy?
Polished Concrete Lasts 3x Longer than Epoxy Flooring Plus, the polished concrete flooring system is less expensive than epoxy. Both types of flooring can be cleaned with just water, but you may need to add some sort of detergent to clean the epoxy flooring.
Is epoxy harder than cement?
Compression strength is the capacity of a material to withstand a constant load, or to resist compression. Standard concrete is typically 4,000-5,000 psi. Whereas, epoxy systems from Simon Surfaces typically reach at or above 10,000 psi. It can be two-to-three times stronger than concrete.
What is better than epoxy for garage floor?
Nowadays, polyurea coatings are a much better option. Here at Garage Force, our patented polyurea garage floor coatings are about 20 times stronger than epoxy coatings. That is a huge difference in strength! In contrast, epoxy coatings will yellow and fade after consistent exposure to sunlight.
