Concrete floors, once only found in stores or large commercial buildings, are becoming increasingly common in homes, thanks to its durability. These floors do not require a lot of maintenance but need a care and cleaning regularly to maintain its luster. Polishing concrete is similar to sanding wood; take off the old concrete and let the new shiny coat; holes, dust and other imperfections that have developed on the floor are removed. The new concrete can also be polished.
Equipment
You’ll need the appropriate equipment for polishing concrete. You can buy new or used equipment or rent it. The equipment is quite expensive. According to PDWorl, a website about the concrete industry, recycling and demolition, there are about 15 manufacturers of equipment for polishing concrete. The equipment can be bought or rented in home stores or specialized Web pages.
Polishing process
The machines use for polishing discs with small pieces of diamond which bring the concrete to the desired brightness level. The machines use discs increasingly fine to smooth the floor until the desired thickness is achieved brightness. “Usually a series of disks with progressively finer thickness, finishing with a thickness between 1800-3500, used for the floors are considered polished,” says Anne Balogh, top editor of Concrete Expressions. The higher the number, the finer the thickness and increased the final gloss of the floor. First, higher thicknesses are used to remove minor blemishes, pits, and other defects. This prepares the ground for a more smoothed finish. The first stage may require three or four repetitions to prepare the ground for final polishing, depending on the condition of concrete. Once this stage is finished, the next is a fine polishing with a buffing wheel from 1800 to 3500. A concrete floor wavy, porous or need many patches may not be suitable for polishing. Almost all concrete floors that are not going to need a new preparation work before polishing to clean dirt, grease or other unwanted layers. New concrete should settle for at least 28 days before polishing, to ensure that the floor has healed properly.
Methods
There are two methods for polishing floors: wet and dry. In the wet method, the water cools the diamond particles and gets rid of dust. The water acts as a lubricant and increases tool life, especially discs with high temperatures can melt. The major drawback with this method is the mess. The dry method means that the machine contains dust and leaves no mess, thanks to the dust container attached to it. A combination of both methods is usually used. After dry polishing, wet grinding is used for finishing. However, the new equipment allows the entire process to be dry by the addition of resin discs are able to stay healthy despite the friction polishing dry.
