Polished concrete floors
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awhiteUser is Offline
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09 Aug 2010 12:35 PM
I'm looking for experiences with polished concrete floors.  This is where diamond grinders are used to polish a slab up to 1,500-3,000 grit.  My slab will be post-tensioned, so surface cracking should be minimal.  I plan to have saw cuts 1/8" deep on a 3-4' grid to give a simulated tile look and also hopefully control any surface cracks.  We'll also have the surface colored.

So far, I have received 2 quotes.  One contractor will polish the slab before any framing is installed, and put down a protectant layer of some kind.  His price is $5 per sf.

The other wants all the walls in place before he will polish.  Unfortunately this will mean the edges will have to be hand polished, which he says won't be uniform with the rest of the floor.  He will put in a border around each wall to conceal this (which I am not too crazy about).  His price is $7 per sf.

I'm still looking for other vendors.

Anyone have any experiences with polished concrete they could share?  Thanks.
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AltonUser is Offline
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09 Aug 2010 12:56 PM
This polishing of concrete is getting almost as expensive as setting tile.  Have you considered hard power troweling instead of polishing.  If acceptable, should not cost any extra.  I have used this approach and it worked well for my clients that wanted a bare floor.  If you want polished concrete in order to have a more level floor, then consider using some addititives in the concrete mix to make the concrete flow and seek its own level more so.  This also should cost less than polishing.
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11 Aug 2010 10:19 AM
My slab contractor did what Alton suggests, the power troweling (which I thought was pretty standard anyway - no extra cost), when pouring the slab. It is very very smooth, ready to be stained and sealed after some power washing.

A note of caution, the post-tensioning will not guarantee the absence of surface cracking. Sure there will be less of it, but you will still have cracking. If you want to prevent it as much as possible, you might consider asking your slab contractor to add rebar mesh in addition to post-tensioning and control scoring.

5 to 7 dollars per sq ft for polishing, in addition to staining and sealing, seems a bit outrageous to me, especially when one of the main advantages of stained concrete floors is (or at least used to be) lower cost. Add it all up and you're getting more expensive than tile, bamboo, or engineered wood.
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12 Aug 2010 10:29 PM
My advice is if you want polished concrete do it. I have them in my house and loved them. If done well they will last forever and are timeless.
think about the concept of your project and what flooring works with your house. If the job is done well i think it is alot nicer than wood - bamboo it tile without the grout lines.

The prices I have scene in Oregon pricing from 5-9$ per sq. ft. Depends on the original condition of the floor and the quality of the concrete.
Check the person references and if he has the best equipment. Keep in mind you are mostly paying for labor . Each time they polish it another time its and another layer of costs. GOOD LUCK
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12 Aug 2010 10:42 PM
I read where they just power troweled smooth from the getgo and then applied a mixture of raw linseed oil and mineral spirts to darken them a bit and provide some water protection. A natural smooth matte grey finish with no stain. Others have used just a matte concrete sealer as well. I'd want to look at waterbased or non toxic options like the oil, wax etc....I think the more expensive grinding is either redoing existing rough floors or if you wanted a super glossy marble type look.
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12 Aug 2010 11:39 PM

My concrete slab is colored concrete not stained, I had lines cut in 4' squares then I grouted them.The edges  are a little ragged, in other words the cuts did not come out as clean as I would have liked and this is disappointing, but it looks ok. I then sealed the concrete twice before building the house. Now the floors are pretty scuffed up and I would like to do something about it but I am not sure what to do. I too am looking into the polishing option but at 5-7 $ a sq foot I may as well tile the floor. How the heck can I strip off the sealer? I don't think adding another layer is the right thing to do as the sealer is pretty thick. It is also petroleum based and not pleasant to apply.. any suggestions ? 

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13 Aug 2010 06:52 AM
Another option for a finished concrete floor that I have not used yet consists of preping the concrete (filling cracks, smoothing down the rough spots, etc.) and then coating with an epoxy or acrylic colored coat.  I see a lot of this at trade shows.  I do not know the cost or how long epoxy or acrylic will last.  I have been told that if and when the coating wears too much then another layer can be added.  Some companies have many colors.  Some coatings can contain acrylic, etc. chips.  Some with all types of geometric designs from tile, brick to whatever you can imagine.  Of course, patterns will require two layers to get the effect.  Some coatings are designed for exterior and some for interior.

Caution:  This type of coating should not be installed on top of fresh concrete.  Check manufacturer's literature for wait period.  Coatings applied too early may suffer damage from water escaping from the concrete.

If anyone on this forum has used this type of finish option for concrete, then please share your experience with the rest of us.
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jonrUser is Offline
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13 Aug 2010 07:32 AM
Epoxy paint should wear well but can flake off if any moisture gets underneath.

Terrazzo might be an option (a hybrid between epoxy and grinding - but not cheap).
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13 Aug 2010 08:24 AM
awhite;

I like the look in commercial applications, but for residential use it is not my preference and at $5.00 a sq. ft. it is the same or more than ceramic which is much more acceptable especially for resale.
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13 Aug 2010 10:09 AM
awhite -

It seems that there are 2 discussions going on - smoothing & polishing. From some of the posts, I'm getting the image in my head of a driveway or sidewalk - something that has "texture" to it. Is your basement floor something like this, that you want to smooth out? We just finished our building project, and I can tell you that our basement & garage floors are very smooth in this regard. They are not 'shiny', though, as if they were polished.

If you're just looking for a "high gloss' floor, have you considered doing an acid stain treatment & then finish it with a higher gloss sealer? That would be much, much cheaper than poishing. I've seen several stained concrete floors & I have to say, they look pretty sharp!
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13 Aug 2010 05:46 PM
I agree smoothing and polishing are two different things. So in coloring. Keep in mind you do not have to color concrete and the cost of such can be high to get a top looking finish.

I have scene tons on poor do it yourself colored concrete jobs that look terrible. What is wrong the gray? When polished it looks more like glass.

Polishing is done with a diamond bit sander.The finish is created by going over the floor 4-6 times with a finer sander each time . You can reach an almost glasslike finish. Be applying a catalyst hardner to the top allow for the life long hard top finish the the concrete. No paint or sealer.

My advice the simpler the better. Applying paints and sealers to floors will be a problem in the long run - Remember concrete is created with water is water permeable. Paints and finishes do not stick well to wet, moist, or materials the can wick water - not matter how space age they are. If you allow the concrete to breath a little with a little or not sealer it will last longer.

I would stay away from epoxy finishes or paint.
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18 Oct 2016 08:21 AM
Concrete Floor factors be determined by on the variety of the selected combination. Separately from the alterations in structure of elements, they are single-element and three-component..
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21 Oct 2016 10:08 PM
I have a polished slab, it came out beautiful. I tried posting pictures but I am not able to for some reason. I used no stain, no dyes just the natural look of the concrete that came from the local redimix plant on that day. The sand and gravel in your area on the day you pour will give different results. That is the cool unique part about a slab, they will all look slightly different and they are not perfect and uniform like a painted wall. Don't burn the finish. On mine the finishers used poly blades on the power trowel. It costs extra but the polishers don't want the finishers to turn it into glass. Find a polisher and a finisher before you pour and make sure everybody is on the same page. Find a finisher with an early entry/ soffcut saw and make sure they are willing to stay late and cut under lights if necessary. Mine was done in cool weather and we cut first thing the next morning. Concrete decides in the first 12 hours where it wants to crack. It might not crack for 50 years but it made up its mind on day 1 where the crack will be. This is why it's important to do the saw cuts early. My entire house not a single crack but the bottom of every saw cut is cracked. Get the right product for filling the saw cuts or better yet have the polishers do it. I filled the cuts myself but I wish I had had the polishers do it. It was not easy and the material was expensive. You need a 100% solids polyurea, I used Versaflex 75, there are a few others but it is best applied with the professional equipment. Laying out the cut lines should be more than just aesthetics. You need to think about how the concrete cures and where it is going to want to crack. When concrete dries all the moisture leaves and that makes it want to shrink. It wants to shrink into squares. If you poured a 4" slab 10' x 100' it would crack into 10' x 10' squares. So obviously any inside corners are crack starters and lines should start there, also trying to get it into a 10 x 10 or 12 x 12 square pattern. Thicker slab gets bigger squares, I went 5" thick with approximately 12 x 12 squares. If you have any thickened areas in your slab like footing pads you want them at the center of the squares. To do lines in a smaller grid than necessary would mean a lot of cutting and a lot of filling, I would not reccommend it. With mine the polishers came in after framing, roofing, windows, doors. Plumbing was roughed in and electrical and hvac rough ins were nearly complete. After it was polished I covered it with Ram Board and taped it to the bottom plate of the wall. Doing drywall and paint over a finished floor is a new challenge for me. I would not hire the guy that wants to polish before framing, that is crazy. FWIW your ballpark price estimates sound about right for a residential job.
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21 Oct 2016 10:11 PM
I did not type that as one giant paragraph but that is how it came out. Makes it kinda challenging to read.
francessmithUser is Offline
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22 Oct 2016 05:46 AM
I agree with Alton, power troweling would be the best option instead of polishing. It takes less time and money than that of polishing. A few days ago I had read in a article about this technique used by paving contractors in Westminster MD for re-designing concrete floor. You can also get more ideas from their official site.
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22 Oct 2016 06:37 AM
Posted By HP Home on 21 Oct 2016 10:08 PM
I have a polished slab, it came out beautiful. I tried posting pictures but I am not able to for some reason. I used no stain, no dyes just the natural look of the concrete that came from the local redimix plant on that day. The sand and gravel in your area on the day you pour will give different results. That is the cool unique part about a slab, they will all look slightly different and they are not perfect and uniform like a painted wall. Don't burn the finish. On mine the finishers used poly blades on the power trowel. It costs extra but the polishers don't want the finishers to turn it into glass. Find a polisher and a finisher before you pour and make sure everybody is on the same page. Find a finisher with an early entry/ soffcut saw and make sure they are willing to stay late and cut under lights if necessary. Mine was done in cool weather and we cut first thing the next morning. Concrete decides in the first 12 hours where it wants to crack. It might not crack for 50 years but it made up its mind on day 1 where the crack will be. This is why it's important to do the saw cuts early. My entire house not a single crack but the bottom of every saw cut is cracked. Get the right product for filling the saw cuts or better yet have the polishers do it. I filled the cuts myself but I wish I had had the polishers do it. It was not easy and the material was expensive. You need a 100% solids polyurea, I used Versaflex 75, there are a few others but it is best applied with the professional equipment. Laying out the cut lines should be more than just aesthetics. You need to think about how the concrete cures and where it is going to want to crack. When concrete dries all the moisture leaves and that makes it want to shrink. It wants to shrink into squares. If you poured a 4" slab 10' x 100' it would crack into 10' x 10' squares. So obviously any inside corners are crack starters and lines should start there, also trying to get it into a 10 x 10 or 12 x 12 square pattern. Thicker slab gets bigger squares, I went 5" thick with approximately 12 x 12 squares. If you have any thickened areas in your slab like footing pads you want them at the center of the squares. To do lines in a smaller grid than necessary would mean a lot of cutting and a lot of filling, I would not reccommend it. With mine the polishers came in after framing, roofing, windows, doors. Plumbing was roughed in and electrical and hvac rough ins were nearly complete. After it was polished I covered it with Ram Board and taped it to the bottom plate of the wall. Doing drywall and paint over a finished floor is a new challenge for me. I would not hire the guy that wants to polish before framing, that is crazy. FWIW your ballpark price estimates sound about right for a residential job.


I have been installing radiant floors for some time and witnessed many slab pours around the country but this is the best description of the proper process of concrete polishing that I have seen. Kudos
MA<br>www.badgerboilerservice.com
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24 Oct 2016 09:40 PM
Thank you. With a slab you get one shot at getting it right so I put a lot of thought into it. We are very happy with the results.
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26 Oct 2016 12:00 PM
True - one shot and if you have to it's hard to patch (although working with some colored sanded grout and aggregate one can get close. I poured a radiant slab with white cement and broadcast with glass, oyster shell and 3/8" pea stone in the surface. I learned a lot. I was nervous about nicking a tube when cutting control joints so I didn't cut enough (the ones I did cut worked great and I put foam pipe insulation on the tubing for a few inches either side of the joint where the tube crossed the joint to a.) assure the tube was deep enough to not get nicked and b.) to not shear the tube with the movement of the crack. I had the slab ground aftr exterior walls were up but interior partitions were not - working over a finish floor kinda sucks but went OK. I learned you need to broadcast 2 to 3 times the amount of aggregate you want to see since a lot of it will sink out of sight. The owner of the polishing company told me to just bull float the slab - I think (and so did the crew when they arrived) that is a mistake and that it should have been lightly steel troweled, but not burnished. I learned that our local guy's tendency to overwater the mix can make for real issues in the final product - pour as dry a mix as possible and keep the "cream" to a minimum - the cream, after the cure, does not polish out well at all. The idensifier products work well - the floor does not stain if stuff is wiped up promptly. I would certainly do it again - and I think I'd be even happier the second time. (Oh yeah, next time I won't pour it in February!)

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20 Dec 2016 07:35 AM
Posted By HP Home on 21 Oct 2016 10:11 PM
I did not type that as one giant paragraph but that is how it came out. Makes it kinda challenging to read.

LoL true
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20 Dec 2016 01:09 PM
Last year I acid washed, and acid stained a 60 year old basement floor. I had to remove a few surface problems (like old paint) with a diamond 4" grinder. The materials were about $60/gal (1 each). I used a 1 gallon good air pressure hand sprayer to apply the acid. Then it was scrubbed and the acid stain was applied the same way. I also bought a Concrete Coatings product, Durawax, to get a nice finish that can be applied with a sheeps wool brush. I did not use that because I like the finish the way it is. I suggest you search for the product I named and find a distributor. They can tell you a lot about the available products and contractors in your area.
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