Concrete grinding and polishing can lend a glossy and highly smooth surface to your industrial flooring. However, the process of attaining that mirror-like finish is not easy. Only the most qualified and experienced commercial & industrial concrete flooring contractor can help you attain that finish.
The process is intricate and involves multiple steps. If you need more colors or patterns, there are various steps for incorporating those as well.
Here is how concrete grinding and polishing works.
Inspection
The inspection process involves the contractor coming over and inspecting the area where you would install a polished concrete floor or polish an existing floor. Does this area already have some flooring that needs to be dismantled first, or is the premises brand new?
At this point, the contractor will ask you about the level of shine you want, and the degree of reflective capacity will eventually be controlled through different polishing levels. The contractor will then give you an estimate of the costs and the duration of the project.
Preparing the Floor
In the first stage, coarse diamond segments will be bonded in a metallic base used to remove the previous coating's spots, marks, blemishes, stains, and residues. The rough grinding is done with the help of heavy-duty machinery and could take three to four rounds of grinding to prepare a clean slate for the final polishing.
Grinding and Lapping
In the next step, the intensity of the grinding is intensified. The professionals will use diamond abrasives in a resin or plastic matrix, along with high-end polishing disks to achieve the desired shine. This is called lapping. If you want very high shine floors, the contractor will use a final grit of 1500 or even finer grit for the desired sheen.
The mark of an experienced contractor is that he will know when to change grits to achieve that shine by looking at the floor. Concrete grinding and polishing can include both wet and dry methods, though dry methods are more long-lasting and create less of a mess. Wet polishing can make a milky slurry which has to be removed entirely to ensure the brilliant shine of the concrete floor.
Sealing
Sealing is a crucial part of the polishing process. The concrete absorbs the sealer, and it is not visible to the naked eye. Once the sealer starts drying, it solidifies the concrete and hardens it inside out. It also adds an extra layer of protection.
As opposed to simply applying a topcoat, this process enhances the longevity of the concrete even further. To top it all, a final layer of polish is applied that adds more sheen to the floor and removes any residues from the project.
Only a commercial & industrial concrete flooring contractor can use the metal-bonded diamond grit and apply it successfully to create polished concrete flooring for your industrial space. You can ask them about the grits they would be using for the process and tell them about the degree of shine you want, and they would take it from there accordingly.
