The Process Behind Polished Concrete Flooring

Guiding you through each step of the polished concrete process

As you investigate the different options available from companies in the market, you will see many different brand names such as Diacon, Natural Wonder Floor System, FGS/Permashine, and the HTC Superfloor (we are certified by HTC). They may all claim some small differences, but they all describe the same general process below.

With new construction, there are specifications to be followed for best practices and anything to be added to concrete is added at this point.

1. either new construction or with an existing floor, the concrete grinding process starts with the most coarse diamond tipped tooling to remove the top layer of concrete and level out any imperfections in the existing concrete. If there were any floor coverings or epoxies, we have a variety of different tooling to remove the top layer.
2. a densifier or hardening agent (not a polish) is placed on the exposed concrete which changes the chemical composition of the concrete. This densifier penetrates the top layer of concrete and makes the concrete stronger and harder than the original.
3. progressively finer tooling is used to polish the concrete to the desired sheen up to a 3000 grit polish-similar to sanding wood.
4. any decorative dyes, acid-staining, logos, and coloring are added.

The International Polished Concrete Institute (Polished Contractors is certified) has established their own guidelines to make the bidding process more transparent for architects and builders and we strongly recommend using a guideline or specific grit requirement when getting bids for a project.

If you have are interested in polished concrete flooring, please contact us by phone at 1-888-718-5750 or contact us through our online form by clicking here