Polished concrete makes a stunning finish; these enhance your reputation regardless of whether it is placed inside or outside your house. In order to maintain your reputation you need to periodically clean the floor. But in order to keep the shine intact your floor needs to have occasional polishing. Polishing is must, for it not only keeps up the look but it also considerably lengthens its life. Polishing is not an easy venture. When you decide to polish it on your own, you need to learn about the required equipment and the technique of polishing. You need to know the functioning of different disks of different sizes and textures. You need to be patient while doing this as it will take some time but the result will be worth the effort. Undoubtedly, the demand for polished concrete flooring grows with time. Polishing concrete has much similarity with refinishing wood.
Use of concrete grinder
Concrete grinders are used to grind down concrete floor surfacing with metal bond and resin bond diamond abrasives. Such abrasives are good for enhancing smoothness and shine. Similar to sandpaper, available in varying “grits or levels of abrasiveness, concrete diamond abrasives are available in wide range of grits. From 16 to 3000 grit, such abrasives are available in different variety. Now the lesser the grit the cruder and more aggressive will be the tool. On the other hand, when you look for something higher in terms of gloss and finish, 3000 grit is known to offer the best possible outcome.
Polishing concrete can be easily completed by following few important steps as described below:
Sweeping and cleaning
You need to clean the floor right before you apply the polish. The first thing you need to do is to broom to brush away all the dirt and rubble. Collect all the debris and dispense it with the help of a dustpan. If you are having a vacuum cleaner, then you can use it to sweep away the grime. The floor needs to be clean and tidy.
Mopping around
The process of Polishing concrete needs you to mop the area with detergent and water. Vacuuming often fails to make the space immaculate, so you need to mop the area and clean the residual dust. When you mop the area, you will find that the space is entirely dirt and dust free. You need to keep the floor dry right before polishing the floor.
Using coarse Grit
The next task is coarse-grit polishing. By using the 500 coarse-grit, you can initiate the job. If your floor surface is having immovable stains and rough areas, coarse grit will be definitely effective. Start with a corner of floor and then continue steadily, thoroughly, approaching forward attending every inch from one end to another. Thus, you have to cover the entire floor. You need to move ahead in circular motion, working over the entire flooring surface with the coarse grit disk. Your target areas should be the stained ones and you need to carefully attend them.
Using Fine Grit
Now it’s time to switch to fine grit disk and here also you need to work in circular motion, all around the floor. When all the stains and rough patches are attended upon, your floor will definitely look fresh and uniformed. But you should not make the mistake of using fine grit right before using the coarse grit.
Using Extra-Fine Grit
When you have completed everything neatly, it’s time to use the polishing grit 1500 and bring back that lost, clear glass sheen. Here you need to overlap, but must not divert from circular motion grinding, making the grit work on the entire floor. Make sure that you overlap the circles when you are proceeding.
Applying Floor Polish
You need to make use of the concrete floor polish and you will need to use the floor grinder for that. It will render an extra shine to the floor.
So, follow the above steps for applying polishing concrete. Click here if you want to know more about it.
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