Floor polishing
The floor is already there, it just needs opening up
Polished concrete is a mechanical finish, not a product. We run a grinder over the slab with progressively finer diamond tooling, the way you would work through grits on wood, until the surface goes from dull to satin to a hard shine. A chemical densifier soaks in partway through and hardens the concrete from the inside.
How the floor ends up looking depends on how deep we cut. A light pass keeps the slab close to how it is now. Going deeper opens up the sand and stone in the mix, which is where that speckled terrazzo look comes from.
Not sure which your slab suits? Call Elite Concrete Floors and Rick will look at it.
Polished or coated, which one do I want?
It comes down to whether you want to change the look of the floor or keep it. Polishing shines the concrete you have, so the color is whatever the slab is, and the finish cannot peel because there is nothing sitting on it. A coating lays a new resin surface over the top, which is how you get metallic swirls, flake and any color you like. Polished floors suit warehouses, shops and big open rooms. Coatings suit garages and anywhere you want a specific look. Rick will tell you which one your slab is actually a candidate for, and he will say so if it is neither. Both sit under the same concrete floor work in Wexford heading and both start with the grinder.
Can a polished floor have color in it?
Yes. Concrete stain soaks into the slab and reacts with it rather than sitting on top, so it can go in before the final polishing passes and comes out looking like it grew there. It is how a plain gray basement slab ends up copper, brown or charcoal with the variation you can see in our own photos. Because the color is in the concrete and the shine is the concrete, there is still nothing on the floor to lift. Stained and polished slabs are a favorite in older Pittsburgh buildings where the concrete has some history in it, and the same stain work goes into an epoxy or metallic floor.
The best floor in the building might already be under your feet
Free estimate, and a straight answer about whether your slab will take a polish.
Call (724) 313-7520What does polishing do for a working building?
It cuts what you spend on the floor for years afterwards. A polished slab does not need waxing or stripping, it takes forklift and pallet jack traffic without marking the way a coating can, and it throws the light back so the room reads brighter on the same fixtures. Dust is the other one: a bare concrete slab sheds fine gray powder onto stock, racking and boots all day, and the densifier stops that at the source. It works just as well one floor down at home, which is why it turns up so often in a finished basement.
Hardening the surface is a measurable thing, not a marketing line: the American Concrete Institute publishes the standards the trade works to.
Is my slab a candidate for polishing?
Most are, but not all, and that is worth knowing before anybody quotes you. A slab that is soft, badly spalled, or has been patched a dozen times will not take a polish evenly, because the grinder cuts the soft parts faster than the hard ones. Old glue, thinset and paint have to come off first. And if the surface is too far gone, the honest answer is a resurfacing or a coating, not a polish. Rick has been reading concrete since 2004 and will tell you which one you are looking at on the first visit.
Ask the guy doing the work
Straight answers about your concrete floor questions
How long does a polished floor last?
A long time, because there is no coating to fail. The finish is the concrete itself, hardened by a densifier, so wear shows as a slow loss of shine rather than a peel. A burnish every so often brings the gloss back.
Does polished concrete need waxing or sealing?
No wax and no stripping. A densifier hardens the slab and a penetrating guard keeps spills out of the surface. Day to day it is a dust mop and a damp mop, which is why buildings with big floors choose it.
Will I see the stones in my floor?
Only if we cut deep enough to expose them. A light polish keeps the slab close to how it looks now. Going deeper opens up the sand and then the stone. Rick will show you the levels and you pick.
Is a polished floor slippery?
A clean polished floor is no more slippery than any other hard surface, and it is less so than sealed tile. Water on top is what makes any floor slick, so mats at the doors do most of the work.
Can you polish a basement or a garage slab?
Sometimes. Home slabs are often thinner and softer than a commercial pour and were finished differently, so they do not all take a polish evenly. We look at the concrete first and tell you honestly which finish suits it.
How much mess does polishing make?
Less than you would think. The grinders run with vacuums on them, so most of the dust never reaches the air. We still mask off doorways and anything that has to stay clean before we start.