10 Tips To Make Your Next Concrete Polishing Easier
A blog about concrete polishing and how to make the job easier.
We often talk about the benefits of polished concrete, such as its durability and the fact that it’s easy to clean and maintain. In fact, we’ve even written about it in our recent blog post on Concrete Polishing: A Sustainable Solution For Your Home. But what about the process of getting there? What does it take to get your floor finished with a glossy shine?
Well, before you can enjoy your long-lasting floors, you might need to do some work first. Fortunately, we’re here to help make your job easier!
1. If you want your floors to be sealed, don’t apply a topical sealer until after you’ve finished grinding and polishing. The sealer will need to be reapplied over time, so if you put it on too early and then grind through it, it won’t last as long.
2. Pick the right blades for your grinder — different types of flooring will require different blades for optimal results. Get more information on choosing the right tooling here.
3. Make sure your diamond
We have compiled a list of 10 tips to make your next concrete polishing job easier.
1. Apply a stain guard or sealer prior to polishing. This will help resist staining and will make cleaning the floor easier.
2. Test different diamond grits or segments to see which works best for you and your project. Keep in mind that the higher the grit, the more aggressive the cut, but also the more dust that is produced.
3. Have at least two vacuums on hand – one for wet grinding and one for dry grinding, or if you can afford it, purchase a vacuum with a water attachment so it can do both.
4. Run your saws and grinders at maximum rpms; this will help reduce tooling life but maximize production rates, which means more profits for you!
5. Purchase an extra set of tools (diamonds) so you can change them out in less than 5 minutes, which will help keep production high and reduce down time.
6. Make sure to purchase extra batteries for your cordless power tools – this way you have a battery charging while you are using one in a tool – this helps keep productivity high and cuts down on machine down
Concrete polishing can be a labor intensive, time consuming process. There are many steps involved, and having the right tools is important to getting a beautiful finish. Here are 10 tips to make the job easier.
1. Get your concrete smooth before you start polishing. This will save time and money in the long run and will produce a better surface.
2. Have at least two people on the crew, preferably three or four. Concrete polishing is hard, physical work and doing it alone can be exhausting. Two people also makes it easier to lift and move the machines.
3. Make sure all your employees are properly trained on equipment operation and safety procedures before you start any job.
4. If you’re using a planetary grinder, pick one that has at least three heads for better coverage of the floor area.
5. Use a vacuum whenever possible to keep dust from spreading around the worksite — especially when working inside buildings where air quality is of concern and around children or pets that could be harmed by breathing in dust particles.
6. Change tooling often to avoid excessive wear on diamond segments, which can become rounded or glazed over with use, preventing them from cutting effectively through concrete
When you’re polishing concrete, it is important to take care of the little things. Many times, a concrete polishing job can be made easier and more efficient by simply following a few tips and tricks that the professionals use. Here are 10 of them:
1. Test the surface pH. Concrete should fall between 7-8 on the pH scale in order for the densifier to work properly. If it is too low, it will need to be ground up and densified again before you begin polishing.
2. Densify early. Densification can take place shortly after the pour when the concrete has reached about 50 percent of its initial hardness. This will help you avoid grinding into the paste later on during your polishing process. A densifier should be used to fill in all pores at this time, not just those in the very top layer of concrete.
3. Keep your diamonds in good shape. Diamonds that are allowed to become dull or clogged with debris will waste a lot of time and money as they remove very little material from your slab and can actually damage it as well if they aren’t removed and replaced frequently enough.
4. Change out your tooling often enough but don’t throw away tools that aren’t completely
Concrete polishing is a process that takes time and patience. It can be very rewarding, but it can also be difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. Here are some tips for making the next concrete grinding or polishing job go smoothly.
1. Start With A Clean Floor – Polished concrete requires a clean floor free from debris, chemicals and any other dirt that could be ground into the surface during processing. This makes for the best finished look once the concrete has been polished.
2. Begin With The Right Tooling – Concrete grinding and polishing can be hard work, and a great tooling system will make it easier. A tooling system includes things like spacers, plugs and rings, locknuts and plates to hold the tools secure on your grinder head. They also have different cutting patterns that will help with grinding down the concrete to create a smooth finish.
3. Understand Your Grinding Heads – Concrete grinding heads are designed to work in tandem with a complete tooling system to grind down and polish your concrete surface. Each one is made differently and offers varying levels of cut speed and final shine depending on the type of abrasive used in their construction.
4. Test Out Your Grinding Heads – It’s important
Concrete polishing is not a messy job, but you are going to get some dust and debris on your clothes. If you have a pair of jeans and work boots that you don’t mind getting dirty, go for it. Otherwise, dress in clothes you can change out of quickly after the job is done.
The concrete polishing industry is still in its infancy, but it’s growing very rapidly. Although concrete polishing and other concrete processing methods have been around for a long time, the concrete polishing industry is still relatively new. This means that contractors need to do a lot of learning on the job. The following are some tips for making your next job go easier:
1. Buy quality tools and equipment
This seems obvious, but it’s often overlooked. If you buy cheap tools, they will break down and cause delays and extra costs. This is not an area where you want to cut corners.
2. Find a mentor
If you’re just getting started in the polishing industry, find someone who has experience and learn from them. You’ll learn much faster this way than trying to figure things out on your own.
3. Work with a team that knows how to work together
If you hire inexperienced people, you’ll have to do a lot of training before they can be productive. Also, inexperienced workers are more likely to make mistakes that will cost you time and money.
4. Hire only experienced workers
5. Get good at estimating jobs
The most successful polishers are great estimators because they know what questions to ask and