Grinding concrete floors is an effective way to refine a concrete surface, remove many irregularities, and level out the slab surface. Pitting, roughness, and cracks can reduce the concrete’s resiliency and beauty, so it’s important to have a smooth, even surface before using or polishing the floor.
There are many methods of grinding concrete floors, but Titus Restoration has a quality process that is tailored to each floor.
Following a process for grinding concrete floors provides the most consistent surface possible:
- The grinding process usually begins with a coarse diamond of 30 – 50 grit pads (depending on the quality of the slab) to remove thin layers of the concrete’s surface.
- Based on that, successive grit pads are used to create an even smoother surface.
- Diamond grinding can also remove epoxies and urethanes if any were previously applied to the concrete.
- Once the process reaches a 100 or 200 grit pad the floor beings to hone on it’s own, depending on how hard the concrete is. This successive process refines the scratch pattern to create a smooth surface.
- Next a densifier is placed on the floor. The densifier seeps into the concrete pores opened up by the previous grinding steps. It hardens the concrete floor and seals the dust in.
- Once the densifier is completely dry, the honing/polishing process begins. The first honing round begins with 200-400 grit pads, and can be followed by 800 grit, 1500 grit, and then 3000 grit depending on how shiny the customer desires the floor. This honing ensures a smooth, reflective surface.
- Last, the floor is treated with stain guard. This protects the polished concrete from staining.
Titus Restoration only uses the wet diamond grinding method, which puts very little dust into the air. Less dust in the air is a safer situation for our technicians, as well as your staff and everything inside your facility. Breathing in concrete dust is extremely dangerous. Because the particulates are so fine, they are able to penetrate the tiniest capillaries in your lungs and are especially dangerous! Plus, concrete dust can damage your equipment and ruin your inventory, but wet grinding eliminates these potential disasters.
We also firmly believe that lithium densifiers are superior to all other types of sealing products. This is because lithium molecules are so small they can penetrate deeper into the concrete. Plus, the pH of our lithium densifier and concrete are almost identical, making them uniquely suited to one another. And unlike other types of densifiers, lithium is not water soluble, which means these densifiers won’t wash away over time.
One of Titus Restoration’s specialties is grinding concrete floors for factories and warehouses of all sizes and purposes. After decades of experience in the field, we have discovered the best methods and products that create the highest quality results. Our skilled technicians possess the training and expertise to diagnose problems, troubleshoot issues, and provide solutions for concrete slabs.