Concrete Polishing,
Polishing Decorative Concrete

Right after the clerk in the orange vest, the high-polish concrete floor greets you at Home Depot. Super smooth concrete, buffed to a gloss, seems too nice for a hardware store, much less a warehouse place. Don't be fooled. The near-mirror finish not only looks good and is tough, it also saves money by dramatically cutting the labor and materials needed to clean and maintain it.

Polishing concrete is a relatively new art that is fast finding an audience of willing contractors and many customers. Architects and designers who build high-tech structures, chain stores, auto showrooms, restaurants, and many homeowners have included such floors in their plans. Even the Pentagon ponied up the dough for a spit-shined floor in its boot camp gymnasium at Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Chicago.

Some customers opt for polishing to a high gloss-by removing the top 1/16" of the cream. Others have the contractors grind deeper, removing the cream and exposing the aggregate. Some even have special rock, bolts, and pieces of glass added to the mix to be exposed during grinding.

Virtually any structurally sound concrete floor can be polished to a very hard, durable, and nearly maintenance-free finish. While the grinding and polishing add significantly to the cost, these outlays are easily recovered in the years to come from considerably lower maintenance costs.

"Polished concrete can still breathe to let gas and water vapor through," said Bill Kulibert, North American regional sales manager for VIC International. "It resists staining by fluids, oils and certain chemicals, as well as the marks laid down by forklifts and other industrial equipment driving across it."