The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
Industry veterans, entrepreneurs and decorative concrete artisans reveal findings, divulge lessons learned and outline methods used to help advance the industry as a whole.
There are many benefits of doing polished concrete mockups prior to starting a polished concrete job. These include: Seeing the job site firsthand. Learn locations of things like the power, parking, loading and unloading, water, wastewater disposal, dumpster, elevators and lighting, among other things. Learning how hard the concrete. By […]
How come there are so many different types of joints in a concrete slab? First let’s establish what the purpose of a “joint” is in concrete construction. They: Allow a concrete piece to move separately from other pieces or parts of the building. Let concrete shrink as it dries relieving […]
From the last three tips, you’ve learned there are three types of polished concrete with specific differences. For this tip, I’m consolidating the items into an easy-to-read summary. This can be something you can give to your sales team or use as a reference with clients. You can also share […]
Again, here’s the definition of polished concrete: The act of permanently changing a concrete surface, with or without aggregate exposure, to achieve a specified level of finished appearance. So far, we’ve learned about burnished polished concrete (BPC) and hybrid polished concrete (HPC) and that they both have places in the […]
In the last tip, you learned THE definition of polished concrete: The act of permanently changing a concrete surface, with or without aggregate exposure, to achieve a specified level of finished appearance. You also learned that there are three types of polished concrete according to the American Society of Concrete […]
First, here’s the definition of polished concrete: The act of permanently changing a concrete surface, with or without aggregate exposure, to achieve a specified level of finished appearance. According to the American Society of Concrete Contractors’ Concrete Polishing Council, there are three types of polished concrete. Each of these has […]
In an earlier concrete polishing tip, I mentioned there are many options when choosing diamond tooling configurations and grit levels. Now we’re going to learn about another variable to consider, the Mohs testing for polished concrete. Today, we’ll learn how to match a diamond tool’s metal bond to the concrete […]
When used optimally, a high-speed burnisher can be useful during many phases of a polished concrete project especially while high-speed burnishing. Most people who own a high-speed burnisher or do I speed burnishing don’t know that the back wheels that touch the floor should be in the most set-back hole. […]
As we all know, polishing concrete requires a bunch of steps done in a specific sequence. Much like a domino chain, the cumulative effect produced when one event transitions smoothly into the next creates momentum and productivity persists. When the sequence is disrupted — whether major or minor — the […]
Densifiers and hardeners for polished concrete are either alkali metal silicates or colloidal silica. When you apply the densifier of choice to concrete and it absorbs into the polished concrete slab, the silicate reacts with the free lime (excess calcium hydroxide) and forms calcium silicate hydrate (CSH gel). This reaction […]
