Concrete Grinding and Polishing System from Gap Power

Edco Grinder Lineup
What is the difference between grinding concrete and polishing concrete?
      
Concrete grinding is for removing unwanted coatings or concrete features. Grinding is nearly always a step you do before another process. For example removing old adhesives in order to get down to the surface before installing tile, paint, epoxy, linoleum or another floor covering...............or, concrete polishing. The purpose of grinding is to get the concrete surface back to it's original condition after pouring and troweling.

Concrete Polishing is the process of making concrete "shine", i.e. the process of beautifying concrete. It is achieved by using finer and finer diamond polishers until the desired look is achieved, then "locking it in" with densifiers and sealants. Polishing is often followed up with staining in order to achieve patterns, artwork, company logos etc.

Can one machine do both grinding and polishing?
Yes. You can use a machine to grind, then remove the grinding attachments and install polishing attachments. This is an easy process using simple tools and takes only a few minutes.

Small Floors.
 
For 1000-1500 sq ft or less the Edco single and double head concrete grinders do an excellent job of prepping a concrete floor at a reasonable price.  Diamond dots, matched to the type of concrete, provide excellent “dirty” concrete removal and preparation for paints and epoxies.  Strip Serts, sharp carbide inserts on a holder are an excellent way to remove mastic style coatings (glue, black gunk, etc…)  Spreading sand is an integral part of removing mastic coatings with strip serts.  The mastic balls up on the sand and prevents the grinding head from getting caked with the mastic and losing its effectiveness.  A good way to know if strip serts will work on your job is to try and cut the mastic with a utility knife or scrape it up with a putty knife; if you can do this, strip serts on an Edco Grinder will do the job.
Polishing Pucks on Lavina

Big Jobs.

For floors over 1000-1500 sq ft the Lavina Propane 25GX Planetary Grinder and electric Ermator Vacuum Kit is the way to go.  This Grinding Packaged comes ready to go in a 5x10 Enclosed Trailer.  Because of the speed and weight of this grinder it is critical to use the free loaner Mohs Hardness test to check your concrete to determine which bond of diamond tooling is appropriate for your concrete.  
A typical grind for a coating will be with 30 Grit diamonds, dropping down to 14 Grit if you need more of a profile for some industrial floor epoxies.
Lavina w/ Included Ermator Vacuum


How Can I Remove Oil Stains From A Concrete Floor?

  The Oil Remediation System from Ameripolish is a great addition to floor preparation to remove oils so your paint coating adheres properly.  In some situations like shop floors, a simple 30 Grit grind and seal (no paint or epoxy coating) is sufficient to restore and preserve a floor making it durable and easier to maintain/clean.

What Can I Expect To Pay Per Square Foot To Grind A Concrete Floor?
 
Approximate cost per square foot for a Basic diamond grind (not including sealers or coatings): $0.30/sq. ft. when doing 3000 sq. ft. or $0.23/sq. ft. for 4000 sq.ft.

An example of a diamond grind for a shop floor including the Oil Remediation system, a heavy duty sealer, 3000 sq. feet, pricing would be approximately $0.87 per square foot or $0.52 per square foot for 5000 square feet.

What Can The Lavina Machine Do?

The Lavina Grinding package is also an excellent polishing system.  To polish an existing concrete floor on average you’re going to start with 30 Grit diamonds, the same as doing a standard grind before a coating.  70 Grit and 120 Grit diamonds follow before moving to 100 Grit transitional pucks with Velcro backing then proceeding to 200 Grit polishing/honing, then 400 Grit, 800 Grit; up to 3000 Grit.

 Most of your time spent doing a polish is in the diamond tooling (30-120 Grit).  It’s extremely important to work completely through each of the steps and vacuum or use an auto scrubber in between to remove any grit from the previous step.  Its also important to move slowly, only as fast as the tooling/concrete will allow.  A good gauge of speed is seeing a half inch in between the dust lines left by the grinder from the circular motion of the planetary.
Finished Floor

Densifying Concrete.
 
Densifying the surface is important to harden the surface of the concrete to help it maintain the high level of shine polishing will produce.  Densifying is typically done around 200 Grit.  Make sure the surface is cleaned thoroughly then simply use a pump style sprayer to apply the densifier and let dry for around 15 minutes.

Concrete Sealing After Polishing & Densifying.

After reaching your desired shine, apply a high gloss sealer for maximum shine or the heavy duty sealer for a durable finish then finish off with a burnisher or burnishing pads on the Lavina grinder.