If you have decided that time to polish your concrete flooring has come, go ahead and don't change your mind. Concrete polishing has numerous benefits, and that's why most people go for it today. However, it's a tricky process that only professional hands should handle. Leaving concrete polishing to professionals doesn't just increase job efficiency, but also leaves you with the desired finish. According to most concrete polishing contractors, the process doesn't begin before the surface is prepared for it. Do you want to know what concrete polishing professionals do before the polishing process starts? Keep reading!

Determining Concrete Hardness

The concrete surface shouldn't be polished before its hardness has been identified. This helps the polishing contractors to know the bond and grit diamond tooling to use. A scratch test kit is used to assess how hard the surface is using the relative mineral-hardness scale. The four colour-coded picks this kit contains are double-ended. The kit has eight points made of different materials. The polishing expert scratches the concrete surface using different picks of varying hardness and checks the results. A soft bond is crucial when polishing hard concrete since it leaves it exposed and with no unnecessary wear.

Repairing Spalls, Cracks and Chips

Your concrete should be repaired before it's polished to have a flawless surface. Getting an identical and flawless patch isn't always guaranteed, but the polishing professionals do their best to get rid of any damage and get results that match the surrounding concrete. Patching mixtures containing cement are the best for concrete surfaces with small or shallow spalls, divots and chips. A skim-coat material is efficient for concrete floors with minor damages. Self-levelling, hydraulic cement and anchoring overlays are used on concrete floors with approximately 6.35mm damage or more. The hairline cracks, static cracks or moving cracks on the concrete surface must be repaired first before concrete polishing starts.

Cleaning the Concrete Floor

Polishing older concrete before you have cleaned it won't make it attractive to the eye. Polishing professionals know how to remove the oil stains on the concrete to make polishing smooth and efficient. With oil stains on the concrete, dyes, stains and densifier won't permeate efficiently, and this results to colour variations. Concrete polishing professionals use quality detergents and de-greasers to remove small or light oil stains. They use dry absorbent clay to remove heavier or stubborn oil stains and extract dirt stains from the concrete surface.

Concrete polishing won't be complete without the right tooling and equipment. Polishing contractors also repair the construction joints, isolation joints and contraction joints before polishing begins. Most of those who attempt to polish their concrete surface themselves regret the results since they didn't know what to use and how to approach the process.