Understanding Polished Concrete
The Concrete Polishing Association of America (CPAA) defines polishing concrete as "The act of changing a concrete surface, with or without aggregate exposure, to achieve a specified level of gloss."
Depending on the method used, and if done properly, a polished concrete floor can last 20 years with only standard daily maintenance.
A properly polished floor is easier to keep clean because a smooth floor has no texture to trap dirt.
While daily maintenance is still required, you no annual maintenance, so it's more like owning your floor than renting it. To understand why this is true, we need to dive a little into the properties of concrete and the processes that can be used to polish it.
Under a microscope, concrete resembles a porous mountain range with a variety of aggregate particles forming peaks and valleys.
The process of concrete polishing flattens those peaks and fills the pours to achieve a floor that is very flat, very hard and very resistant to surface staining.
The process of concrete polishing flattens those peaks and fills the pores to achieve a floor that is very flat, very hard and very resistant to surface staining.Understanding Polished Concrete
The process of concrete polishing flattens those peaks and fills the pores to achieve a floor that is very flat, very hard and very resistant to surface staining.
With conforming polished concrete floors, the shine is actually generated by how flat the concrete is and the way that flatness reflects, not by any topical chemicals.
It is important though to understand that not all "polished" concrete floors are the same.
According to the CPAA, there are four major categories of polished concrete:
Each regressive process more aggressively flattens those aggregate peaks than the prior one; surface coated polished concrete is the lease aggressive, while bonded abrasive polished concrete is the most aggressive.
Surface coated:
Non-conforming or surface coated concrete does not flatten the floor at all; it is concrete that has had a chemical coating film applied to it in order to achieve a gloss reading.
It does not conform to the CPAA's definition of polished concrete, and the durability will depend on the quality of the chemical used, the rate of foot traffic and maintenance procedures.
Burnished:
Concrete polished through burnishing utilitizes multi-step operation of mechanical friction, rubbing a concrete floor surface with or without waxes or resins to achieve specified level of gloss as defined by the CPAA.
This operation yields a less durable finish and requires more maintenance than bonded abrasive polished concrete because mechanical friction cannot flatten concrete the way that bonded abrasive grinding and honing can.
To some varying extent, the peaks of the mountains are being polished, but the valleys remain untouched.
In some cases, parts of the abrasive binding agents get trapped in the valleys, making the floor look smoother than it actually is.
Unfortunately, these agents are quickly dislodged by foot traffic, so the floor can end up looking significantly less shiny after even a short period of time.
Hybrid:
Hybrid polished concrete is achieved through a multi-step operation using a combination of standard grinding equipment, light-weight grinding equipment and/or burnishing equipment to combine both mechanical grinding and friction to achieve a specified level of gloss as defined by the CPAA.
Basically, it is a combination of burnished and bonded abrasive processes, hence the term hybrid.
Bonded abrasive:
Bonded abrasive polished concrete requires a multi-step operation of mechanically grinding, honing and polishing concrete with bonded abrasive diamonds to cut the concrete surface and refine each cut to the maximum potential to achieve specified level of gloss as defined by the CPAA.
This method yields the most durable finish and requires the least maintenance because everyone of the aggregate peaks has been cut down to the lowest valleys so that they concrete is almost perfectly flat
Depending on the method used, and if done properly, a polished concrete floor can last 20 years with only standard daily maintenance.
A properly polished floor is easier to keep clean because a smooth floor has no texture to trap dirt.
While daily maintenance is still required, you no annual maintenance, so it's more like owning your floor than renting it. To understand why this is true, we need to dive a little into the properties of concrete and the processes that can be used to polish it.
Under a microscope, concrete resembles a porous mountain range with a variety of aggregate particles forming peaks and valleys.
The process of concrete polishing flattens those peaks and fills the pours to achieve a floor that is very flat, very hard and very resistant to surface staining.
The process of concrete polishing flattens those peaks and fills the pores to achieve a floor that is very flat, very hard and very resistant to surface staining.Understanding Polished Concrete
The process of concrete polishing flattens those peaks and fills the pores to achieve a floor that is very flat, very hard and very resistant to surface staining.
With conforming polished concrete floors, the shine is actually generated by how flat the concrete is and the way that flatness reflects, not by any topical chemicals.
It is important though to understand that not all "polished" concrete floors are the same.
According to the CPAA, there are four major categories of polished concrete:
- Surface coated
- Burnished
- Hybrid
- Bonded abrasive
Each regressive process more aggressively flattens those aggregate peaks than the prior one; surface coated polished concrete is the lease aggressive, while bonded abrasive polished concrete is the most aggressive.
Surface coated:
Non-conforming or surface coated concrete does not flatten the floor at all; it is concrete that has had a chemical coating film applied to it in order to achieve a gloss reading.
It does not conform to the CPAA's definition of polished concrete, and the durability will depend on the quality of the chemical used, the rate of foot traffic and maintenance procedures.
Burnished:
Concrete polished through burnishing utilitizes multi-step operation of mechanical friction, rubbing a concrete floor surface with or without waxes or resins to achieve specified level of gloss as defined by the CPAA.
This operation yields a less durable finish and requires more maintenance than bonded abrasive polished concrete because mechanical friction cannot flatten concrete the way that bonded abrasive grinding and honing can.
To some varying extent, the peaks of the mountains are being polished, but the valleys remain untouched.
In some cases, parts of the abrasive binding agents get trapped in the valleys, making the floor look smoother than it actually is.
Unfortunately, these agents are quickly dislodged by foot traffic, so the floor can end up looking significantly less shiny after even a short period of time.
Hybrid:
Hybrid polished concrete is achieved through a multi-step operation using a combination of standard grinding equipment, light-weight grinding equipment and/or burnishing equipment to combine both mechanical grinding and friction to achieve a specified level of gloss as defined by the CPAA.
Basically, it is a combination of burnished and bonded abrasive processes, hence the term hybrid.
Bonded abrasive:
Bonded abrasive polished concrete requires a multi-step operation of mechanically grinding, honing and polishing concrete with bonded abrasive diamonds to cut the concrete surface and refine each cut to the maximum potential to achieve specified level of gloss as defined by the CPAA.
This method yields the most durable finish and requires the least maintenance because everyone of the aggregate peaks has been cut down to the lowest valleys so that they concrete is almost perfectly flat
Source:
The Environmental Prefer-ability of Polished Concrete by Whit Beverly
The Environmental Prefer-ability of Polished Concrete by Whit Beverly