Can Old Concrete Be Polished? Everything You Need To Know.
Concrete is one of the most durable building materials you can use. It’s strong, sturdy, and long-lasting—but it’s not invincible. Concrete naturally weathers over time, especially if it’s exposed to harsh elements like rain or snow. If your concrete looks worn out or old, then you’re probably wondering if there is anything you can do about it? Well, the short answer is yes. You can Floor Polishing Melbourne your old concrete! But before you get started with a project like this, there are some important questions to ask yourself first: what type of concrete does my patio/sidewalk/driveway have?
DETERMINE THE HARDNESS OF YOUR CONCRETE
If you want to polish your concrete, you will need to know its hardness level. A floor that is too hard or too soft cannot be polished properly, as it can damage the polishing pads or make them useless for other types of floors. The floor also needs to be clean before polishing so that no dust gets stuck in the pores during the application and reapplication of sealants. This can cause a buildup over time, which could lead to more frequent applications while also wasting money on materials used to treat those issues because they aren’t repairing anything but rather just coating over them again (which isn’t recommended).
Hardness levels vary widely depending on where you live, the type of cement used during installation and other factors such as the age of the material being worked upon (i.e., older buildings tend toward harder surfaces), but luckily there are ways around this by testing out different methods and tools until finding one that works best!
REPAIR CHIPS, CRACKS AND SPALLS
If your concrete has suffered some damage, don’t despair. You can repair chips, cracks and spalls in as little as 30 minutes using a diamond grinding wheel or disc. Just remember that you need to ensure the surface is completely dry before using any of these methods.
To begin, you should use a diamond grinding stone to grind off any loose material on the damaged area; then move on to using a grinding disc with a diamond backing sheet or pad (depending on whether you have a rotary or random orbital sander).
Once finished, apply two coats of concrete sealer onto the repaired areas and allow them to dry for at least 24 hours before applying another coat.
CLEAN THE CONCRETE FLOOR
If the concrete surface hasn’t been maintained for a while, it may be dirty. This can make the floor look dull and unattractive, as well as make it harder to polish. You should always start by thoroughly cleaning your concrete floor before you begin Floor Polishing Melbourne.
You can choose from a variety of methods to clean your concrete:
Use a stiff bristle brush with soap and water to scrub away any dirt or grime that has accumulated on the surface over time.
Power washing will remove loose debris and grime if used correctly but be careful not to damage any nearby plants or landscaping by getting too close with high-pressure water blasts while removing oil stains or old paint splatters from nearby surfaces. If you are working indoors, use steam cleaners instead of using power washers outdoors, where they could cause damage elsewhere in your yard (or even worse). Steam cleaners work best when they’re combined with soft cloths so you can wipe away stubborn stains such as those left behind by dog urine marks on porcelain tiles but will still leave some scum behind after each pass which needs further treatment before polishing begins again later down this list when we talk about chemical stripping agents like muriatic acid (HCl) mix solutions which should only be used outdoors due to their corrosive nature!
The type of polish you want to use – will it be a sealant, a stain, or a colour coating?
There are three types of floor polishes that you can use on your concrete floors: sealants, stains and colour coatings. Sealants will protect the floor from staining and wear, while stains are good for changing the colour of your concrete floor. Colour coatings are great if you want to completely change the look of your concrete, so it looks like something else entirely (like tile or wood).
Colour coatings are easy to apply but take a long time to dry fully (about 24 hours) because they contain a lot more solids than other types of floor polish. Stains tend to be fast-drying compared with sealants or colour coatings because they’re thinner in consistency and contain less “stuff”.
Hire Pros – The results you hope to achieve
When it comes to hiring pros, the results you hope to achieve are the most important factor. You want your floors to look their best and last as long as possible.
So how do you ensure that when you hire someone for this job, they have the experience, quality of work, safety standards, cost-effectiveness and time management skills needed to get things done right?
If all else fails, there is always word-of-mouth advice between friends or family members who might have had similar experiences with different contractors before deciding which one was best suited for them!
Conclusion
We hope that this article has given you a better understanding of how to polish old concrete and what the process involves. You can have your concrete floors looking like new in no time!