Polished Concrete Floors Burlington

Step 1, Survey slab condition, flatness, hardness, coatings, contaminants, repairs, joints, edges, desired exposure, sheen, and protection.

Step 2, Create a representative mockup and agree grinding depth, grout, densifier, colour, polish sequence, and acceptance.

Step 3, Remove coatings and complete repairs, then grind in progressive passes with controlled dust or slurry collection.

Step 4, Grout pores, densify at the specified stage, refine the scratch pattern, polish edges and field, and apply approved guard.

Step 5, Measure and inspect exposure, gloss or profile, repairs, joints, transitions, and protection before other trades return.

Polished concrete develops through multiple mechanical steps. Harrowgate controls the initial cut, repair sequence, densifier timing, grit progression, edge blend, cleaning between passes, and final guard so the slab is refined consistently without hiding its natural variation.

Mock-up and exposure cut. We establish a representative test area with the proposed metal-bond tooling and grinding depth. The mock-up shows aggregate exposure, patch contrast, edge appearance, gloss, and stain response. It also reveals hard and soft zones that affect production rates. Owner and consultant approval sets the visual benchmark before full work begins.

Initial diamond grinding. Planetary grinders with coarse metal-bond diamonds remove coatings or surface paste and flatten local ridges. Tool selection follows concrete hardness. Passes are overlapped systematically and edges are cut with smaller machines. For cream finishes, aggressive grinding is minimized because exposing aggregate cannot be reversed.

Repairs and joint work. After the first cut reveals defects, we fill pinholes, pop-outs, and selected dormant cracks with colour-compatible materials. Spalls receive bonded repairs finished flush. Construction joints may receive semi-rigid filler after the slab has undergone appropriate shrinkage, while expansion and isolation joints retain flexible movement details.

Densifier application. Lithium or sodium silicate is applied at the selected stage and allowed to penetrate. It reacts with available calcium compounds in the concrete to form a denser, less dusty surface matrix. Excess material is removed before it dries as residue. Densifier improves the concrete but does not fill structural cracks or create waterproofing.

Honing and polishing progression. We move through progressively finer resin-bond diamonds, cleaning the floor between each grit so coarse particles do not scratch later passes. A common sequence may progress from 80 or 100 grit through 200, 400, 800, and 1500 grit, with the endpoint selected for the specified sheen and maintenance plan.

Guard, burnish, and protect. A penetrating or microfilm stain guard is applied where the specification requires improved resistance to oils and spills. High-speed burnishing develops the intended finish. Completed areas are protected from construction traffic, paint, adhesive, rusting steel, and acidic liquids because early staining can become difficult to remove from a refined surface.

Final review compares the work with the approved mock-up under representative lighting. We inspect edge blend, coarse scratches, joint filler, residue, aggregate consistency within the slab's natural limits, and overall sheen. Handover includes neutral-cleaner and scrubbing guidance because acidic cleaners and abrasive pads can dull or etch the finished concrete.