Polished Concrete Floor Finished

 

As usual we were a bit too optimistic in regards to the ease of finishing the floor. We thought we were in the home run with just some edges and the densifier/sealer to do. Until we put the sealer on the first dome. We walked in the next day...

The directions on the product we were using were open to some serious interpretation. As fate and the lack of any experience would have it, our interpretation was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! We made the mistake of taking their recommendation of one gallon covers between 200-250 sqft to be our guide. Yeah....that is where the major fatal flaw happened. It was way too much! We assumed it would soak in and that is why the amount was so high. Yep...not at all. We did the kids dome first and I was worried when there was so much on the surface. The directions told us we should remove excess or it creates a white film on the surface when dry. There was a uniform puddle over the whole dome floor. It may have soaked in a little....but not in any noticeable amount. We were supposed to wait between 30-60 min for the product to get a chance to fully react with the calcium in the concrete. It densifies the concrete making it harder and creates a surface gel that seals the top and gives it a sheen. The directions say you can add a "little water" to help remove any gelled puddles that are still left but the excess can just be pushed onto the next area to be sealed by either a squeegee or mop. This is where it all went wrong again! Our whole floor was a puddle of the stuff and we still weren't sure if it was supposed to be like this or not. We first tried to push the excess off with the mop like the directions said. It seemed like it was working at first but it takes time to do the whole area. In that time it gelled significantly. The mop was no longer effective in pushing anything. We should have just dumped a bunch of water on it but we were worried that would ruin it. The directions clearly stated "a little water". Turns out you need a coating of water over the whole surface to stop the gel from getting out of control before you can remove it and a mop is not sufficient to push the excess once it has started to gel.

Our result was an perfect example of how it can all go wrong. A white gritty film covered the whole surface with mop marks and footprints. The next day we were so horrified at the result that we immediately started cleaning it off and forgot to take pictures. We were scrambling, as if doing it faster would somehow make it better. It was definitely a "WHAT HAVE WE DONE" moment. 

The directions told us that the only way to remove the film is to continue to use the grinder and "sand it off". This ended up not being totally true. We were able to get much of it off with just water, scrubbing with a broom and then wet vacuuming up the water. Not enough to totally fix it but at least it no longer was a complete disaster. We stopped franticly trying to fix the mess and decided that we needed to see what other people had to say about applying the stuff. Clearly the info from the company was not helping us!

After hunting around online for advice (and buying a squeegee) we had a new and improved plan. Our new method could work within the printed product directions...if you were a little generous and not into following things to the letter. Next up was the kitchen and a test for our whole new application method. 

Kitchen floor after the densifier application

Click HERE to watch a 30 sec. time lapse of the new and approved application method.

Click HERE to watch a 10 min. update with details on our floor project and how we applied it

Great room with wet densifier/sealer

Great room after the densifier/sealer has dried

Thankfully the new method worked although the result was not what we expected. The densifier/sealer didn't create the sheen that we were expecting based on what the original instructions said. No real surprise since the instructions left a lot to be desired. The directions did say you could continue to polish after application for more of a shine. We still needed to fix the first area with the grinder anyway. What's one more rental besides signing ourselves up for a full weekend of walking in circles and another $300. We gotten the worst of the mess off with just scrubbing but there were still streaks and footprints to deal with. We bought 1500 grit resin polishing pads, rented the grinder for a weekend and buffed each area. True to the instructions on the label (FINALLY) this did create a nice sheen. It also fixed our messed up area. Thankfully that part of the instructions was correct!

Finished floor after buffing

Click HERE to watch a final video showing the finished floor and a sneak peek at our back door.

All in all, we spent about $1 sqft for a finished floor. The work wasn't difficult but the down side was the huge amount of time needed. It was a very long process (a whole month of work and 2 weeks of 10 hour days using the grinder). We haven't decided if we are truly done yet. We may still choose to top seal them at a later date but will make that decision after we get further along in the interior. 

For those that are interested in our step by step method putting down the Euco Diamond Hard. It is at least a 2 person job. Watch our videos for more info. The links are above or you can find them on the YouTube Dometastic channel

1. Clean surface so no dust, dirt etc is left
2. With a low pressure garden sprayer LIGHTLY coat concrete with Euco Diamond Hard so it just barely makes the surface wet. Add more to areas that soak in to keep it wet.
3. Work product around with clean push broom to get it into the pores of concrete continuously while the other person is spraying. Do not allow an area to dry and keep a wet edge.
4. Keep walking around with the broom and sprayer to fix areas that are soaking in (keep them wet) for a minimum of 30 min for all areas (up to 60 min). Product will get slippery and start to gel.
5. After at least 30 min work a small amount of water (we dumped small amounts from a bucket) with the push broom lightly into the surface. Do not scrub. This will prevent the gel from getting to the point where you can't remove it by keeping it wet.
6. Using a squeegee scrape water/gel making sure to squeegee the whole surface. We used a wet vac to suck up the puddles created by the squeegee but you could push it off the surface. Just make sure not to push it onto another surface to be sealed unless you plan to immediately do that section without it drying. It will leave marks.
7. After removing the excess use a microfiber mop to "dry" the surface and remove any marks from the squeegee or foot prints. Walk yourself off the floor erasing traces. It will not dry it totally but it will smooth it out.
8. Let it fully dry.

It is important to note that you should not get the product on any other concrete you do not plan to seal at that time. Make sure not to get it on your shoes and walk on an untreated area. You will create foot prints that will show up even if you plan to treat that area later. We applied this when the air temp was 55 degrees F and the concrete surface was 45 degrees F. I suspect that warmer temps would make it dry much faster and more product (and water) would be needed.