Concrete Polishing

Five projects that featured products from the Scofield line, a brand of Sika Corp., were honored in the 11th annual Decorative Concrete Awards competition. First-place winners and runners-up were announced during the 2019 World of Concrete in Las Vegas.

Texas-based VLK Architects is no stranger to being recognized for its outstanding accomplishments when it comes to designing public schools such as the monumental and expressive Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center.

Recently an architect who was writing the polished concrete specification for a school district contacted me when he recognized that he did not know enough. The good news is that he asked for help in crafting an informative and realistic specification that allows educated bids with room for profit.

The ins and outs of floor grinders on the market today.

I went through this transition as a polishing contractor, so I thought that I would give you a few helpful tips and things to think about before you embark on this journey.

In terms of decorative options, existing concrete slabs are limited to topical color systems. In many cases these coloration processes are subject to fading and wear and are sensitive in high-moisture environments. You’ll find more versatility in 3/8-inch concrete overlays. Not only do you have a choice of UV-stable integral colors, but you can also choose from several types of aggregates.

At Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, speed alone isn’t the magnet that draws stock-car racing fans to the track’s major racing events.

Densifying concrete can improve color as well as performance. These innovative materials will help you firm up your surface.

We're good, but we're not perfect. Once we start thinking that we know everything, or that polished concrete is right for every situation, then we are in trouble. In this economy, we cannot afford a single misstep. Now is the time to focus on running a business correctly, and that includes being aboveboard and ethical in dealings with our customers and vendors.

Being successful in business, as in life, is knowing when to be right, and when to allow the other person their thoughts and views, especially when the “other” person is a potential or existing customer.

The biggest issue contractors confronted during J.C. Penney Co.’s Wave 2 of renovations in August concerned the whiteness of the Izod shops’ burnished floors.

From department stores to convenience stores, decorative concrete is turning up in retail spaces across the country.

Thin coatings that can be polished work wonders on new and old floors, but applying them requires knowledge and skill.

In our industry we are often asked: What’s the gloss on the floor? Or, did you hit the gloss readings that are in the specification?

When Concord Aviation Property LLC wanted a polished aggregate surface for president Jack Roush’s private hangar at the Concord Regional Airport in Concord, N.C., they ultimately called upon the services of Eric Wayne Inc., a full- service commercial and residential concrete contractor with offices located in Davidson, N.C.

What is ground and polished concrete? How do we determine the difference between a topical-polished floor, in which a product has been applied to the floor to seal it, and a mechanical polish with bonded abrasives?

When broker-auctioneer Jason Langley purchased the nearly 90-year-old Fayette Theatre in Washington Court House, a small town in Ohio located between Cincinnati and Columbus, improving the local landmark’s 3,000-square-foot concrete floor was a top priority.

Is it best to polish concrete wet or dry? This is a question that will have to be asked before each job. The condition of the concrete floor, the environment it occupies, the desired look of the finished product, and other expectations and preferences will all play a role in this decision.

We all wish that we could tell our customers, “Screw you! I did the work. Pay me!” I know that in my career I have gotten just about every excuse in the book as to why I wasn’t getting paid for my work. By its very nature, the decorative concrete industry that we love so much allows customers to play with our money.

When you are asked how well you understand dyes, are you confident? Maybe you shouldn’t be. Unless you or your customers have art or design backgrounds, or you have been burned on a project, you are probably naïve.

From huge industrial manufacturing plants and nationwide retail stores to restaurants and residences across the country, polished concrete has become a very popular flooring option over the last decade.

A look at the various grinders on the market and their benefits for you and your decorative concrete polishing business.

There are new profit opportunities in polished concrete for the decorative concrete contractor. This is a fact, and every decorative concrete contractor should look into polished concrete. However, nothing ever caused more people to go broke than too much optimism and too little planning.