Dale's concrete floor resurfacing job.

Feb 10, 2015 17:40:25

I've had a very busy three days sanding down this concrete floor. It was very bumpy and covered with goo in the beginning. The floor had been covered in carpet that was glued down. There were many spots where the concrete had been patched in the past.

The owner had considered putting down new carpet or putting some sort of interlocking flooring. The option chosen was only slightly more expensive and it will last longer than he will.

Feb 10, 2015 17:52:32

This Husqvarna floor planer has diamond impregnated disks on the bottom. It's a very heavy and powerful machine.

I made a few alterations to the machine to make it more functional. The cord comes out behind the machine, in a manner that allows it to be walked on or run over when you're backing up. I threaded the cord through the body of the machine and taped it to the left handle, pointing away, so that it would now run along the side when I make trips back-and-forth. The front bumper was quite scratchy so I covered it in thick, slippery tape.

When a bump is encountered on the floor, the machine tends to grab hard and it can throw the operator. My friend who is older and skinnier than me, tried to use the machine, but he was thrown around like a rag doll.

I'm glad he tried it early on because in the one minute of use, he put four bad gouges in the floor. They were sanded out and there is no evidence of them now.

Feb 10, 2015 17:59:47

My friend choose to not replace the carpet, primarily because he wanted to get away from the from formaldehyde and other VOCs that are given off by plastic type materials.

It's a lawyers office, so people won't be standing on the hard concrete very much. He plans to throw down a few rugs and there is plenty of nice cushiony seating.

In order to get a finer finish, I ran the machine over a layer of fine dust at the end of the grinding process.

A smooth floor like this is very easy to vacuum or sweep.

Feb 10, 2015 18:08:59

Areas that were ground down further, show more larger stone.

When the first coat finish goes down, the concrete absorbs it at different rates, and it appears quite blotchy. As the material dries,it becomes much more uniform looking.

Feb 11, 2015 22:36:09

Almost done. First coat dry.

The last photo shows the fourth coat of finish that was just applied

Feb 12, 2015 12:19:43

It's all done now. The office will be put back together later today.

The portion to the left, in the fourth photo, was much higher originally. When it was ground down, this exposed the larger rock below.

My friend wasn't concerned with having an absolutely new looking floor. He realized he's working with 100 year old concrete.

Although it was a hard slog, this method of finishing a concrete floor, uses far less resources than any other method that I know of. We used one gallon of water soluble finish and we used so little of the diamond disc that they didn't charge for it.

Two days after the grinding process, I still had sore pectoral and abdominal muscles.

Fini

Feb 19, 2015 19:28:48

I've been interested in doing this myself, and am so glad I ran across this site. Thank you for sharing.

Mar 02, 2015 12:16:02

Ana Deau wrote:I've been interested in doing this myself, and am so glad I ran across this site. Thank you for sharing.

Contact me if you have any questions. I protected my lungs with a top-quality asbestos grade mask. Ear protection is also necessary especially when using the smaller edge grinder.

Apr 09, 2015 06:29:08

It's half covered in rugs and furnishings now.

The sidewalk leading to this office, has been cracked and heaved by a big eucalyptus tree. I ground all of the humps and then used a power washer to clear many years build up of moss and lichens.

May 15, 2015 22:46:22

Hello Dale,
The concrete floor looks great! What did you yse to seal it with?

Jun 09, 2015 21:09:10

J. Jost wrote:Hello Dale,
The concrete floor looks great! What did you yse to seal it with?

It's a water based sealer. I don't recall the name, but I think the word "diamond" was part of it. I'll check.

Sep 15, 2015 13:36:25

The material is called Diamond Sheen. It's a water-based finish that comes in 4 litre and one litre sizes.

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