If you want to transform the look of your residential or commercial concrete floors, dyeing the concrete and polishing it to a high-gloss finish creates a sophisticated, attractive look that’s also easy to care for. For this project to be successful, it has to be done the right way, and you don’t want to skip steps or take shortcuts.
To learn how to remove old grout and dye a concrete floor, watch the video below to see our professional team do it, then read the steps for additional information.
Removing Concrete Grout
Before you consider dyeing concrete, you have to make sure you’re working on clean, open concrete. This means the first step is to remove any old grout or dirt deposits with a floor grinder. In the video, you’ll see that we were looking for a lighter profile, just to get the existing grout off, so did a wet grind and used concrete tooling with 100 grit first, then followed it with 200 grit.
To clean up, we used a wet vac to get the slurry, but you can also use a slurry solidifier that soaks up water and makes it easy to dispose of.
Adding Densifier to Your Concrete
The next step is to make the slab stronger so it will last longer and be more resistant to cracks, chips, and other damage. This is why we use a concrete densifier – it reacts with the calcium silicate hydrate in the concrete, filling the pores and spaces, and increases the surface area by up to 40 percent. This step is easy to do and is a cost effective way to improve the quality of your concrete. We use two coats for the best results.
Fine Grinding Concrete
With a hard, clean surface, you’ll see in the video we grind the concrete again. This time, we do another wet grind with a resin bond 200 and 400 grit concrete tooling to start honing the slab to a sheen. We follow this with the wet vac to clean the surface, and follow it with an 800 grit diamond.
Dyeing Concrete the Right Way
Before dyeing the concrete, we want it to be clean, and free of any dust and debris. We use a disposable microfiber dust mop head to get all the dust off the floor, and you can also use a cleaning agent to mop the floor first.
Next, we mix up our Ameripolish Dye and Colorsolve concrete dye, spraying it evenly on our concrete and rubbing it in and creating an even coat with a fresh microfiber mop pad. After applying two coats, we hand scrub the floor. It’s an intensive task, especially in larger spaces, but it is important to the end result. Then, we wet vac the water off the floor and let it dry.
Polishing the Concrete to a High Gloss Shine
Because our goal is to get a mirror-like shine on this concrete, we get the floor grinder back out and, using 1800 grit resin-bond diamonds, do a dry grind. We follow that with a 3500 grit resin-bond diamond for a highly polished, reflective surface. The end result is a high degree of shine that looks amazing and can last for a long period of time!
Contact Us for Your Floor Polishing Equipment
If you want to transform the look of a concrete floor, we have the equipment and tools to help you do it the right way! From high-powered floor grinders to concrete dyes and mop pads, we have a huge selection of inventory to choose from, all from the must trusted brands in the industry. To learn more about our brands and find out what options are right for you, contact our team at (815)472-7944 or fill out our contact form!