After grinding and smoothing a concrete or stone surface, adding an epoxy or urethane can create a crisp, glossy look to those surfaces. However, urethane and some epoxy coatings can highlight every flaw in your surface, especially if your concrete wasn’t prepared properly. You may not see the blemishes at first, but after two or three days of curing time, they become unsightly and unmissable.
That’s why we want to walk you through how to get a flawless topcoat finish in our guide, as well as provide you with a video below so you can see what these steps look like.
Grinding and Polishing a Concrete Surface
Before you put apply a topcoat, you want your surface to be as smooth as possible. Otherwise, every rough spot, bump, and blemished will be clearly visible. This means it’s important to use the right concrete tooling.
Using a very fine diamond pad, where the pad itself feels smooth and there are no chips raised on the surface, is ideal to get the surface you need.
Using your grinder, you’ll want to make several passes over the surface with the fine diamond tool.
Making Sure Your Surface is Clean
After you have finished grinding and polishing the surface with your diamonds, you need to make sure all dust and grit is removed. Just like any rough spots in the concrete, any grit or dust left over will prevent a proper bond and ruin the look of your floors.
We use the Contec Premira Disposable Microfiber Mop Pads to remove dust effectively. The polyester blend microfiber traps the fine particles and dust in the fibers. You’ll want to go over the area several times, changing out your mop pad to make sure you’re getting all the dust out of any pores.
After several passes with a dry dust mop, you’ll want to use a good solvent to swab the entire surface, cleaning out the fine dust. We use denatured alcohol to do this by spraying a clean Contec Premira mop pad, then go over the surface two to three times.
Applying the Urethane Topcoat to Concrete
Once your concrete is clean and dry of the denatured alcohol, you can prepare for applying the topcoat. First you’ll want a clean rolling tray that is free of dust, dirt, or residue from previous use and a new roller. When you take the roller out of the package, you’ll want to remove any loose lint from it, as that will also affect the bond and finished result.
After lightly loading the roller with fresh urethane or epoxy, run the roller over clean cardboard to remove any lint. Then, it’s time to reload the roller and begin applying the urethane in accordance to the manufacturer’s directions. By following these guidelines, you’ll have a smooth, clean surface to work on!
Contact Us for Your Surface Preparation Supplies
For a flawless finish on your concrete floors, we have the supplies you need! Contact our product experts today at (815) 472-9749 or by filling out our contact form.