Can you polish a garage floor? Really?
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Kristin Topping on Nov 11, 2015Polished concrete is a great alternative but not for every application. For a residential garage, which will have a normal drive in and out daily type of activity or in a working type garage where the person will be wrenching as a hobby, polished concrete is not ideal.It will need to be re buffed to bring the shine back up and it will still absorb caustic chemicals, such as oil.A better option would be to have an epoxy-polyurethane or polyaspartic sealed floor.
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Dj on Aug 20, 2017
I polished my garage floor. First cleaned and etched the floor with phosphoric acid and removed paint drops with a stripper. This step wasn't really necessary as the 80 (two), 100, 200, 800, 1500, 3000 diamond grit polyester pads I used really would have removed any dirt or paint on the floors. Then I rented a polisher and bought the pads. It took about two days (5-6 hours per day) to wet polish the floors and clean/mop between pads. I didnt bother with grinding or filling, deciding to keep it simple. After 3000 grit, I used a lithium densifier with acrylic and a high speed burnisher and heat pad. Looking back, the final polish was a bit much, I like the shiny honed finish of 800 grit best. It was less glassy and had more depth. Ce la vie. The result is very nice. The undulations of the troweling shows like rays on the floor. I didnt bother to fill pitting and kept it natural. Tire marks from synthetic rubber tires does show where the cars are parked. Given my laundry is in the garage, it is a much better, cleaner look. I am glad I didnt go with epoxy. I do have to go back someday and finish the edges. The large polishing tools cant go all the way to the wall... another project, another day.
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