How to Polish Counter Top Concrete

If you want to finish any project successfully, you should know how to grind and to polish the concrete, especially on the countertops.

Concrete is the mixture of water, sand, rock aggregate and cement.  Cement on its own is brittle, and when the sand and the rocks are added, the matrix will be formed in order to strengthen this mix. Cement works as glue, and it does fill small space found in the sand and aggregate. This is to make the concrete even stronger compared to using the cement alone. Since the rock in the concrete mixes had been quarried, in the local area, then the rocks used will be different depending on the place where you are.

speed concrete polisher

When casting the concrete, the cement paste which is used, it forms the uniform layer at the surface at the area, and it produces a piece which is of the solid color with some minor variations. This is known as the cast finish. Cement layer may be removed using light polishing, and it will start to expose fine sand within the mix, and this is known as the light polish. A deeper polishing is used in order to expose the rock aggregate and to produce the ground finish. There is a little material which requires to be removed and then to be exposed to the aggregate in order to achieve the ground finish.  

 After polishing concrete, you will have many options of finishes that you can try out.  The polishing can be accomplished by the use of different speed concrete polisher and the set of the diamond sanding discs. The polisher has to be water fed, and it is attached to the normal garden spout. Water helps in cooling down the pads that are being used, and it keeps the dust down.

Safety information

Polishing of the concrete tops is not that dangerous, but the electricity and water cannot be mixed. When the polisher has no Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, you have to be extra careful, and you can avoid the electrocution.  You should also wear the rubber gloves so that you may insulate yourself.  You should wear the particle mask whenever you are doing the dry grinding.

Cast finish, ground finish, and Cast Finish: by using a single piece of the concrete, you will have a different range of the finishes. They will depend on how deep you polish.
Uniform Finish: a concrete finish does have the uniform color since it is being a cast. There is the thin layer of a cement paste which forms within the surface of a form work.

Light polish:  when you start polishing a surface, there is a thin layer of cement which is removed while the fine sand aggregate will be exposed

The ground finishes: when you polish even deeper in the concrete, you are able to expose a large aggregate within the concrete mix.  

For polishing concrete, you will need to use a variable speed wet polisher which is the versatile tool especially if you want decorative concrete work.