Quick tips on polishing self leveling overlays

Self-leveling overlays that can be polished have been there for about seven or eight years but they have gained traction in the residential and retail market in the last three years. Below is a proven system of concrete polishing for polishing selfleveling overlays.

The cream

This is the first step and in this step you just have to ensure that you get the cream from the top surface. This is because the highest concrete of polymers is normally in the top layer. When using resin bonded diamond tools in concrete polishing you will get a discoloration or a burning toward the end of the process because of the plastic to plastic contact that creates excessive heat. By being aggressive on the first step you remove the polymer layer and then get down to the body of the material which gives you more uniform and monolithic look.

This step is also necessary if you need to expose the aggregates which are either seeded while it is wet or are in the mix. If there are aggregates in the mix then it is necessary to begin with a 40-grit metal bond. In most cases it will be enough if you start with an 80-grit aggregate when seeding the aggregates or if you are simply removing the skin for floors without aggregates.

It is normally necessary to make a double pass with your grit. It is also imperative that you don’t leave the metal bond stage until all the low spits and the skin have been removed. The bond of the metal tools you need needs to get harder as soon as you start grinding after the overlay. The longer you will wait the harder the overlays get.

The hybrids

After the 80 grit metal bond step is complete, it is advised you use a hybrid type tool of 100 grit or a transitional one so as to make the jump from the metal to resin bond tools. The tool can be ceramic, copper or diamonds coated in a metal bond and then placed into resin bond. This works to remove the metal bond scratches and prepare the floor for resin bond stages in concrete polishing.

You can do this step with a single pass in a direction opposite to the direction you took with the previous metal bond step. You need to be prepared to do a double pass if you don’t remove all deep metal bond scratches with single pass.

polishing self leveling overlays

The honing stage

You can use the 200-grit fenix pads so as to make the jump from hybrid to the resin steps so as to remove scratches from the hybrid type tools. We have special types that are specifically made for overlay polishing. You need to ask your tooling supplier for more details about your pads. There are pads ranging from the 40 grit to 3000 grit. You may experience burring and discoloration of the polymers if you try and use the standard resin tooling that are designed for concrete polishing.