Decorative Treatments for Concrete Floors: A ... - PaintSquare

30Diamond-polished Concrete:A New Spin on an Old TechnologyBy Walter Scarborough, HALL Building Information Group LLCAn example illustrating that diamondpolishing of concrete can achieve analmost mirror-like degree of reflectivity.A 1500-grit abrasive was used forthis floor to accomplish a SheenLevel 4—Very High Gloss Appearance.Image courtesy of CPAAContrary to popular belief, processing of concrete (grinding, honing, andpolishing) is not really new; it’s been around for years, as has as dyeingor staining concrete.Over the last decade, however, diamond-polished concrete—with orwithout color—has become a widely popular finish for floors, and rightfullyso for a variety of reasons. The visual appearance is favored because the materialsused in concrete, sand and aggregate, are materials of nature and can yield awarm, earthtone look. Diamond-polished concrete costs less and is more durable thanmany other floor coverings and finishes, and longtermmaintenance costs are lower.Diamond-polished concrete is a versatile floorfinishoption. It can be selected and specified forvirtually any project—residential, commercial, architectural,or monumental—and it can be performedon new or existing concrete floor slabs.Diamond-polished concrete floors have becomethe floor finish of choice for many large retail storechains.Other benefits include a more abrasion-resistantfloor finish; a floor surface that is more permanentthan floor coverings; reflectivity that canreduce a higher lighting load than might be necessaryfor other floor finishes; and the only floor finishthat can be renewed to its original condition atany time in its service life (unlike floor coveringsthat have to be removed and a new covering installed). In addition, diamond-polishedconcrete is not vulnerable to moisture vapor from the concrete floor slab and underlyingsubgrade, as are vapor-impermeable floor coverings. Polished-concrete finishes areinherently slip resistant (they can achieve the required slip resistance coefficient) becausepolished finishes are smooth and a shoe has more contact surface with the floor. Itis the roughness of a floor, or the minute ridges and valleys in the surface, that contributeto a floor being slippery. Polishing eliminates the ridges and valleys in the concrete.Diamond-polished concrete, by definitionThe Concrete Polishing Association of America (CPAA) defines diamond-polishedconcrete as “the processing of the concrete surface through means of a mechanicalprocess that uses an abrasive medium where each step is refined to its purest possible