Polished concrete is the mechanical process of honing and polishing the surface of an existing concrete slab using concrete floor grinders fitted with industrial diamond abrasives. During this process, the concrete is ground, honed, and polished using finer grits of diamond abrasives until the floor reaches the desired level of shine. With polished concrete, there are four levels of finish.

Level 1 - Soft Matte Finish

A Level 1 polished concrete floor has a matte finish and will appear soft and hazy with minimal clarity or reflection.

Level 2 - Low Sheen Finish

A Level 2 polished concrete floor has a low luster sheen. This is the most popular floor finish for polished concrete. At about a 100 feet distance, you can start to see slight overhead reflection.

Level 3 - Medium Gloss Finish

A Level 3 polished concrete floor has a medium gloss finish. This polish produces a gloss on the floor that will clearly reflect objects. This finish is popular in areas where a glossy finish is desired, i.e. restaurants,retail, etc. At about a 30-50 ft distance, the floor will clearly reflect light.

Level 4 - High Gloss Finish

A Level 4 polished concrete floor has a high gloss finish. This polish produces the highest level of shine, similar to glass with high light reflectivity. The floor almost appears wet from many vantage points.

Equipment and tools for polished concrete floor

The main equipment you'll need to polish concrete is the appropriately named concrete grinder. The primary function of these mechanized devices is to spin grinding tools at high speeds. Concrete grinders come in various types, depending on the project they're needed for. A wide area of concrete, such as a full warehouse floor, will need a large walk-behind floor grinder. Smaller projects such as a concrete countertop can be completed with a hand-held grinder.

Along with the machine, you'll need to buy various interchangeable diamond polishing pads. These polishing pads use diamond particles as an abrasive to grind away the top layers of concrete. They come in various grits and bonds. TransGrind has a wide range of polishing pads with different bonds for polished concrete floor, such as resin floor polishing pads, cooper diamond polishing pads and super MC transitional polishing pads.