From industrial facilities and manufacturing hubs to residential buildings and high-end corporate headquarters all over the world, floors made from concrete, especially polished concrete, are becoming the preferred choice for contractors and their customers. In addition to reducing maintenance costs, concrete floors are durable, long lasting, reflect light beautifully and can give the appearance of unique stonework.

Before a floor can be transformed however, the hard work of preparing an old floor for a new application must be taken care of. Not only to clean and sanitize, but to remove all built-up residues or coatings, which, if left on the surface, will impede any successful concrete polishing job. Depending upon the type of residue, the hardness of the concrete, the desired finish and the square footage of the area, grinding removes almost any coating, epoxy, glue or mastic. Between the actual grinding machine and the concrete is the diamond tooling, the real workhorse of any equipment package. Understanding how to determine the appropriate type of diamond tooling relative to the substrate you are working on, as well as the desired end result, is crucial.

CONCRETE HARDNESS

Knowing whether the substrate you are working on is soft, medium or hard concrete determines the correct diamond bond to use, which dramatically increases productivity. You can determine concrete hardness by conducting a Mohs Hardness Test, which ranks the hardness of all minerals on a scale of 1 to 10 from softest to hardest. Concrete falls between 4 and 8 on the Mohs scale.

SURFACE PREP SELECTIONS

Diamabrush Mastic Removal Tool

• Removes mastic, carpet or tile adhesive, thin-set and thin coatings like urethane or paint
• Uses rigid, exposed diamond coated blades to grind stubborn coatings from concrete, creating a level floor with normal use
• Retains sharp cutting points over the life of the tool
• Designed to fit a wide variety rotary flooring machines
• Low profile design enables tool to travel over gaps in the concrete
• Simply apply water to eliminate dust and to flush debris away
• Money saving replaceable blades

Husqvarna Pirhana PCDs

• Rids concrete of hard-to-remove coatings, adhesives and screeds
• Specially formulated grade of Pirahna PCD diamond scraper inserts ensure maximum wear and productivity
• For use on the PG machinery range in conjunction with the Redi Lock system
• Single or double quarter-round PCD with protective diamond strip
• Redi Lock PCD Tools can be re-tipped once worn out

HTC Metal-Bond T-Rex Series

• Removes coatings as opposed to grinding them, including thick coatings such as paint, epoxy, varnish, acrylic, glue and screed residue
• Finer scratch pattern
• Leaves a good profile for laying down a new floor covering
• HTC EZ Change Tools for T-Rex EZchange Gold
• Allows the user to choose the correct grinding pressure needed

TRENDS IN DIAMOND TOOLING

One of the hottest trends in diamond tooling today is the use of transitional diamonds or hybrid diamond tooling, which combines the deep cutting and grinding action of metal tooling with the softer polishing action of resin tooling, making the progression from grinding to polishing easier and faster. Modern contractors are also testing the use of diamond-impregnated pads, which are easier to use and tend to last longer than traditional diamond tooling.