Polished Concrete Floors
Ground and densified into the slab, not laid on top of it. Nothing to peel, no recoating cycle, and the floor you end up with is the one that was already there.
What polished concrete actually is
Polished concrete is a grinding and polishing process, not a coating. Diamond tooling cuts the surface of the existing slab in successive passes, each finer than the last, while a densifier hardens the concrete from within and a sealer closes the surface.
The grit sequence decides the finish. A gloss floor needs a minimum of 400 grit. From there you can keep going to 800, 1500 or 3000, and the higher you go the more the floor reflects. Satin and mirror are the same process stopped at different points, which is why you choose the gloss level rather than accepting whatever the material gives you.
Grinding at finer grits also levels the slab slightly, taking out small grooves and surface damage as it goes.
When polished concrete is the right call, and when it is not
It is the right call when the slab underneath is sound. If the concrete is in reasonable condition, polishing turns what is already there into the finished floor. No new material, no repour, nothing sitting on top waiting to lift.
It is the wrong call in three situations
The slab is too damaged or too patched
Where a floor has been cut, patched and re-patched, polishing exposes every one of those repairs rather than hiding them. A micro-topping or self-levelling overlay gives you a new surface to polish instead.
There is old tile on the floor
Tile adhesive leaves a permanent ghost pattern in the slab. Grinding does not remove it, and a gloss finish makes it more visible, not less. The only options are a coating or an overlay. Any contractor who tells you they can grind it out is going to hand you a floor with a grid pattern in it.
The floor is under 500 square feet indoors
Below that the setup, containment and tooling costs do not spread across enough area to make the job worth doing. Garages are the exception at 400 square feet, because the work is simpler and the access is easier.
Moisture is not on this list. It used to be. Vapour transmission was once the thing that decided between polishing and coating, but the products have moved on. Modern epoxy moisture barriers hold far more hydrostatic pressure than they used to, and there are products built specifically to manage vapour under a coating. Moisture is something we test for and design around, not something that rules out an option.
The process
- Assessment. We look at what is on the slab, what is under it, and what the concrete itself is like. Slab condition drives the price far more than square footage does.
- Grinding. Diamond tooling in successive passes. This is where the condition of the slab shows, and it is the stage that decides whether the finish holds.
- Repair. Cracks, spalls and control joints get filled and ground flat before the surface is opened up. Doing it in the wrong order means the repairs read as patches in the finished floor.
- Densifying. A chemical hardener goes into the surface and reacts with the concrete, hardening it from within rather than sitting on it.
- Polishing. The grit sequence up to the gloss you picked.
- Sealing. Protects the surface and brings up the final lustre.
Dust
Two processes, and which one we use depends on the building.
Dry polishing
Runs HEPA filtration vacuums and an air scrubber system. That removes 99.9% of airborne particles as the work goes on and prevents dust leaks through 98% of the job. You get the space back as soon as the floor is done.
Wet polishing
Contains particle dust at 99%. The slurry it creates is removed and disposed of at a waste management facility, per OSHA regulations.
This matters if you are staying open while we work. It is the reason we can run a floor in an operating building without shutting it down.
Commercial
Before, during and after on a commercial polish.
Residential
The same process in a house.
Colour, logos and inlays
Polished concrete takes stain, and stain is where the floor stops looking like a warehouse and starts looking deliberate.
Stains fall into three types. Colour stains give a natural, mineral look and suit residential work. Dyes are vibrant and hold a flat, layered colour. Water-based stains carry the widest range of shades. Because the colour goes into the slab during the process, it does not peel, flake or wear off the way a surface coating does.
Colour is worth choosing on purpose rather than by preference:
- Restaurants take warm, shaded combinations. Yellows, reds and greens. They work with food and with low light.
- Retail takes white and pale tones, which make a space read as larger and more open.
- Garages and warehouses take greys, blacks and blues, often with red. They hide tyre marks and traffic.
Stencils cut for concrete let us set a logo, a name or a medallion into the floor. On the Hollywood restaurant job the logo went in separately in green and gold and was polished flat into the surrounding floor, so it sits in the slab rather than on it.
What it costs
Commercial polished concrete runs $3 to $12 per square foot. Residential runs $6 to $12.
Where a job lands in that range depends on what is already down and what is wrong underneath it, not on how many feet there are. A clean slab at the low end and a patched, coated, cut-up slab at the high end can be the same building.
The quote comes after we have seen the floor. Slab condition is not something anyone can price over the phone.
Projects that used it
- Polished Concrete Floor, Hollywood Restaurant. Logo inlay in green and gold, worked 3am to 8am around a trading restaurant.
- Polished Concrete Floor, Los Angeles Commercial Office
- Polished Concrete Floor, Carson Commercial Office
Common questions
How much does polished concrete cost in Los Angeles?
Commercial runs $3 to $12 per square foot and residential runs $6 to $12. Slab condition drives the number more than square footage does. A clean slab sits at the low end. A patched, coated or cut-up slab sits at the high end.
Can you polish a slab that has tile adhesive on it?
We can grind the adhesive off, but tile leaves a permanent ghost pattern in the concrete. Grinding does not remove it and a gloss finish makes it more visible. If the ghosting matters to you, the answer is a coating or an overlay, not a polish.
How long does it take?
It depends on the condition of the existing floor and the finish you want, not on square footage. We polished 1,500 square feet in fourteen days working 3am to 8am around a trading restaurant, and 12,000 square feet in ten days in an empty warehouse. Same crew. The floor and the target decide the schedule.
Can you work while we stay open?
Yes. Dry polishing with HEPA extraction and an air scrubber removes 99.9% of airborne particles, and we phase the floor so the building keeps running. On the Hollywood restaurant we worked 3am to 8am and handed the space back ready for service every morning.
What gloss level should I choose?
Gloss is set by where we stop in the grit sequence. 400 grit gives a satin finish, 800 and above gets progressively more reflective, and 3000 is a mirror. Higher gloss shows more of the aggregate and more of any imperfection in the slab.
Does polished concrete need resealing?
Whenever it needs it, which depends entirely on traffic. A high-traffic supermarket floor needs daily maintenance and sealer reapplied often. A residential living room can go ten years before it wants a sealer. There is no fixed schedule to budget for, which is the difference between this and a coating that has to be stripped and redone.
Is polished concrete slippery?
Dry, it has good traction. Wet is the honest answer: it depends on the finish and the sealer. Independent testing puts polished concrete across a wide wet slip-resistance range, some of it above the ANSI A326.3 minimum of 0.42 and some of it below. Where water is expected we specify a penetrating sealer or an anti-slip additive and set the gloss accordingly.
Book a site visit
We measure, check the slab for moisture and damage, and look at whatever is down now. You get straight answers on the spot. The written quote follows within two business days.