At Rockerz Inc, we strive to stay ahead of industry trends, new techniques, and emerging technologies – especially when it comes to your concrete floors and our approach to your project. Our focus on fine craftsmanship is one of the key reasons for our continued success year over year. And like most businesses, we’ve adopted a repeatable process, especially since we self-perform all of our work. This is what sets Rockerz, Inc. apart from our competition. We invite you to view a short explainer video about polished concrete flooring here – or read through the key elements of our process below.
Want to know about the history of polishing concrete and check out how we tour the nation with our polished concrete process? Watch the video then book your gig now!
Polished Concrete Background
Polishing has a rich history in the natural evolution of marble and granite stone surfaces. The process was first noticed in Europe. Upon close inspection, it was easy to see that much of the natural stone in places of worship and other historical buildings displayed a semi-gloss shine due to the normal “wear and tear” over years of constant foot traffic. And so, the idea of polished concrete was born and brought to the United States in the late 1990’s.
Three Mechanical Processes
Today, modern polished concrete involves three basic mechanical processes:
Coarse Grind:
Imperfections removed with coarse tooling.
Honing Steps:
Coarse scratch patterns are then removed.
Fine Tooling Polish:
Mechanical surface is made smooth and luminous.
Densifiers
Successful concrete polishing requires a scratch resistant surface to ensure the longevity of the polish. To achieve this, products known as densifiers are added to the surface to reharden it. The active molecule is silicate, which reacts to free lime molecules within the Portland cement.
What Is Concrete?
Modern concrete is comprised of three different parts, including Portland cement, aggregate stone, and water. This mix produces concrete that can be poured, pumped and placed for flooring use. It is then screeded for consistent height, bull floated to pull the cement to the surface for a smoother finish, and then hand or machine troweled for final surface finishing. It will then be left to cure. The curing process involves hydration, in which the lime molecules of the Portland cement react to the water molecules, creating a hard surface.
Cut Patterns
We use planetary machines on the concrete slabs to profile the surface to prep it for polish or coatings. When the grinder is turned on, the drum will rotate one direction, while the planetary head will counter rotate. Combining this with the forward movement of the machine, we create a cut pattern on the surface much like a round repeating “spirographic pattern” laid on top of each other, millimeters apart.
When looking down these cut patterns, they look like fine lines, or shallow grooves, cut into the surface. Now imagine you can view this closely. The view would seem like mountain peaks in front of mountain peaks — for as far as you can see.
Tooling Cuts
So now that we’ve explained how the machine profiles the floor, we can move on to what happens with the sequential tooling cuts that follow. This process is like cutting off the top of a funnel, a slice at a time. This process allows for the removal of past sealers, glues and underlayment, while at the same time mechanically reducing the surface porosity.
Densification
The reaction of this process is a bonding of the silicate to the lime molecules, resulting in a re-hardening of the surface of the concrete. Depending on the age of the concrete, the scope of work, and customer specifications, the surface may require more than one application of the densifier. The project is then ready for fine grinding with resin or ceramic-bonded tools.
Final Polishing
Fine grinding leads to polishing steps with a lower grip polish, followed by up to four or more steps of higher sequence tooling, depending on the customer’s needs. The process is now complete. If the customer requests it, an acrylic guard product can be applied to further protect the floor from acidic or alkaline spills that could stain the concrete if it were not protected.
Our process is the cornerstone of the relationship between our clients and our company. This process also extends to the contractual relationship we have with our clients. Here are the steps we take to ensure your project is on time and on budget, outlining all of the steps in the installation process, start to finish. Our hope is that all of our clients continue to use Rockerz Inc. for all of their future projects, so your satisfaction is our ultimate goal.
Pre-Installation (Free Consultations)
- Request for Proposal
- Surface Testing
- Project Review
- Site Survey
- Estimate
- Schedule Timeline
- Project Management
Installation
- Project Management
- Safety
- Material Procurement Tracking
- Quality Control
- Daily Progress Reports
Post Installation
- Punchlist
- Maintenance Review
- GC Turnover
- Senior Management Follow Up
- Future Projects
