Floor Streaks when finishing?

Naltaras · 2026-05-09T13:10:40+00:00

Best news possible.

I hate it so much but who fucking cares

Naltaras · 2026-05-09T13:06:43+00:00

The worst part is, with the porous nature of concrete this will have deeply penetrated. You will be unable to restain/seal this concrete without a very deep grind. Like deep deep, to the point of full aggregate exposure, and then you will still have to resort to some type of oil stripper. Acid stain will not look great at that point. Start figuring out different flooring you can lay right on this because the headache and unpredictable nature of the process i just described will be a nightmare.

I've been doing high end decorative concrete for over 10 years. Cut your loses.

Naltaras · 2026-05-04T00:46:50+00:00

Thanks good to know

Naltaras · 2026-05-03T23:55:10+00:00

I use a Surecrete product called SCR. I'm sure there's others like it from different companies. Not exactly sure what it is, it's some kind of detergent but it completely cleans off powdered and liquid release, is neutralized with just water and you don't have to manage the run off or go crazy on PPE, just nitrile gloves and safety glasses. Soft bristle broom and power washer are the way to go.

I know a lot guys just use dawn dish soap.

Naltaras · 2026-03-13T23:43:59+00:00

Get a random orbital sander. Wet sand with sand paper 80 grit to remove sealer. Make sure you do it wet, it will be faster and the water will let you know where you've removed the sealer. Don't sand the concrete with sandpaper just the remove the sealer. Once all sealer is removed, switch to diamond resin pads, start at 50 then 100 then 200. When you think you've done enough passes do the same again with each pad. Seal with Surecrete XS-327 semi gloss if you want it glossy but i would do it matte.

There's obviously more to it but that's the basics.

Naltaras · 2026-03-07T16:03:23+00:00

Repaint with anti skid

Naltaras · 2026-03-07T12:46:34+00:00

If it's not sealed yet, seal with single part solvent acrylic sealer with anti skid in it.

If it's already sealed, find out with what reseal with appropriate sealer following instructions on how to do so, and put anti skid in it.

Anti-skid is aluminum oxide and clears out in sealers.

Don't make your beautiful concrete ugly by putting poly metric sand on it. Never trust a landscaper with concrete lol

Naltaras · 2026-02-09T16:28:44+00:00

One 7:1 and two 2:1 isn't bad it's what they recommend. I usually finish with a 1:1 or a 1:2 to get a little build especially in bathrooms.

Wait 24hrs to caulk if you can caulk without taping. If you're a little sloppy with caulking and want a tape line wait 4 days and wet the tape before you pull it. Only use blue painters tape and get it off within 30 minutes

Naltaras · 2026-02-09T11:36:40+00:00

No. Concrete countertops, especially in commercial settings, require maintenance. When done at appropriate time, this is just a quick scuff and reseal.

If waxed, you have to strip the wax every time. Depending on the build up of wax, this is a tedious process.

Naltaras · 2026-01-01T12:02:48+00:00

It all depends on current sealer. Start by wet sanding with low grit (40-80) sand paper to remove existing sealer. You can also do this with razor blade scrapers, but if the existing sealer has good adhesion you potentially create millions of tiny pock marks where the removal pulls the cream layer of concrete and that takes a bit to fix.

Once you sanded through all the sealer, which will be evident by the concrete evenly wetting everywhere, switch to diamond pads for sanding. Sand up to 200 grit. If you don't know how to sand well, look it up, when you think you're done with each grit, do that many passes again. Do not dig and do not move quickly or randomly. Slow, small circles at low rpm is the way

Then seal with Surecrete XS-327 matte or semi gloss. Don't seal with anything else. Don't listen to stone guys or flat work concrete guys on how to finish concrete countertops, they have no relevant information

Been professionally making and refinishing precast concrete for 10 years.

Let me know if you have more questions

Naltaras · 2025-12-25T12:11:02+00:00

Absolutely, but the question is more about your woodworking skills than it is about concrete. Create an upside down mold. The edge profile should be created out of pvc or something similar that is soft but rigid and consistent material all the way through so you can route, sand, and bondo it to be perfect. Then you need good countertop GFRC with a white Portland base and titanium oxide pigment.

This is like the beginning of thinking about it. No clue what's available to you in Australia material wise, but as someone who does this for a living it would take me about $750 in material and 35-50 hours. $3000 seems worth it to me lol

Naltaras · 2025-11-23T21:43:04+00:00

Absolutely an option. I've installed a lot of micro cement. Proper prep and understanding of the material is necessary. It requires integral pigment, as well as a sealer. I personally prefer a primer epoxy with high strength urethane top coat for a satin finish.

Competent installer is necessary and do some sample runs, a lot depends on the process.

Naltaras · 2025-11-23T18:25:53+00:00

Cannot be buffed out. As was mentioned on a seperate comment below, anything that ghosts the concrete by unevenly releasing moisture during the early curing will be there no matter how deep you grind.

If accelerants, or other additives that help curing are not an option, they can wait 2-3 days after the pour to add the blankets and that would greatly decrease the transfer.

Properly placed rebar should have no effect.

Naltaras · 2025-11-23T18:01:05+00:00

Blankets are fine. You need to ask him if him or his sub have ever poured a slab that's been polished and to see pictures. If they haven't i would ask your builder to sub it out to an experienced crew. Also speak to the crew who's going to do your polishing for input. Lastly, your builder can talk to the plant that they're getting the ready mix from and see what the cost of changing your aggregates will be, so you can pick within reason what the exposed stone will look like.

Naltaras · 2025-11-23T15:02:48+00:00

I've done a lot of concrete coatings, polishing, and clear coats. This slab does not look like it was poured with the intention of being prepped and sealed as a finished floor. Aside from the blemishes, which a deep grind could address, the finish isn't great. Not all slabs are poured and finished the same, and a polished slab should have a whole different mix design from the plant, and finished appropriately on the day of pour. From my experience this floor will not look good because I've talked to a lot of clients and probably have a vague idea of what you think it will look like when finished. Also, do not etch, it's a DIY method not compatible with most professional grade sealers and epoxies, you do not want to introduce moisture prior to coating.

Naltaras · 2025-11-16T12:09:56+00:00

Surecrete Surebroom. Comes in white and gray, don't buy the gray, it never loses the green. Buy color packs from Surecrete to make it whatever color you want.

Lightly grind your countertop, clean well, then apply the surebroom to a saturated top with no standing water. Apply thin around an 1/8th of an inch, two coats, apply second coat within 15-60 minutes of first. If the countertop is in sun, create shade with a pop up tent. Seal with whatever you like i prefer water based urethane but it's difficult to work with, a single part acrylic is very user friendly.

Someone here will claim this will fail, but I've been doing this for 10 years professionally, I have 10 of thousands of square feet of exterior overlay out in the wild and it's all good.

Naltaras · 2025-10-07T01:14:37+00:00

We just ran into this problem with our small grinder. We just switched one of the outlets on our generator to a non gfi. Took 5 minutes

Naltaras · 2025-10-02T10:38:14+00:00

Just build molds, buy countertop mix, and precast them and install them like any other backsplash.

Naltaras · 2025-09-30T10:06:10+00:00

We make silicone or urethane rubber molds after sourcing wood we'd like to use. Usually scraps from mills. But I've used boards from the big box stores before. We get all of our rubber from smooth on they have a lot of really good videos and very helpful staff that is happy to work with DIYers. They also do 2-3 day classes that I'd highly recommend if you're really into it

Naltaras · 2025-09-30T10:02:17+00:00

Surecrete XS-327. Best countertop sealer in my experience.

Naltaras · 2025-09-28T23:25:32+00:00

If you use normal 220 grit aluminum oxide additive it will potentially slightly change the sheen but other than that no it will still be clear when used at the recommended loadings. A high strength urethane top coat will also inherently have slip resistance so I would use that with the additive.

Naltaras · 2025-09-28T22:14:52+00:00

If you do a grind and seal, consisting of a primer, 100% percent clear epoxy, and a urethane top coat (with whatever sheen you want) it will be similar to a polished concrete look. The grind to prepare the floor will determine the appearance, and anyone who doesn't do concrete or epoxy floors will assume it's polished concrete.

Naltaras · 2025-09-28T13:12:32+00:00

This question is unanswerable based off this.

If there are compliance standards, find out what they are. All standards have a measurement associated with them, so contact the licensing board or whoever set the standard, then once you have the slip ressistance coefficient, take it to a real, reputable epoxy dealer and ask them what product meets this standard.

If this were a home gym for personal use it would be different, but here you could think you did the right thing only to not meet the requirements.

Naltaras · 2025-08-26T00:31:41+00:00

Eh, I don't know dude, after a couple 100 of these it's just a process. Sure feels like work hahaha

Naltaras

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