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Length - 06:02

Award-winning concrete countertop and kitchen designer Fu-Tung Cheng discusses the tools used to make concrete counters. An important tool used to finish the countertop surface is a wet-polisher or hand polishing machine. This is a tool that is used to grind down and polish the surface of the concrete to expose the aggregate, glass, stones, and inlays that are in the countertop.

There are a variety of pads used with this type of polisher that range from a 50-grit polishing pad (the coarsest pad) all the way up to a 1500-grit pad. The pads are attached to the polisher with a hook-and-loop system that allows for quick release when changing grits. The center of the polisher Cheng uses has a hole in it. This hole is the central water feed for the tool. The water keeps the countertop and polishing pad cool during this process.

After polishing the entire concrete countertop with a 50-grit pad, change the pad to a 100-grit pad and polish the entire surface of the countertop again. Repeat this process using the 200-grit pad, the 400-grit pad, the 800-grit pad and finally the 1600-grit pad. When polishing with the 1500-grit pad a sheen will begin to form. This is the almost shiny-looking finish you want. Remember, all this polishing is done before you apply a sealer or wax.

Notice, on each of the pads there is a tread pattern. This acts to spread the water out over the entire surface of the pad during the polishing process. The water feed simply connects to a standard hose.

From a safety standpoint make sure any wet-polisher that is used has a GFI (ground fault interrupter) shutoff. This feature should be built into the tool and will prevent electric shock. This works by automatically shutting off any power to the tool if there is a short in the system.

When polishing along an edge consider using a skirt. The skirt will simply attached to the polishing head and will prevent materials from spraying onto the ceiling. This is especially important for cast-in-place countertops where polishing is done in a customer's home.

When shopping for or renting a concrete polisher it is vital that it have several key features. One, it should be variable speed. The RPM (revolutions per minute) should be somewhere between 500 RPM and 3000 RPM. Be sure that a concrete grinder is not used. Concrete grinders are a completely different tool that should not be used for polishing countertops or with polishing pads. They will burn up the pads and can often cause harm to the countertop or the person grinding the countertop.

Second, look for a wet-polisher that has an on and off switch that will lock in the on position. It's helpful not to have to hold the on switch during the laborious polishing process.

There are several types of concrete polishing pads that can be used on concrete countertops—the hook and loop pads, and the quick release hard back pads. The hard back pads are more ridgid and provide a flatter finish on the countertop. In the polishing surface of these pads, the diamonds in the polishing surface are suspended in a part metal, part resin bonding agent. This allows for the diamonds to wear away faster, keeping the polishing surface of the pad much harder.