Polished Concrete Transitions and Joint Filling

From Bob Harris' video tip of the week

Bob Harris shows how to create a smooth transition from a finished polished floor area to an unfinished area. First he shows a unique polished floor colored with a water-based dye. Rather than mask and hide the existing cracks in the floor, Harris explains how he filled them with a metallic copper joint filler to give them some added character which looks nice against the dyed and exposed aggregate floor. Then Harris explains how he creates a transition when polishing to get a smooth, uninterrupted look between a finished section of the floor and an unfinished section. His first tip is to polish at least 24 inches over the contraction joint which gives you enough working room to transition the floor polish to the same grit. Then he explains that you want to fill the joints of the floor. Here he used a two-component self-leveling colored polyurea material. He places the material in the joint, lets it sit for 30 minutes, then shaves it off flush. The he starts the coarse grinding. Following this technique helps preserve the joints and reduces chipping. During the coarse grinding, Harris shows how the grinding has dislodged some angular shaped sand particles in the floor which has caused pop-outs. The pop-outs detract from the overall finished floor, so he recommends filling in those as well.

See more of Bob Harris's tips on YouTube.

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