Buffing Stained Concrete Floors- WHAT PAD?? WAX???

[bb7]

Hi, I am new at my buffing business and I have a church foyer that has stained concrete that gets about 8,000 people a week walking all over it. I have a UHS Propane Buffer/Burnisher that takes 27" pads. I am putting wax on this space (approx 10,000 sq feet) every other week and then buffing it every other week. I put the wax down and let it set for 24 hours then buff it......my problem is that I have no idea what I am doing wrong as far as I can't get it to shine like I am wanting it to. I think it may be the pad or wax.....what is the Best pad and wax for this type of floor? I was using a pink one that was not doing anything to the floor and then I did a red one and it was scuffing the floor up...as you can see I am totally new to this business so I would appreciate any help anyone could give me that has experience with SC Floors or anything as far as pads and wax....is Hog hair better? I've been just using whatever cheap wax I can find. Thanks to all in advance, I am so glad to be a part of this forum!

Brad

[nomo714]

What I would do is: First strip all wax off, and clean the concrete with concrete soap, using a slow speed buffer with a scrub brush pad. Second thing is to get a pad that has diamond's in it (They about $100 for 17" for two or three). And high speed buff the concrete as needed(just high speed buff bare concrete. You may put on a clear sealer also to last longer between buffing.

Noah
Noah's Cleaning Service

[Grizzly]

Diamond polishing IS NOT AS EASY AS JUST BUYING THE PADS and going to it. Diamond sets start at around 30 grit for metal diamond impregnated pads all the way up to 1500 grit. Chances are , there is a lot of lippage and uneven areas in the floor so if you try to diamond polish it you may run into serious problems, especially if you don't have the proper equipment and experience. AS well, if you are going to wet grind it , it may very well screw up your wet vacuum in picking up the slurry.. I suggest cleaning it as suggested, and put some GOOD FINISH down on it, the use a proper pad to buff it. You need to pick your pad to go with the hardness of your finish. I find Hogs hair a bit too aggressive for the finish I use, I tend to go with a light Jackaroo pad because most of my floors are uneven and the Hogs hair burns the high spots too easy. As far as finish, post that question here as I am from Ontario and haven't tried finishes like Spartan, Pioneer etc..

Bill

[logan5127]

You could try stripping it. It may take some of the stain out as well. You should be using a professional brand floor finish. I use Betco Hybird 25 on vct tile but I use buckeye castle gaurd on concrete. It seems to work better. There are several brands out there. Check with sponsors here or at your closest janitorial supply store. Ask if it is approved to use on concrete. There are specialty finishes and sealers just for concrete as well. Perhaps even check where you got your propane buffer. I use light beige or light aqua blue pads on my propane buffers. A 27 inch is kinda big for this size area. Propane causes a lot more friction and heat then typical electric buffer. You may want to push down on handles to relieve a little of the pressure.
After getting the cheap what ever finish off the concrete then apply at least three coats of your new finish. Let it have a few days of traffic on it before you buff it. I also agree with Bill that before using the diamond pads you should know what you are doing. I have been cleaning floors for over 25 years and still have never tried the diamond method. I will not until I have taken a class and been able to experiment with it a little. I would think also that the diamonds would probably remove a layer of the stain or all of it as well.

[nomo714]

There is a new style of diamond pads that my local janitorial store showed me. They look like black pad, and has diamond chips in it.

noah
noah's cleaning service

[clearshine]

concrete is one of the strongest materials to do flooring in and is becoming more and more popular.
The problem with concrete is people try to treat it like VCT tile.
This is the Major problem.

Their are many aspects to concrete that are not in regular flooring.

1. Is the aggregate ( Little rocks in the concrete ) visible.

2. Is the concrete died ( dry powder over the top liquid over the top or powder put into the mix.)

3. What equipment can you have available for you.

typically concrete wont have much lippage if poured correctly but it is possible, for this problem you will need a big floor grinder and lot of practice on how to blend and make things look as uniformed as possible.

If there is not a lot of lippage you cane get away with a low speed machine with Stone Tech disks that are diamond impregnated.

AS far as not getting the shine you want I think it is because the concrete its self is dull looking.

Polish the concrete and keep it up. You should not put any finish ( wax ) on top of concrete as it wears off to fast.

The only protect ant to concrete I use is a deep penetrating sealer. This does nothing for the shine, That is what polishing is for. But what it does is keep liquid from soaking into the porous concrete.


Practice, Practice, Practice this will make perfect and concrete is the way allot of high end Churches,Office Buildings And grand foyer in high end homes are going.
In todays market any thing you can do to improve some ones home or business is a major +.

Things to look into:

Stone Tech products.

Twister Pads.

I like the 3M aqua pad, and the white supper polish pad.


Good luck And remember life is a learning experience, so learn all that you can.. ;D