[badtz]

Greetings

My place has concrete floors, but before I moved in, the manager had filled in old rail tracks with concrete [that run along the width of the open space].

PROBLEM :

The strip of concrete [about 3 inches wide, and runs about 30-35 feet across my place] is a little rough .....

How can I buff this out so it's as smooth as the rest of the floor?

Also, the concrete color is off-white, while the rest of the floor is is medium gray [typical concrete color], how could I make the color more closely (i don't expect it to match perfectly) resemble the rest of the flooring?


IDEAL SOLUTION:

The strip to semi-resemble the color of the concrete floor, and for it to be smooth.


Any help would be SUPER appreciated

[f1000]

I have no experience with this product, but I saw it on some home remodeling show.

http://www.rustoleum.com/Product.asp...L=1&dds=27

[mitchell_pgh]

I've always wondered how some businesses get perfectly polished concrete floors and I think it's a chemical that they put on the floors (like paint) that's clear and then you polish with a buffer.

[Sherwin]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I've always wondered how some businesses get perfectly polished concrete floors and I think it's a chemical that they put on the floors (like paint) that's clear and then you polish with a buffer.

Yep. Concrete "sealer" - like a varnish for concrete. Did it recently at my old man's warehouse.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by Sherwin:
Yep. Concrete "sealer" - like a varnish for concrete. Did it recently at my old man's warehouse.

How did it turn out and how expensive was it? I hear that it's VERY slippery when wet, but it looks amazing in an office environment (IMHO) when combined with vivid colors.

[Sherwin]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
How did it turn out and how expensive was it? I hear that it's VERY slippery when wet, but it looks amazing in an office environment (IMHO) when combined with vivid colors.

OK, we mainly did it for utility purposes rather than to make the place look nice, so no buffing involved. The concrete (about 2 years old) was pretty dusty, so the sealant was mainly to stop the dust.

Now it just looks like concrete under a clear sealant (we could have got coloured, but clear was cheapest) - almost like the effect around an Apple monitor. It'd look sweet coloured and buffed, for sure. Prolly sweeter if we'd have gone coloured then clear.

If I remember rightly it was about 500 quid for some guy to come one afternoon and do it (warehouse is about 2,000 sq. foot).

I wasn't there at the time (I don't work there - I'm just the occasional freebie computer/accounts consultant) so I have no idea what it was like when wet.

[dcolton]

There is a lot to it if you want to do it right. Check out the site below and PM me if you have any ?'s.

http://www.hillyard.com/FAQ/DisplayAnswer.asp?id=76

[badtz]

Am I able to use a sander to get the roughness out from the strip of concrete?


Am I able to find some special type of paint for the concrete [and the clear paint?] at home depot?

[euchomai]

This will sound crazy, but recently my wife and I decided to experiment on one of our rooms in the house.

Get some colored wood stain and then apply on the floor, we did a circular pattern. Then we varnished the top with regular floor sealer. It really looks killer, we did it with the deep burgundy color stain and it looks as good as any place selling concrete stain and sealer.

The good news was I did it for under $10 and only used half the amount I bought!

As far as the rough part, I used a tool like a putty knife, with a straight edge and gently scraped away all the seriously rough parts. Then I used a flat mop with a brillo-head attachment to scrub it all down. I did this before I stained of course.

[Kilbey]

Originally posted by euchomai:
This will sound crazy, but recently my wife and I decided to experiment on one of our rooms in the house.

Get some colored wood stain and then apply on the floor, we did a circular pattern. Then we varnished the top with regular floor sealer. It really looks killer, we did it with the deep burgundy color stain and it looks as good as any place selling concrete stain and sealer.

The good news was I did it for under $10 and only used half the amount I bought!

As far as the rough part, I used a tool like a putty knife, with a straight edge and gently scraped away all the seriously rough parts. Then I used a flat mop with a brillo-head attachment to scrub it all down. I did this before I stained of course.

Pictures please!

[Mastrap]

Polished concrete rocks. It is seriously dusty work but the results look fantastic. There is the equivalent to a wood sander out there but I have never used one and would suggest to leave it to the professionals.

My kitchen has a floor that is basically pebbles set into concrete, then sanded down to a smooth surface.

[Timo]

Probably easier would be to skim coat the whole thing with a new layer, before a sealer. That is, if the saddles into the room are high enough.