8 Easy Steps To Polish Your Concrete Countertop
The lifespan of your concrete countertop is near about 50 years if cared properly, but after a short period of time your concrete countertop looks old and dirty because of many issues like stains and grease residue, in order to get rid of these types of issues you need to polish your concrete countertop, that will give new finish and look to it. Here is the step-by-step polishing process, you just need to follow all the given steps carefully to achieve the better result:
- In order to polish your concrete countertop, you first need to perform cleaning process on it, to do this simply wash your countertop with running water over the surface & then going over it with a sponge to remove any grit that could gouge your concrete countertop as you grind it.
- Next you need to notice any minor flaws or tiny bugholes, if found then make sure to fill these flaws by taking the help of patching slurry prior to polishing your countertop. The slurries can be color matched to your countertop or in a constrasting hue to create veining.
- You can now mix up the slurry yourself using a sequence of fine sand, water, cement & pigment. But for greater accommodation, contemplate buying a ready-to-use prepackaged slurry, which is frequently sold by the suppliers of countertop mixes. Be sure to get a product appropriate with the mix you are using.
- Now, start your work by polishing with the coarsest pad ( 50 grit typically), depending on the desired finish. Polish the entire surface including the edges and make sure to supply a constant stream of water to your surface as you grind. Keep your polisher level as you go ahead.
- After polishing your entire concrete countertop with the help of a 50 grit pad & then change to a 100 grit pad & polish your entire surface again. Repeat this process, working increasingly through all the pads up to the finest 1500 grit pad.
- Now, at this point, a sheen will get start to form, when you polish, repeatedly stop & squeegee your surface to any small bits of debris & check that you have exposed as much collective as desirable. There are no fast & hard rules as to how long to polish with each coarsest pad, this will depend on the hardness of your concrete & the results you want to achieve.
- Next, you need to use your hand held diamond blocks to polish any areas of your countertop that cant't be reached by the electric polisher. The coarsest pads can also be used to smooth the edges of your countertop. Like the pads for the electric polisher, hand-held pads have more fluctuation in grit going from 120 up to 1500.
- Allow your concrete countertop to fully dry & then apply a suitable food-safe concrete countertop sealer to avoid staining.