How to Polish Concrete

The process of mechanically polishing concrete is like scratching the surface until the scratch patterns become too fine to see. To effectively polish concrete, it must be hard enough since the harder the concrete, the better it will take a polish. This is why before polishing we recommend sealing concrete with Lithi-Tek 4500. Densifiers like Lithi-Tek 4500 react with calcium hydroxide trapped in the concrete to form additional calcium silicate hydrate, filling the pores and increasing surface hardness. Lithi-Tek 4500 will react with the ingredients in concrete to densify while allowing deep penetration to chemically harden and fortify the substrate. After the chemical reaction occurs, the substrate will be more abrasion resistant and help protect the surface from wear, moisture and efflorescence while remaining breathable. Concrete, left untouched, presents a problem to polishing: The surface is usually not hard enough to polish especially since the surface is usually the softest layer. By applying a chemical densifier to concrete before polishing like Lithi-Tek 4500 this problem is solved.