Polished concrete is becoming more popular in a wide variety of applications. It is often seen in retail and institutional environments for a clean, hygienic look and the ease of maintenance under high-traffic conditions. By choosing to leave the concrete exposed as a finish also eliminates the material and energy consumption associated with adding a floorcovering.

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.

4500 Concrete Sealer Bottle

Lithi-Tek 4500

Lithium-Based Densifier

Published Tuesday 26th of March 2024 // Updated Monday 26th of April 2021

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