Glossary of Terms
Aggregate: Rock and other composites mixed into cement to provide strength to the concrete. (Larger rock settles in bottom, while fine rock stays toward the top).
Aggregate Exposure: The process of grinding down into the floor to expose cream (little to no aggregate), small aggregate, or large aggregate.
Burnishing: Polishing by friction: enhances the smoothness or shininess of a surface using a revolving motion at high speeds.
Coatings: Any type of topical, chemical or products used as a finish on the surface of a concrete floor (such as epoxy, paint, or tile).
Crazing: a development of fine cracks along the surface of concrete, most often caused by shrinkage of the surface layer. Often resembles fine veins in the surface.
Cream: The surface of concrete which contains no noticeable aggregate.
Delamination: The separation of the bonded cap of the concrete, often caused by pockets of air under the cap of the concrete.
Densify: the process of chemically solidifying and adding mass to the concrete to improve strength and abrasion resistance
Grinding Machine (or Grinder): A tool used in conjunction with diamond metal-bond or resin-bond pads to remove the top layer of a concrete surface, using progressively finer and finer grits, until a flat, highly reflective surface results.
Kaleidoscoping: As a result of the mechanical polish resin diamonds, small swirl patterns may appear in the surface of the polished floor. These swirls are often very slight, and fade quickly with normal foot traffic
Mechanical Polishing: A system of grinding & polishing that utilizes industrial diamonds impregnating hardeners to level, densify, polish finally seal the floor from within the interior of the floor surface.
Wet Polish: A mechanical polishing process which extends the life of diamond tooling by using water to cool them, however, creates a slurry which much be disposed of.
Dry Polish: A popular mechanical polishing process that doesn’t use any water such that it does not create a slurry. This process creates airborne dust particulates that must be captured with a vacuum system, which will contain 99.6% of airborne dust.
Overlaying: a process of troweling or pouring new concrete over existing concrete to resurface damaged areas.
Polished Concrete: a process which enhances the natural beauty of existing concrete by hardening and polishing the concrete to create a glassy finish. There are two primary methods to creating this shine: Topical or Mechanical.
Shotblasting: A process which blows dense material balls, mainly of steel, against a concrete floor to remove any surface coatings and results in a profiled surface.
Scarifying: A grinding process which aggressively removes coatings from the surface of a concrete floor.
Topical Polishing (chemical): A process of accruing densifyers and sealers that are applied to the surface of the concrete. Once they soak in, they will react with the concrete, creating a hardened, less porous surface.
