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Maintenance Matters: Debunking the Myths about Polished Concrete

A D+D Online Feature published May 11 2012

by Gary Henry
	Despite plenty of information to the contrary in the marketplace, two wrong ideas about polished concrete floors persist, first, that polished concrete floors don’t need regular maintenance cleaning; and second, that if you do clean your polished concrete floors, any old cleaner will do.... (Login to read the full article)

Comment from chad zogleman, (5/14/2012, 10:43 AM)

great article Gary. You talked about 2 things; 1. the realization that polished concrete needs cleaning (daily care) 2. using the proper cleaner. I would like to add a third item. too often a list of 'rules' and some cleaner is dropped off after completion of the floor. The maintenance staff, or maintenance contractor has no buy in to the rules or soap that was left behind. It's all down hill from there. Maintenance contractors need to be a good 'steward to the floor' or everything on the front end doesn't matter that much.

Comment from Sudhir Ananthachar, (5/14/2012, 10:56 AM)

Are there any resources for do it yourself (DIY) for polished concrete finishes. Like a training or video or something like that

Comment from Jason Griffasi, (5/14/2012, 12:20 PM)

Gary - Excellent article. Great info. Sudhir - The International Concrete Polishing & Staining Conference (ICPSC) is a 4 day event focused 100% on polished concrete. Beginner thru Advanced classes. You can find more info on the site - www.icpsc365.com Hope this helps.

Comment from terry holliday, (5/19/2012, 3:42 PM)

There are Free Training Courses Offered from Terrco, Levtec, or Scanmaskin For DIY Concrete Polishing. Your DIY project will Need to be Worth About $30,000-$60,000 of Investment for the Equipment You Have to Purchase for the Training.

Comment from David Burgess, (5/23/2012, 3:12 PM)

Gary, great article as usual. I agree with your comment and that of Chad. Having been invloved with polished concrete since 2006 I have watched the industry grow rapidly in Canada and can speak with some authority. Indeed, its all about maintenance after the polisher completes the project! However you can't manage what you don't measure. For this reason janitorial contractors now have the ablity to partner with polishers or sell independently a QA value proposition program specific to Polished Concrete installations. (new slab or retro-fits). This proprietary QA program can be tailored to end user needs or facility requirements with parameters to measure abrasion, gloss level etc. More important, it has online capablities to link janitorial or polishing contractors to "their" PC quality assurance program with their logo. This type of QA system is pro-active rather than re-active in that it creates accountability for stewardship. Furthermore it can assign a numeric value (score card) for multi-site or retail store chains. QA survey results can be posted online for key partners to monitor on going maintenance results or lack there of. This type of stewardship program is long overdue in my opinion and desperately needed in the industry.

Comment from Jim Cuviello, (5/31/2012, 9:44 AM)

Maintenance starts with how the polishing process was performed.

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