Austin Polished Concrete Floor
Thanks for visiting our Austin polished concrete floor post. We have done polished concrete floors in the past, and have been very pleased with the wax finish. It has lasted over 10 years in one of our projects. In this case, we wanted to use concrete floors in a remodeled house. This is the first time for us to try this, and it proved to be more difficult that new construction. See last post for the gory details.
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The concrete sealer we used was Stone Tone Wax by Kemiko. It was purchased at The Stain Store in North Austin. It may be bought in oil or water base. We found that the water base material dried too fast, and was hard to work with. The oil base wax allows more time to burnish into the concrete.
How to Wax Your Concrete Floor:
Of course, the floor should be very clean and dry.
Pour a small amount of wax from the gallon bucket into a container, such as a plastic drinking cup, to work from.
Pour about 1/2 cup wax on the floor. If you pour too much wax at once it will not burnish into the concrete quickly, and will leave a sticky residue.
Plan to cover about a 4 x 4 foot area with 1/2 cup wax.
Immediately, run a heavy buffer over the wax slowly to spread it.
Continue buffing for about 5 minutes to build up heat and burnish the wax into the concrete. The wax fills the pores and seals the concrete. Five minutes seems like a long time for a small area, but this is an important step. The wax needs to be completely burnished into the concrete – not left on the surface.
A few years ago, we bought an Edco Floor Maintainer from Lowe’s (used from rental department). It was well worth the $270, since we have used it several times, and don’t have to rent a machine. A stiff brush attachment fits on the bottom. The brush builds up heat as it spins, and burnishes the wax into the concrete. It’s a great concrete sealer that is easy to apply.
The color of the concrete will darken slightly when the wax is put down. Here you can see the color enhancement in the waxed area. We did not add stain or any color to the floor.
This is our waxed concrete floor with no color added. The waxed floor will be slightly glossy and smooth to the touch, similar to a smooth stone. It is a rustic finish with some patches along the edges where carpet nails were pulled. The color is mottled and has a lot of variation. There will be cracks in concrete and they will show up.
But, concrete lives well. It does not hold dust, and is easy to damp mop. The clean, hard surface goes well with modern simplicity and a relaxed lifestyle. In a small house, one simple floor makes everything feel bigger.
Thanks for visiting our Austin polished concrete floor post!
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