Question: My new shop floor is fairly smooth but not smooth enough to seal. I don't need a high shine, just smooth enough to seal so when I spill oil or grease on the floor, I can clean it up. I am thinking 400 or 800 grit will be my endpoint. There are 2100 square feet to smooth out. What do you recommend I buy? I will rent a 175rpm floor buffer for a 17-inch pad.

Answer: Generally, smooth means the overall texture of the floor. Many times interior floors are "troweled tight" or "burned in" with a machine called a power trowel. This machine looks like a fan and helps finishers achieve a finish. If the finish is very smooth, doesn't have a physical profile and has a sheen just from the finish, it is a great candidate to enhance by polishing the concrete floor. Our Level 1 Concrete Polishing System is a great candidate for these types of floors. After looking at the pictures sent, it appears this floor could be hand finished and has a profile (picture with the key). This doesn't mean its a "bad floor". However, you would need to do a little correction if you're wanting to protect your floor by polishing and densifying the concrete.

I would recommend in this case starting with our 30 grit or 50 grit DNA Satellite pad and working your way up...which is essentially our Level 2 system.

If you run our SNA pads under a low-speed buffer or propane burnisher, you'll get anywhere from 1k sqft to 4k sqft per pad depending on the texture of the floor. Usually, your first pad gets consumed quicker.