Typical cost in Gilbert
Gilbert Polished Concrete polishes garage floors in Gilbert, taking the bare builder slab to a satin or polished finish with no coating on top. The question for an owner is polish or coat, so this page sets out what polishing gives you, what you give up and what the slab itself will show.
We serve Gilbert and the nearby cities of Chandler and Queen Creek. Gilbert’s homes are young, with about 60 percent built in 2000 or later and about 85 percent single-family, so the garage floor in a Gilbert house is recent builder concrete, with the joints and trowel finish that come with it.
Polishing is the garage slab itself, refined. The surface is ground, hardened with a densifier and polished through finer diamonds to a satin or brighter finish. Nothing is applied that can lift, so there is no film to peel, and a guard is an optional extra that depends on the floor.
Epoxy, polyaspartic and urethane floors are films laid over a prepared slab. They belong to another trade and are not work we do. Sellers of both systems make claims that contradict each other, so the better test is what your own garage asks of the floor.
Choosing polish means giving up the chemical and stain resistance a film can give. Where batteries are charged or chemicals are used on a routine basis, a chemical-resistant coating may suit better than bare polished concrete. In exchange there is no film to peel, because the floor stays the concrete itself.
A garage slab was poured and finished to carry cars, not to be looked at. Expect trowel marks, saw-cut control joints, hairline cracks and oil spots. Control joints are planned cracks that guide where the concrete splits and do not stop cracking, and they stay visible on a polished floor, where they are usually filled.
Polishing does not flatten a slab, and it shows flaws more clearly as the shine goes up. Before polishing, the surface is tested for hardness, since ACI 310.1 calls for a Mohs hardness above 4, and a test spot shows how a stain or an old coating responds before the whole floor is committed.
The grind depth sets the look: cream, where mostly cement paste shows, salt-and-pepper, where fine aggregate appears, or deeper. Satin is the matte stage and polished or high polish reflect more light. Garage floors can also take dye. The stained and dyed concrete floors page covers color.
A mockup shows the finish on your slab before the rest is done, since two garages poured by different crews can grind to different looks.
Polished concrete is not chemical containment. Acidic and alkaline spills should be wiped up promptly, and oil and grease can leave the surface slippery.
A glossy surface tells you nothing about grip, and wet or oily patches make polished concrete slick. Put a mat where you step in from the house, and test a floor that will be hosed down or wet. No finish of ours is called slip resistant.
The range at the top of this page is an estimate. The size of the floor, what is on the slab now, the level of shine, the depth of grind, any dye and the cracks and joints to fill all change the price, and a small floor carries setup costs. A two-car and a three-car garage are quoted from the actual slab.
Neither is better in every garage. Polished concrete leaves no film to peel and gives up the chemical and stain resistance of a coating. A coating is a film applied over the slab. Decide first what the floor has to withstand.
Yes, when the surface is sound. Paint or an old coating is ground off first, and a test spot shows how it comes up. Cracks, joints and old patches stay visible.
A three-car builder slab does not always call for the full treatment; grind and seal concrete floors sets out the lighter sealed route, and the Gilbert Polished Concrete home page shows what else we do.
How many cars does the garage hold, and is the slab bare, painted or coated? Say whether you want color, and whether you have noticed oil stains, cracks or old patches. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (888) 835-6411