Floors are a home’s foundation. Without a stable, solid one will cause the building to collapse. Everyone knows this, but not all know what to do when problems occur on the foundation. You call experts to do safety flooring installation, and then the next thing you worry about are cost, your time, and your efforts.
Wish you know what to do? Anyone can add to the flooring structure when issues and flaws begin to surface.
Today’s article is your starter pack for concrete floor resurfacing.
See if you got these recommended Materials and Tools
- Pressure Washer
- Steel Finishing Trowel
- Drill with Paddle Mixer
- Hammer
- Chisel
- Gloves
- Safety Glasses
- Broom
If you think that you can have these items complete in your flooring repair kit, then you are good to go. One of the key factors to make you a good candidate for DIY flooring repairs is the materials.
Certain types of flooring repair would include specialized tools and machines that would not let you do it yourself. So, make sure first thing that you know what type of flooring fix that you need. If you are asking is there concrete resurfacing near me, you are sure to find one in the area. Visit them once you find their location and ask for a quote.
A concrete resurfacing is cost-efficient in that you would not have to worry about how much you need to pay. A perfect example for this is pool deck resurfacing Tampa. You can save up a lot of money in concrete resurfacing rather than going concrete renovation.
A brief look at concrete resurfacing
Resurfacing involves a process where you pour a thin layer of fresh concrete mix into old existing flooring slabs. In this way, you won’t have to spend for extracting the slabs and pay trucks to transport and discard the chunks of concrete away.
Steps and Tools Explained
Here now, to show how resurfacing should be done, the tools and each step they are involved in are described.
1. Pressure washer to prepare the floors
The pressure washer can be heavy to hold, but with the proper posture and care, a non-expert can use it. There are also garden hoses that have a nozzle that releases a pressurized stream.
You can use that to DIY clean and polish the concrete flooring surface. Without this cleaning, the concrete surface may be insufficient, leaving crumbs and tiny debris that can make resurfacing messy and chaotic later.
If you’re interested in having a decorative concrete finish, it’s important to gather the necessary materials. For stamped concrete, you’ll need stamping mats, while acid staining requires a suitable mixture. To explore more options for decorative concrete, I recommend checking out Kansas City Concrete Artisans.
Let’s introduce you further to other essential tools used for this process.
2. Steel Finishing Trowel
The trowel. Remember the name trowel. This is your numero uno weapon for creating a smooth and level concrete surface. No matter how old or cracks an old slab has been, you will always get unmatched results when you resurface using the right tools.
The trowel looks like a shovel. But instead of having a curved shallow dipper, it got a flat made of steel ladle-like piece. This is the secret of all expert resurfacing contractors. The tool gets them close to the surface, and while controlling the fresh mix of concrete, they can see the resulting product.
It is why every stroke of the concrete mix onto the surface is handled with utmost care. Without the trowel, it is impossible to create beautiful floors at every turn. Rely on the trowel, and you will reap the best results.
3. Drill and Paddle Mixer
A drill is a multi-functional tool that can dig holes on reinforcement, on concrete walls, and mixes the concrete compound.
That is another secret and pro tip from the experts. The drill is used to mix the perfect consistency of the overlay compound. A paddle mixer is attached to it, so the debris and small solid compound get their even mix, and using allows the installer to control the thickness of the mixture.
The drill aids in mixing by producing a quick motion that combines all solid ingredients and the thin water, ensuring no hard debris gets left or bubbles to make the paste airy.
Be careful when you DIY mix the concrete—letting air into the concrete paste may return to a bubbling mix and damage the end product- a crumbly, unsettling concrete. You want to avoid that.
4. Hand gears and guns
Next, under this fourth item, you got your gears and guns. Gears for the hands namely gloves a safety gear. Using these protects the hands from the impact when y need to chisel the surface with cracks.
Next are your guns, but not the actual ones. What you need here are a chisel and hammer. This is something primitive compared to real guns, but you need these two to evaluate the concrete if cracks or damages appear on the surface.
These are used when you need to check and see the extent of the creases. It could be that your concrete will need an overlay for resurfacing. The crack filling process may be the best and proper fix if the damage is not that much.
Get the tools and let a professional handle that step if unsure of what you are dealing with. If you can see that you can indeed DIY the process, then do not forget to always put on your safety glasses for complete protection.
5. Broom
Yup, that tool for cleaning! You are right. It’s the broom.
But this one is a finishing broom. Some resurfacing jobs need a quick and dry finish. Running the stell broom on the overlay allows the surface to dry sufficiently.
Or this can also serve as your reminder to complete the entire project with the most important last step. Clean up!
So get a broom to finish your resurfacing and then broom the floors once dried and clean up after the project’s mess. Make sure to discard used containers, wash the tools and store them in proper places.
Voila! There you have it your steps and essential tools to use for resurfacing!