Polished Concrete Problems

[thinktankgroup]

We recently had concrete floors polished in a commercial warehouse/manufacturing building in Michigan and are trying to figure out why the finish looks dull, smudged, and film-covered in some areas.

BACKGROUND:
- The concrete slab is approximately 55 years old
- The concrete slab is approximately 15"
- The building was used as a haunted house, with relatively low year-round foot traffic, for the last 10 years
- The entire interior (walls and ceiling) was dustless sandblasted and power washed prior to floor polishing
- The floor was polished to a 400 grit shine

At first, the floors looked great when they were done polishing, cleaning, and buffing. Within a week though, there are countless spots that look covered in a film or look hazy or smudged. Autoscrubbing does nothing to remove the marks.

There are photos attached. If you look closely, you can see the areas that are hazy/filmy/dirty. Those areas were washed and buffed minutes before the photos were taken.

Does anyone of any advice or insights on what might be causing this? If so, what advice do you have to fix it?

Thanks!

 

[Ernesto]

Was there a sealer applied? Could be a moisture problem, or sealer wasn't mixed or applied properly.
I fixed one that kept powdering awhile ago. I put a wood floor over it.

 

[thinktankgroup]

Yes, aqua shield penetrating sealer was applied. And I'm not sure that what we're dealing with is powdering, at least I as understand what powdering is. There isn't a powdery substance, or anything like that. Just marks/hazing/smudging that doesn't come up easily and then returns once it is cleaned and buffed.

 

[Ernesto]

I'd be kinda worried about the power washing prior to the application of a water based sealer. What do the instructions say about that? How long did they let it dry out and was any HVAC going?

 

[thinktankgroup]

The instructions say to wash the floor and let it dry "thoroughly." The power washing was finished about 2 weeks before we started polishing. Other than running fans and having doors open, there was no HVAC running.

 

[Nick]

What is the name of all the products used ?

 

[thinktankgroup]

L&M Lion Hard densifier was used and then Ameripolish AquaShield sealer.

 

[Nick]

You can contact Lion Hard. They have a live chat , or number you can call them

https://laticrete.com/solution-cent...FtBONtC63jTF-i_Rjd5q0Yh8zNR87XizgihoCC03w_wcB

Didn't see any sealer on the other site , only a primer ..

Expliane the issue with them . The tech department should be able to solve the issue .
Post back and let us know how you make out ..