Wet vs. Dry Concrete Polishing: Taking a Hybrid Approach

This is an excerpt from the new e-book “Concrete Polishing Today,” part of a series of reports from ConcreteNetwork.com on trends and insights about decorative concrete applications.

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Polishing concrete is a process that can take place wet or dry. Depending on who you talk to and what region of the country you are in, one process seems to rule over the other. Both have their pros and cons, but in the end, they each produce a high-quality polished floor when done properly.

“You see a lot of the old-school terrazzo guys use a wet polish because that is what they are used to,” says Brad Walker, owner of Lone Star Decorative Concrete, Watauga, Texas. The advantages of wet polishing include a reduction in airborne dust and less wear and tear on diamond tooling because of cooler processing temperatures.

On the other side of the fence, those that prefer dry polishing claim that the wet process consumes a lot of water, especially on large jobs, and produces a significant amount of waste slurry that is not always easy to dispose of. “Environmental issues are a growing concern, and disposing of slurry from wet polishing is becoming an issue,” says Walker.

Dry polishing may not consume water, but it does produce a significant amount of airborne contamination -- enough so, that many commercial jobs require dust collection on the job as part of the polishing process. This almost mandates that if you are going to polish dry, you will need to own vacuum equipment. “Vacuum equipment has gotten much better,” says Walker. “Hepa filters and better pull make vacuum equipment that is lasting longer.” One of the reasons some contractors prefer dry over wet polishing systems is the ability to dispose of the waste more easily. The downside to dry polishing is the cost associated with having to own and operate vacuum equipment as well as increased tooling costs, since dry polishing tends to consume diamond pads faster than wet polishing.

Many installers have adopted a hybrid approach to polishing. They prefer one process over the other, but remain flexible and are willing to adapt when the situation warrants. “We wet grind the floor open on a lot of our jobs, then switch over to dry polish for the rest of the job,” says Walker. This strategy of doing what works best in a particular situation seems to be common among polishing contractors who are not married to one process.

If there ever was a place where art and science come together in decorative concrete, the polished concrete industry is it. The process of when, how and what in regard to actually polishing the floor is as much an art form as it is a set of steps to achieve an end result. Each installer follows his own recipe that has evolved from years of trial and error. “Polishing is an art form - the floor will dictate the type of diamonds that need to be used and if a wet or dry polish is required,” says Talbot, Vernon Talbot, managing director of Retro Plate Inc., Provo, Utah.

Related informationPolishing Basics
Wet vs. Dry Polishing

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