Choosing diamond concrete pad for concrete grinding and polishing.

Today Smart Hire will be outlining the process of how to choose between diamond concrete grinding pads. Arguable of the biggest and most important questions when deciding on grind a concrete floor is which diamond pads to use, they come in a variety of shapes, each with different compositions designed for different uses.

The first is the black compound, titled “VA” this is a ‘hard bond’ composition used for the grinding of soft and rain effected concretes, as well as for the grinding and removal of abrasives surfaces, hardened glues, and mortar.
Second is the silver or grey compound, titled “M”, this is a medium bond compound that is designed to be used on medium strength concrete and a type of concrete called terrazzo, which has a composition of marble chips, quartz, granite, glass, and other binding materials.
Thirdly there is the white compound titled “H”, which is a diamond compound designed for hard concrete, such as the composition that you would find on most building sites, home slabs and large structure concrete pores. This compound is mostly seen as a “general purpose” and is a good catch-all for most jobs.
Fourth is the silver and gold compounds of “VH” which stands for very hard concrete. This is mostly reserved for concrete with long curing times, that have a high megapascal rating and are used for large complex structured.

Once deciding on the composition type, you are ready to choose your diamond blade shape. There are four main types of shape, that work in a similar system as to sandpaper, starting with a rough “low grit” pad for removing volume quickly and moving to fine “high grit” pad for finishing and smoothing.
The first diamond pad shape is the 16 grit arrow segment. This arrow segment is specifically designed for aggressive grinding to remove volume, as well as the removal of paint, adhesives and epoxy coatings. It will leave scratch marks are great for other concrete coatings to adhere to, or which can be smoothed over by one of the following pads.
B. Second is the 30 grit rectangular segment. This is similarly for aggressive grinding and is most commonly used for a first pass, in order to reach your desired level of aggregate exposure.
C. The third out of the concrete pad shapes are the 60 grit oval segment. This segment shape is designed to be used as a “second cut”, simply removing and smoothing over any heavy scratches from the first pass.
D. Finally, the fourth shape is the 120 grit circular “button” segment. This rounded concrete diamond pad has the finest of all the previous grits and is used for a “third cut”, removing all the previous scratches from the former passes and leaving your concrete surface very fine smooth.

Additionally, the one other diamond pad shape is the PCD scraper, with PCD standing for Polycrystalline diamond, meaning that it has been hardened into a crystalline structure for high tensile strength. This is the most aggressive of all the pads and is used specifically for ridding heavily coated floors of epoxy, waterproofing and thick layers of glues.

Now you are all ready to start your grinding and bringing your concrete floor to its full potential.

All equipment shown can be hired in-store at multiple locations.

Please contact us at:

For general hire- https://www.carnegierental.com.au

For concrete care- https://smarthireconcretecare.com.au

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The team at Carnegie Smart Hire pride ourselves on personal service and on our knowledge of the equipment we hire.