Professional floor grinding techniques are increasingly employed when building industrial flooring. This process involves heavy duty floor grinder with advanced diamond technology and floor chemicals for the floor hardening process and final impregnators for a long term protection. These floors are of a high quality and ideally suitable for production areas, warehouses or exhibition rooms.

They are more cost-effective and represent an economical and environmentally friendly alternative when compared to industrial coatings like Epoxy coatings. They are used in the food and non-food sectors, retail and industry, due to the ease with which they can be cleaned and cared for, their attractive appearance and their durability.

Depending on the floor conditions and floor structure, special concrete hardeners are used like Schwamborn Betonhart or Schwamborn SBP-30 lithium silicate between individual grinding operations. This ensures that the floor is more resistant to wear and improves the density of its structure and the maintenance as well.

It is difficult to determine in advance how many grinding operations will be needed to achieve a particular result, due to the different industrial floors and ambient conditions involved. Only a test surface can help to achieve more exact details of the result and costs.

Special features and quality of industrial flooring:

• A high degree of resistance to wear and a long service life
• Non-slip and noise reducing properties
• Liquid and oil repellent, thanks to protective impregnation
• It contributes to a company's image and hygiene and facilitates maintenance cleaning

Working steps for the creation of superior-quality industrial flooring

1st step

This exposes the structure of the floor. A salt & pepper structure or a more intensive working out of the floor structure is desired, depending on the situation. Depending on the requirements and floor conditions the first pass is made with a 20 or 40 grit metal bond diamond. Approx. 2-3 mm are removed on average from the surface of the concrete (i.e. approx. 0.5 mm in each grinding operation).

2nd step

Following the first operation, a second grinding operation with grain size 80/100 is usually employed to remove coarse traces of the first operation. Alternatively, a grinding operation is employed with Schwamborn Superflex tools to remove coarse grinding traces, depending on the surface roughness and scratch marks.

3rd step

Depending on the condition and porosity of the floor, silicification with silicates such as Schwamborn Betonhart is realised prior to polishing to consolidate the floor structure.

4th step

The floor will need to be filled if the porous structure is too great to achieve a perfect surface at a later stage. The Schwamborn STR 581 single disc machine with speed control and a jointing disc is particularly suitable for this purpose.

5th step

Following silicification, a further one or two grinding operations with grain size 200 or 400 resin bond diamonds can be realised to polish the floor, depending on the floor structure and specific requirements.

6th step - impregnation and maintenance

For a long term floor protection Schwamborn SBR 400 silane is applied in combination with the STR 581 with speed control using a red pad to prevent splashes.

Following a drying process, the impregnation can be polished to a higher gloss with a high-speed machine.

A mild alkaline cleaning detergent is used for the daily maintenance that does not create any layers and preserves the natural floor colour.

Old and soiled industrial flooring

Many industrial floors in warehouses and production areas are subject in part to extreme stress over many years caused by machinery, forklifts, etc. and are frequently severely stained, unsightly, characterised by extensive open pores and a high level of dust and are very difficult to clean.

The appearance of these industrial floors can be improved with little effort and costs through a diamond clean system involving 1-2 working steps in combination with Schwamborn Betonhart followed by the Silan impregnation Schwamborn SBR 400. This gives an extra protection against oil and water and makes the floor easier to clean and more resistant against water and oil.

With over 80 years of experience, Schwamborn provides complete solutions in floor construction for optimum grinding and flooring results through experienced specialists, on-site advice for customers and site inspections.