Concrete Leveling VS. Concrete Grinding

2021-11-02

There’s essentially two methods to fix the uneven concrete floor: increase the low areas to match the high areas, or decrease the high areas to match the low areas. With the low spots, the difference usually isn’t enough to be able to pour fresh concrete on top. Minute differences require special attention, so self-leveling floor are used to bring sunken areas up. But if you can’t or don’t want to raise the lower areas up then the only choose is to grind the high areas down. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages and both will work. It just depends on your choice based on the concrete condition.

Concrete leveling

Concrete leveling also known as self-leveling concrete, it is a polymer-modified extremely high flow compound that levels itself. Before curing, the material is quickly and easily spread into place with a simple rake and smoother. It requires very little preparation and other than a quick vacuum of the area and short use of a mixer. And no external power is needed during the process. However, it does require water as well as a thorough understanding of working materials. Once the compound cures it is almost perfectly smooth and has the compressive strength similar or better than traditional concrete, making it perfect for interiors and low-traffic exteriors. Unfortunately, this is not the end product as it will still require some kind of finishing like tiles or carpet.  

Concrete grinding

Concrete grinding is exactly that using an grinding machine with concrete diamond tooling to grind the floor until it is the required height. It does not require the use of any compound, but requires more floor preparation, because if the difference between high and low exceeds 4 mm, it will need scarifying first. The machine is heavy, both physically and in terms of electricity use, so there are some constraints there. But the surface is strong enough, it is also good for exteriors, even where heavy vehicles are involved. Dust is a by-product of the grinding process, but using a vacuum cleaner at the same time can greatly reduce dust. Grinding the concrete wholly depends on numerous factors, but the exposed aggregate can be the end product so no further finishing is required.

Of course if one area of your concrete floor is too low and another too high then both methods can be can be combined with each other. The grinding is essentially for material removal, not for exposing any aggregate. And after self-leveling, you would have to tile or carpet. DTS Diamond Tools specializes in manufacturing diamond tooling for concrete grinding. Contact us today for detail information and quote，we will steer you in the right direction.