Buffing vs. Grinding - Basement

Hello All,

We are preparing to finish our basement and have decided to go with an industrial look. The plan is for the floor to be polished concrete, similar to what’s in some big box retail stores. To clarify, this will not be the colored epoxy finish with metal flakes added that has become popular in high end garages. The quotes are running between ~ $5 to $7 per sf.

One of the contractors offered to “buff and seal” as an alternative to the grind and seal process. It would be about $3.50 per sf. So there’s a savings. And we would avoid most of the dust created when concrete is ground. He states that the appearance and durability would be the same.

Does anyone have knowledge and or experience with buffing and sealing concrete? Would buffing rough up the concrete enough to let the sealer form a mechanical bond?

Thanks!

 

You can easily seal concrete with guess what, "Concrete Sealer" available at any janitorial supply. I did that to my current basement before it was finished just to keep the dust down. After about 3 coats you could slide across with socket feet. I don't recall cost, maybe $40 a gallon, took a couple gallons for the entire basement!