Tips for Refinishing Concrete Floors

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Atomic Ranch Magazine on May 15, 2022

Of all the many house projects on our wish list when we purchased our Streng home, refinishing the concrete floors was number one.

Our home had about 1600 square feet of laminate flooring, and none of it matched. Despite our best efforts we could never get the floor totally clean and it always felt dusty on our bare feet.

We met with owner Matt Bowen of Prep Concrete more than a year before we began the project to find out the typical cost, timeframe and process for grinding and sealing our concrete floor.  Prep Concrete is well known in the Sacramento area and he had been referred to us by several other Streng home owners.

Matt Bowen owner of Prep Concrete shows the layers that had to be removed to reveal our concrete floors in our Sacramento Streng Brothers home.

Adding to our decision to work with Prep Concrete was the fact that it is a small company. While that might mean his crew is booked months in advance, it also means they are available if you have issues come up during your project. They can do this because Matt and his team mostly work on one custom project at a time.

Decide how you want your concrete floors to look

Your floor can be polished from low sheen to highly polished and you can even add color to the concrete with a stain.  If you select an overlay your floor will have zero imperfections and will add significantly to the cost. We wanted an industrial, low sheen look so opted to have our floors ground and sealed. Prices can range from $8-$30 per square foot depending upon the desired finished look of your project. Ours ended up about $10 per square foot.

Matt’s Demo team tears off the old manufactured wood floors in our Streng home.

You will have to move out completely

Factor the move out into the cost of your project. Furniture, artwork, books, clothes, washer, dryer, refrigerator — all have to be moved to refinish your concrete floors.  But you won’t have to pack the contents of your cabinets. Those will be covered with plastic to protect them from the dust.

All the interior doors will also have to be removed.

This is a very dusty project. Dry grinding is best for interiors where the sheetrock and paint is already in place. HEPA vacuums that attach to the grinders contain most of the dust. You will still want to clean the walls and all exterior surfaces prior to moving back in.

Prep Concrete commences grinding of the concrete floors in our Carter Sparks designed mid century modern home.

We initially thought we would rent a storage pod for our furniture but the estimate was more than $3000.  We then had the idea of renting a U-Haul and leaving it in our driveway for the duration of the project. The U-Haul and our garage would hold most of our household contents. Since U-Haul charges by the mile and we wouldn’t be driving it, this brought the cost way down to about $800.

And of course you will need a place to stay. We stayed in a hotel and also with family. You will have to move out for about two weeks. It is a good idea to stay nearby so you can easily check on your project and be available to answer any questions that come up.

We initially weren’t going to hire movers to help us but we quickly changed our mind after we spent several hours trying to move a heavy credenza into the U-Haul. Thankfully a few clicks on TaskRabbit and we had our movers the next day.  We also used them to move back in.

The finished patches in the living room of our mid century modern Streng home where the concrete floor was too soft and brittle to be polished. You can see the white spots from the sealant before it dried.

There will be surprises with concrete floors

Matt was very clear when he gave us our estimate that the price might change once the laminate flooring was removed. He couldn’t speculate what he would find once it was removed.

In our case he discovered vinyl tile under the laminate in most of the rooms that had to be removed and disposed of. The previous owner had added square footage to the back of the house but hadn’t removed the wooden threshold where the doors used to be located. This wooden beam had to be removed and filled with concrete. They also hadn’t relocated a sprinkler pipe so when the grinding machine hit the pipe we had a nice fountain of water gushing up to the ceiling. All of this added to the cost.

Thankfully, no asbestos was found and we were grateful that Matt as a licensed contractor knew how to stop the leak when a plumber could not be found.

The concrete floor in the family room complements our mid century modern furniture. Note at the bottom of the picture the patch where the wood beam was removed from the floor where the dining room had been added.

You will need to replace your baseboards

Existing baseboards are removed and can’t be used again even if you wanted to do so. You will need to hire a contractor or handyman to replace them. We took on that project ourselves (and what a project it was). The baseboards are installed and painted prior to moving back in so factor that into your time and budget.

We love the look and feel of our concrete floors. The imperfections in the floor tell the story of our home. In one room we see the outlines of vinyl tiles — ghosting from previous flooring incarnations. Another room shows the scattering of black dots from carpet nails. In yet another we see the story of a long ago kitchen remodel.

All stories from almost 60 years of living.