Polished Concrete Flooring in Gilroy CA - a glossy floor from the slab you already have
Tired of a dull gray slab or worn-out carpet over it? We grind and polish the concrete you have to the shine you want.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We respond within 1 business day.
Can my concrete floor be polished, and what does it involve?
Polished concrete flooring in Gilroy, CA starts with the indoor slab you already have. We grind or hone its surface, add dye if you want color, harden it with a densifier that fills the concrete's natural pores, then polish it to the gloss you pick and finish it with a guard coat.
Most people who call about this have a bare slab under old carpet or tile, or a plain gray floor they'd rather finish than cover. The price and the schedule turn mostly on three things: how much grinding the slab needs to come out flat and clean, how much stone you want showing, and how high a shine you're after, because a deeper cut or a higher gloss means more passes with the grinder. Old glue or coatings that need concrete floor stripping and removal first add to both. Your written estimate spells out each of those steps for your floor.
How do you know your floor is a good fit for polishing?
Gray dust on the floor
If a bare slab leaves fine gray dust on your shoes, the top of the concrete is wearing away a little at a time. Polishing grinds off that soft layer and the densifier hardens what's underneath, and the longer you wait, the more of that dust ends up tracked through the house.
Carpet or tile worn out
Worn flooring over a slab is often a chance to polish the concrete underneath instead of buying something new to lay over it. Once the old flooring comes up you'll see glue and whatever flaws the slab has, so I'd rather look at it with you before you spend money on a replacement you may not need.
Old coating peeling up
Paint or epoxy that's lifting usually means moisture or rushed prep underneath, and patches tend to peel again for the same reason. Polishing works the slab itself rather than a film on top, but the old coating has to be ground off first, and the longer it lifts, the more dirt and water get under it.
How we do polished concrete flooring
Before any grinder comes out, I check how flat your slab is and talk through what the finished floor will show, because polishing brings out what the concrete already has, cracks and old patches included. Then our crew pulls up any old flooring and glue and grinds the surface with diamond tooling, the abrasive discs on the grinder, to open it up. If you chose a color, the dye goes on next, then the densifier. From there we polish with finer and finer diamonds until the floor reaches the shine you picked, and we finish with a guard coat, a thin protective layer over the polish. You pick the shine and how much stone shows, and I'll tell you plainly how much extra grinding each step up takes.
Polishing isn't the only way to finish a slab, and sometimes it isn't the right one. If you want richer, mottled color than dye can give, we also do stained concrete flooring, and if you want chips of marble or glass spread across the whole floor, terrazzo flooring may suit you better. I'll tell you at the estimate which one fits your slab.
Satin or low-sheen polish
This suits a living room, studio or shop where you want a soft glow without glare. It takes fewer grinding passes to reach, so it costs less than a high gloss.
Highly polished, near-mirror shine
At the top shine level, reflections look sharp and crisp, and the floor may need grouting, a thin fill worked into the small pits so the gloss reads clean. It suits someone who wants the floor to be the first thing people notice, and it takes the most grinding passes of any finish.
Get a written estimate for your polished floor
Send the room size in square feet and the look and shine you want. We reply within one business day to set up a free visit at your property, with no obligation.
- Based in
- Gilroy, CA 95020
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–10 PM
What happens after you call about polishing your floor?
Here's how a polished floor goes from your first call to the final walk-through, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send us a message
Call (669) 205-6336 or use the form, and we'll set up a time for me to come see the floor. If you know the room size in square feet, have it handy.
I come look at your slab
I check how flat the slab is, ask about old flooring and any damp spots, and walk you through your shine and stone options. You get a written estimate with each step spelled out, so you can see what a step up in shine adds before you commit.
We prep and polish the floor
Our own crew preps the slab, then grinds and polishes it to the look on your estimate. Either I or our lead installer is on site the whole time.
We walk the finished floor
Before we pack up, we walk the floor with you so you can see the shine and stone you picked in your own light.
Why Gilroy homeowners call us to polish their slabs
I walk your slab with you
I come out for the estimate myself and walk the floor with you, and our own crew does the work with me or our lead installer on site. The person who talked through the look with you is the one watching the grinder.
Running this business since 2013
We've been at this for 13 years, and before that I learned concrete floors working for an installer here in the valley. That's enough slabs to know when one isn't ready, and if yours isn't, I'll tell you.
Licensed and insured on your floor
We're licensed and insured. That matters when heavy grinders are running inside your house for days.
The thing that matters most on a polished floor is knowing what your slab will show before anyone starts grinding, so send us a message or give us a call and I'll come take a look.
Polished concrete prep and dust control in Gilroy
In California, a state rule requires a dust reduction system any time powered tools cut or grind concrete, so the dust in the air is cut down, and polishing is grinding from the first pass to the last. The rule lets that system be water or local exhaust ventilation, which can mean a vacuum or dust collector hooked to the tool. Ask us which one we'll run in your house and we'll tell you before work starts. We set up the same way here in Gilroy as we do on jobs up the valley and over toward the coast.
Plenty of the slabs we polish are ground-level floors that spent years under carpet or tile. When a slab like that has no vapor barrier, a plastic sheet under the concrete that keeps ground moisture from coming up, its polished color is likely to vary, so we talk color through before we start, just as we do on jobs in Morgan Hill and Hollister.
Questions about polished concrete in Gilroy
How much does polished concrete flooring cost in Gilroy, CA?
Across the US, a polished concrete floor usually costs about $2 to $16 per square foot, and that's the market's range, not our price. The range is wide because slabs and finishes vary so much from floor to floor. I'll give you your own number in writing after I've seen the slab.
How long does a polished concrete floor last?
A polished concrete floor can last 20 years or more when licensed professionals install it and it gets proper care afterward. Both halves count, so when you compare proposals, weigh who's doing the install as much as the price.
Will polishing fix an uneven concrete floor?
No, polishing won't flatten concrete, and it tends to make an uneven slab's dips and flaws stand out more. That's why I check flatness at the estimate, so you know what the finished floor will show before you decide.
How do I choose how shiny my polished concrete is and how much stone shows?
Pick a class for how much of the stone in the mix shows and a level for how glossy the floor looks, using the classes and sheen levels set out by the concrete contractors' council. Naming both means every proposal you get describes the same finished floor, and the council's polished concrete appearance chart lets you compare the options side by side.
What is the best way to tell if a polished floor's shine comes from grinding or a sealer?
Ask the contractor whether they'll test the floor before any sealer goes on, because some stain or gloss sealers can cover scratches left by poor grinding and add shine on top. The same council that sets the shine levels recommends that test, so it's a fair question to ask anyone, us included.
What is the difference between polished concrete and an epoxy floor?
Polished concrete is your slab itself, ground and hardened to a shine, while an epoxy floor coating is a layer bonded on top of it. A coating can hide flaws and add color that a polish can't, but it depends on the slab underneath staying dry and being well prepped, and a polish shows the slab as it is.
Other ways to finish your concrete floor
Stained Concrete Flooring
Stained concrete soaks color into the slab in browns, greens or blues, a good pick when color matters to you more than a high shine.
Terrazzo Flooring
Terrazzo sets marble or glass chips into a fresh surface, a way to get a speckled, stone-rich floor even when your slab has little stone of its own.
Cities where we polish concrete floors
Gilroy Epoxy Floors & Concrete Coatings is based in Gilroy, California, and our site has pages for 12 cities we serve, including Santa Clara and Watsonville. If your city isn't on the list, call and ask.
Tell us what's covering your slab now
When you call, mention whether there's carpet, tile, glue or an old coating on the floor, so I know what to plan for before I come out.