The unglamorous step that decides whether the coating on top of it lasts or peels.
Concrete straight out of the form has a hard, dense surface layer that a coating does not bond to well no matter what's applied on top of it. Mechanical grinding or shot blasting removes that layer and opens up the surface texture underneath, giving the coating something to actually key into. This is the step most DIY approaches skip in favor of an acid etch, which changes the surface chemically but does not open it the same way and is a large part of why big-box kits are the most common reason someone calls to have a floor redone.
Prep also means dealing with what the grinding reveals — cracks, pitting, old anchor holes, spots where a previous coating is still partially bonded and has to be removed rather than coated over. None of that gets fixed by the new coating; it gets fixed before the new coating goes on, or it telegraphs straight through the new surface and shows up again within a season.
Describe the space and its condition, and we'll match you with a contractor who grinds and tests before coating.
Get a Floor Contractor OutA short description is enough — we'll follow up to confirm details and get someone out to look at the slab.