Lifehouse Church outgrew its worship space at a YMCA about eight years after launching. Polishing contractor Dancer Concrete Design, which serves northeast Indiana, northwest Ohio, southern Michigan, and Indianapolis from Fort Wayne, Ind., helped build the congregation a larger, more utilitarian home.
Dancer Concrete Design visited an abandoned Pick ‘n Save supermarket with the architect and church members before they decided to buy the property. The building committee knew what polished concrete was but not much else, so owner Nick Dancer explained what to expect from formerly tiled concrete substrate. The church didn’t have the budget for a deep grind or overlay, so members weren’t surprised or disappointed by shadowing in the finished surface.
Dancer Concrete Design’s work began after the general contractor removed the vinyl composition tile (VCT). The polishing contractor removed adhesive in two passes using a 32-inch Lavina grinder with a 70 metal wet cut, finishing one area of the new floorplan before moving to the next.
Trenches were cut to plumb a new restroom area (upper right). The strip in the foreground was a metal trench that ran electricity to cash registers. Dancer Concrete Design filled control joints with <a href="http://www.concreteconstruction.net/products/concrete-construction-materials/semi-rigid-joint-filler_o”>Metzger McGuire’s Spal-Pro RS 88</a></strong> semi-rigid polyurea. Patching was done at night with CTS Cement’s <a href="http://www.concreteconstruction.net/products/cts-cement-tru-pc-polished-concrete_o”>Rapid Set Tru PC</a></strong> so crews could polish the next day. “We like it because it has stone in it, so when you grind it down you see aggregate in the mix,” says owner Nick Dancer.
Dancer Concrete Design polished 13,000 feet to Class B or Class C aggregate exposure, then applied three colors to three areas. This is the great hall with Ameripolish Inc.’s Sand penetrating dye finished to an 800-grit high sheen. The white area was carpeted to remove dirt, salt, oil, and other abrasives from shoes before they reach the polished concrete.
The great hall was polished to Class B aggregate exposure. After dying, Ameripolish Inc.’s <a href="http://www.concreteconstruction.net/products/decorative-concrete-surfaces/ameripolish-3d-system_o"> 3D HS (hybrid silicate) densifier</a></strong> was applied and polishing continued. <a href="http://www.concreteconstruction.net/products/concrete-construction-materials/acrylic-sealer_o> Advanced Floor Products’ RetroGuard</a></strong> modified acrylic sealer was applied to thwart future stains and then buffed.
In the guest services and volunteer rooms, the concrete’s natural gray hue was polished to a 400-grit satin finish. The lighter strip is the trench where new restroom plumbing was installed. All floors were finished with Ameripolish 3D HS densifier followed by Retroplate’s RetroGuard sealer.
Children’s spaces were dyed with Ameripolish Inc.’s Midnight Black and polished to a 400-grit satin finish.