Andy Anderson is no novice; at 15, he was pouring concrete for a local contractor whenever he had a chance after high school. After graduating, he began working for another contractor, doing mostly flatwork, and picking up side work that further expanded his skills. Eventually, he decided to begin a company of his own.
Anderson Concrete was established in 1995 and Andy is sole proprietor of the business, which specializes in decorative work on driveways, patios, pool decks, and floors. In addition to grinding and polishing, his services include coating application and removal, acid staining and scarifying, and stamping. With over 15 years of experience, the 44-year-old can easily be considered an expert.
The Jackson Area Career Center in Summit Township, Michigan, provides hands-on vocational training in the trades, healthcare, and public safety for Jackson County high school juniors and seniors. Although not an alumnus himself, he participated in a program that brings high school students to jobsites, helping them pour the foundation for a house. When center administrators decided to upgrade the Junior ROTC training room floor and learned Andy polishes concrete, he became their leading candidate for the job.
The floor was poured in the 1980s and then carpeted, so Andy’s two greatest challenges were removing thick layers of glue and repairing the surface in preparation for polishing. He used a 32-inch Husqvarna PG 820 grinder equipped with Runyon Surface Prep’s RSP Q8 Nitro diamond tooling, which is designed specifically to remove mastic. He kept the machine at 200 rpm to 300 rpm due to its aggressive power.
Removing the glue took several hours. Then he patched cracks, spalling, and other surface defects with Metzger McGuire’s Rapid Refloor, a polyurea/polyurethane hybrid repair grout. Then it was time to restore the concrete to its original glory by cutting it down and smoothing the surface in several passes. He began by grinding the surface with the Husqvarna machine equipped with Runyon's 70 grit and 100 grit transitional tooling. Then he implemented Global Polishing Systems' silica stacking process: grinding and polishing with 400 grit metal tooling, densifying and then polishing with 400 grit semimetal tooling, and, finally, applying a stain guard and burnishing with 800 grit phenolic-resin polishing pads.
This painstaking process obtained maximum sheen. The result is a beautifully revived concrete floor that better serves the center’s students.
