Post-war industrial floors at Fratton, Paulsgrove and Farlington
Decades of use leave their mark on any concrete floor. On an industrial slab that has passed through several tenants, a new occupier may find layers of floor paint, worn coatings, painted walkways, glue from old carpet tiles and patch repairs standing proud of the slab. None of that gives a new finish anything reliable to stick to.
Grinding takes it back. A machine carrying rotating diamond segments cuts the surface away in thin layers, removing coatings and residue and taking down ridges, trowel lines and the lips where concrete bays meet. What remains is clean, open concrete that compound, screed or adhesive can bond to properly.
The next step depends on the occupier. Office and showroom areas often go on to levelling compound and LVT or carpet tiles. Warehouse space may need only a clean, sound surface. Where a resin floor is planned, we prepare the slab and the resin contractor takes over, because resin and polished concrete are outside what we lay. If a slab is cracked or breaking up rather than just dirty, repairing the concrete comes before anything else.
Larger schemes are on the way. Lennox Point at Tipner West is planned to include a marine employment hub of around one million square feet, and new floors need preparing before finishes just as old ones do.
For very large areas or thick coatings, shot blasting or scarifying may be quicker than grinding, and both sit under our floor preparation service. The machines are our own; we do not hire out or sell grinders or tooling.
Grinding at Gunwharf Quays and Portsmouth homes
Retail floors need preparing too. Shops are refitted across the city, Gunwharf Quays, its main waterfront retail scheme, included, and lifting an old finish almost always leaves adhesive behind. Grinding removes it so the new floor sits flat and bonds well, and the work can be phased around trading hours.
In houses the jobs are smaller. Lifting old carpet or vinyl can expose black adhesive or paint on the slab, and a rear extension can leave a lip where new concrete meets old. Grinding cleans and flattens both. Homes built between 1945 and 1972 make up 20% of Portsmouth's stock, and their solid floors may still carry adhesive from earlier coverings.
Dust is the risk to manage. Silica is present in concrete, screed and tiles alike, and cutting into them releases a fine dust of respirable crystalline silica. We grind only with extraction attached, close off the work area and protect neighbouring rooms, which counts for a lot in a terrace where the next room is the only route through the house.
Two limits are worth knowing. Grinding removes local high spots but cannot fix a floor that falls or sinks across its whole area; that needs grinding followed by compound or screed. And overgrinding a screed can leave it below its minimum depth, so we measure how much there is to take before starting.
How we price floor grinding in Portsmouth
A fixed written price within 24 hours, once we know the area and what has to come off. See our floor screeding cost guide.
Who grinds your concrete floor in Portsmouth
K & B Screeding’s own team, led by director Donatas Bardisevicius. Founded 2019, company 12298780.
See what customers say in our Google reviews and on our testimonials page.
Concrete Floor Grinding from Slough to Portsmouth
Portsmouth is about 54.4 miles south-south-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including PO1, PO3, PO2 and PO6. The nearest towns to it are Gosport (1.4 miles), Fareham (5.3 miles), Havant (6.2 miles) and Emsworth (7.6 miles).
More on floor grinding, part of our screeding services.
