Polished Concrete Cost Calculator
Estimate per-square-foot cost for polished concrete floors based on exposure level, polish grade, and optional dye/stain guard.
About this calculator
Total Project Cost scales close to linearly with Floor Area, but Aggregate Exposure and Polish Level are the inputs that actually change what a square foot costs, and both are coded 1-4 selectors that a small nudge around their defaults won't reveal -- Aggregate Exposure sits at a default of 2, and a +/-10% adjustment lands right back on 2 either direction; Polish Level's default of 3 behaves the same way. Full range tells a different story: raising Aggregate Exposure from 1 (cream, no aggregate) to 4 (large aggregate) adds three extra metal-bond grinding passes (2 -> 5) and lifts Total Project Cost at the default 1,000 sq ft floor from about $4,790 to $6,440, a roughly 34% jump, purely from the deeper grind schedule the exposed-aggregate look requires.
Polish Level swings even harder: going from 1 (flat grind, no shine) to 4 (high-polish, 1500+ grit) adds five resin-bond polishing passes (0 -> 5) and pushes cost from about $3,840 to $6,340, about 65% higher, at the same area. Stain Guard is a simple $0.25/sq ft add-on (about $250 at 1,000 sq ft) that only applies when Stain Guard is set to 1; Dye Colors adds roughly $0.75/sq ft per color selected, on top of everything else, independent of exposure or polish level.
Inputs
Results
Total project cost ($)
$5,340.00
≈ 5 smartphones
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the total floor area in sq ft to be ground and polished.
- Select aggregate exposure level: 1=cream (no aggregate), 2=salt & pepper, 3=medium aggregate, 4=large aggregate.
- Choose the polish level: 1=flat grind only, 2=honed (400 grit), 3=polished (800 grit), 4=high-polish (1500+ grit).
- Enter the number of dye colors (0 for natural concrete) and whether to apply a stain guard (0 or 1).
- Review Total Passes, Densifier (gallons), and Estimated Labor Hours to plan crew scheduling.
- Use Total Project Cost and Cost per Sq Ft to prepare bids or compare polishing against other flooring options.
How the result changes with Floor area (sq ft)
| Floor area (sq ft) | Total project cost ($) |
|---|---|
| 500 | $2,670.00 |
| 750 | $4,005.00 |
| 1,500 | $8,010.00 |
| 2,500 | $13,350.00 |
What each input means
- Floor area (sq ft)
- Total floor area to be ground and polished.
- Aggregate exposure (1-4)
- 1 = cream/no aggregate, 2 = salt & pepper, 3 = medium aggregate, 4 = large aggregate.
- Polish level (1-4)
- 1 = flat grind only, 2 = honed (400 grit), 3 = polished (800 grit), 4 = high-polish (1500+ grit).
- Dye colors (0-3)
- Number of concrete dye colors. 0 = natural concrete color.
- Stain guard (0 or 1)
- 1 = apply impregnating stain guard sealer, 0 = skip.
What each result means
- Total project cost ($)
- Combined tooling, densifier, dye, labor, and equipment cost.
- Cost per sq ft ($)
- All-in cost per square foot.
- Total grinding/polishing passes
- Combined number of grinding and polishing steps.
- Grinding passes
- Metal-bond diamond grinding steps for aggregate exposure.
- Polishing passes
- Resin-bond diamond polishing steps for shine.
- Densifier (gallons)
- Lithium silicate densifier applied between honing and polishing.
- Estimated labor hours
- Total grinding/polishing time at ~300 sq ft/hr per pass.
- Tooling cost ($)
- Diamond tooling cost for all passes.
- Labor cost ($)
- Operator labor for grinding, polishing, and densifier application.
- Material cost ($)
- Tooling, densifier, dye, and stain guard combined.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersFloor area (sq ft) = 1000, Aggregate exposure (1-4) = 2, Polish level (1-4) = 3, Dye colors (0-3) = 0 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total project costTotal project cost = materialCost + laborCost + equipmentCost5340 = $5,340
- Calculate Cost per sq ft5.34 = $5.34
- Calculate Total grinding/polishing passesTotal grinding/polishing passes = totalGrindPasses + totalPolishPasses6 = 6
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does bumping Aggregate Exposure or Polish Level up by a notch actually change the cost noticeably?
Not if you only nudge it slightly -- both inputs are coded 1-4 selectors, not continuous sliders, and a +/-10% adjustment from their defaults (2 and 3) rounds right back to the same value. You have to pick a genuinely different level to see the cost move: going from Polish Level 1 to 4 alone raises Total Project Cost from about $3,840 to $6,340 at 1,000 sq ft.
Why does a higher Aggregate Exposure level cost more for the same floor area?
Aggregate Exposure controls how many metal-bond diamond grinding passes the job needs -- 2 passes at level 1 (cream) up to 5 passes at level 4 (large aggregate) -- and each pass adds both tooling cost and labor time. At 1,000 sq ft, moving from level 1 to level 4 raises the total from about $4,790 to $6,440.
What does turning off Stain Guard actually save?
About $0.25 per square foot of material cost, plus the labor time to apply it -- roughly $250 on a 1,000 sq ft floor at this calculator's defaults. Stain Guard is a simple on/off cost add, not a percentage of the rest of the bid, so its dollar impact scales directly with floor area.
How many dye colors can this calculator handle, and how much does each one add?
Up to three dye colors (0 to 3). Each selected color adds about $0.75 per square foot to Material Cost -- so at 1,000 sq ft, going from 0 to 3 colors adds roughly $2,250 total, independent of Aggregate Exposure or Polish Level, which only affect grinding and polishing passes.
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