What made it difficult
Polishing works with what the slab already is. Unlike a coating, there is no layer going over the top to even out color or hide a repair — the finished floor is the concrete, so whatever is in it stays in it.
That makes the honest conversation an early one. Where polishing is not going to look good, a coating is usually the better answer, and saying so before starting is the difference between a floor someone likes and a floor someone tolerates.
Rural properties also change the brief. Well water carries more minerals than city water and leaves different marks on a polished or coated floor, which is worth knowing before choosing between them.
How it was done
The slab ground and burnished up through the grits rather than coated.
Sealed, and left as the finished surface.
How it came out
The concrete runs unbroken under a long run of cabinetry, with butcher block above it.
In a property that takes real traffic, this is a floor that does not have a wear layer to lose.
