How To Score Concrete
How To Score Concrete
Scoring the concrete creates a more realistic pattern in your concrete.
Never use red chalk or permanent markers, as it stains the concrete. Measure your lines out, mark each end with a pencil, and then mark the lines with a chalk line, using blue chalk.
When should I clean and how deep should I score?
If you intend to score a pattern into the concrete, you should do so before final cleaning. Concrete Scoring is just that. A slight 1/16" deep or less score in the concrete to replicate a mortared joint. If you cut the concrete deeper, then it will only collect dirt later.
What should I use to do the scoring?
You can use a 4 1/2" angle grinder with a diamond blade for thinner joints or a masonry blade for wider joints, along with a flat metal straight edge. You could really use a helper or two for this step, someone to hold the chalk line and the straight edge.
💡 TIP: You can get flat straight edges that are made from aluminum, at Lowe's.
Why can't I use a skill-saw?
You certainly can use a skill-saw, but using a 4 1/2" grinder to score the lines, is usually much faster and you can use a flat straight edge. Also, most slabs tend to have slight high and low areas and a skill saw can sometimes skip because of this, as where a grinder will follow the natural contour of the surface.
What type of grinder blade should I use?
Use a diamond blade, especially if using a skill saw. Unless you're looking for the wide mortar joint, then masonry blades are the ones. However, they get smaller as they go. Of course that doesn't matter when using an angle grinder but when using a skill saw they don't work so well.
💡 TIP: As your grinder will not score completely to the wall, you will need to cut a border about 8" +/- around the walls and take your pattern scoring to the border lines.
Pro Tip: To keep the mortar joints the color of natural concrete, simply stain first and then score the concrete. Most people prefer to score before staining though, to avoid making a mess on freshly stained concrete. Besides, the stain will settle into the score line, making it slightly darker than the floor itself, making it look like colored mortar joints.
Can I use Mortar in the scored lines?
You can cut the lines deeper and mortar them in later, which looks very realistic. Just be sure to clean up the mortar mess as you go, once mortar dries, that's about it. To do this, just cut the concrete a little deeper, apply the stain, wash the residue, apply one coat of concrete sealer, mortar the saw cuts in and clean the mortar mess as you go. Let the mortar cure, then apply a second coat of sealer, let the sealer cure a day or two, then apply two coats of wax.
