Patent ID: 7591967

Claim:
A method for forming an integrated ornamental surface on a monolithic concrete floor concurrent with the pouring and finishing of the concrete floor, comprising the following steps in order: preparing and forming the region upon which the monolithic concrete floor is to be poured; contiguously pouring concrete throughout the formed region to form a monolithic layer; floating the concrete to effectively densify the monolithic concrete layer; allowing the concrete layer to cure to a semi-stiff state; finishing the exposed upper surface of the concrete layer to produce a generally planar surface; disbursing a quantity of a decorative aggregate over only the surface of the semi-stiff concrete layer, wherein said decorative aggregate has a particulate size of at least 6 mm and no more than 50 mm; integrating the aggregate into the upper surface of the semi-stiff concrete; partially curing the concrete with the integrated aggregate; grinding the upper surface of the partially cured concrete with the integrated aggregate therein, including partially removing some of both the partially cured concrete and the integrated aggregate material at least until the aggregate is exposed uniformly over the top of the concrete, wherein said grinding step further comprises the steps of: a rough first pass using a rotary head concrete grinding machine having a cutting head of diamonds; a second pass using a finer grit on a disc comprised of silicon carbide and a bonding material; and a polishing pass with a rotary head polishing machine using between about a 200 grit to a 1600 grit diamond pad; fully curing the concrete with the integrated aggregate; and polishing the upper surface with the integrated aggregate to provide a generally planar and smooth surface on the monolithic concrete floor.