After 42 years of cleaning concrete floors and resurfacing experience, Industrial Floor Service, Inc. knows that no two concrete floor coating projects have identical solutions. Generic promises and solutions unintentionally mislead contractors and property management with claims giving broad sweep to what often leads to poorly adhering concrete floor coatings, requiring unforeseen and costly future expense. Whether the job entails concrete floor cleaning, floor resurfacing, or floor coating removal, as an IFS partner, your reputation is the quality of our work and we refuse to risk your hard-earned investment.
Cement and Concrete Floor Coatings: Failures
 The number one, leading cause of concrete coating failure is "vapor transmission". Moisture comes in many forms like condensation, sweating, or puddling. Excessive moisture occurs due to many conditions but eventually leads to substrate deterioration, delamination of floor coating system, and ultimately premature concrete floor coating failure. Most resurfacing of failing concrete floors and surfaces are due to the penetration of moisture through the concrete substrate. Moisture exceeding 15% will limit, if not prohibit, the implementation of proper concrete floor coatings. Moisture, left uncorrected, inhibits the sound bonding of the floor coating to the concrete surface substrate and creates over time numerous barriers for the floor system to properly adhere. Ultimately, this leads to necessary cleaning, stripping, and new concrete floor coatings.
IFS performs both physical inspections and procedural tests on concrete slabs and floors to ensure adequate protection from excessive moisture and conditions critical to proper and timely coating completion. Only until unsatisfactory conditions like vapor transmission have been uncovered and corrected, has the general contractor received adequate professional service from his flooring sub-contractor.
Concrete Floor Coatings and Surfaces:
Premature Failure Factors
- Improper curing of new concrete substrate (requires minimum of 7-28 days, temperature dependent)
- Concrete floor coatings fail due to surface laitance (white chalky substance, laitance removal method dictated by specifics - methods employed (but not limited to) include acid etching, shotblasting, scarification, water pressure, specialized detergents, cleaning agents
- Concrete floor coatings fail due to surface glaze - porosity of concrete surface must be enhanced
- Concrete floor coatings fail due to "efflorescence" (alkali salts brought to the concrete substrate surface by excessive moisture)
- Concrete floor coatings fail due to bond-preventing compounds, form release agents
- Concrete floor coatings fail due to embedded surface contaminants - oil, grease, adhesives, markings, paint, rust, and other barrier creating substances which prohibit proper floor
coating adhesion to concrete surface.
- Concrete floor coatings fail due to surface cracks, chips, surface or floor peeling
Industrial Floor Systems
Essentially there are two types of industrial floor systems, (1) high traffic with heavy wear and,
(2) low traffic with minimal wear. Each floor system has it own set of variables and is site independent, the concrete floor coating selected must meet some or all the following basic guidelines:
- Concrete floor coating must be compatible with existing floor surface materials and chemical composition
- Concrete floor coating must have excellent bonding properties matching floor surface material or clean, sound concrete
- Concrete floor coating must have high flash point, meeting minimal odor and fume requirements
- Concrete floor coating must meet strict VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) regulations
- Concrete floor coating must meet industry specific wear and abrasion patterns
- Concrete floor coating must provide durability in excessive moisture environments
- Concrete floor coating must have high resistance to cracking yet minimal shrinkage characteristics
- Concrete floor coating must provide suitable attractive appearance
- Concrete floor coating must not interfere or contaminate client products or equipment in application or maintenance
- Concrete floor coating must provide cost-effective maintenance, meeting acceptable industry standards during required maintenance schedules
High Traffic / Heavy Wear Systems
Concrete floor surfaces requiring high traffic and heavy wear systems generally require up to three coats. The number of coats will vary according to specific application. The first coat applied is called the flooring system base coat. Additional coatings are called "top coats". Up to three top coats will normally suffice but your site and situation may vary the number of required coatings. Sandwiched in between the base coat and the initial top coat are various materials that are "broadcasted" or spread between these two coatings. This "broadcasted" material is used to enhance floor coating traction, appearance, and resistance to specific abrasion patterns. Incorrect application of "broadcasting" methods and procedures will cause your flooring system to exhibit surface irregularities with an unacceptable finish or texture.
Concrete Floor Coatings
Examples of Finish/Patterns/Textures
- Non-decorative finish; light pedestrian traffic pattern; 40-60 mesh fine quartz texture
- Decorative finish; light pedestrian traffic pattern; 28 mesh color granule texture
- Industrial finish; tire traffic patterns (moisture factors); 12-20 mesh coarse texture
- Extreme industrial finish; heavy pedestrian, machinery, and tire traffic patterns; specialized aluminum oxides.
Materials used in broadcasting procedure range in size and constituent components. Materials include high silica quartz in assorted sizes and colors, aluminum oxides for ultra-abrasive wear patterns, and countless specialized aggregates as required by design and application. Broadcasted material is selected and matched for needed non-slip floor surface properties and performance. Broadcast material may be selected and matched to perform additional commercial duties - diverse applications calling for enhanced lighting to interior and/or exterior design, or others as warranted.
As each site has differing environmental factors (climate, interior as well as exterior), industry specific requirements, surface and substrate conditions, it is imperative that an on-site inspection takes place with proper testing performed. Additional applications, sealers, coatings, preparations may need to be selected as the site and contract dictate.
Low Traffic / Minimal Wear
The second type of floor system requires the same level of attention to detail as the first, but often requires fewer or combined coatings and may eliminate the need for broadcasted materials. The parameters required are specific to each application and generalizations tend to mislead. IFS will assist in proper selection methods to ensure meeting required international, national, state VOC regulations and/or United States federal government OSHA standards.
Concrete Surface Preparation
Preparing a proper surface for floor systems to adhere must follow strict guidelines to assure professional results. The contact surface must be free of contaminants. All chemicals used in floor preparation process need to be thoroughly rinsed and removed, with the contact surface allowed to properly dry. Substrate surface contaminants need to be removed with a proper floor profile intact for floor coating to properly adhere. Special scarification equipment may be needed in the removal of certain contaminants and their build-up. The overriding factors in methods employed in contaminant removal are contaminant type and condition of substrate.
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