Ever wonder what a concrete floor coating installation consists of? In general, there are 7 steps installers take to ensure a perfect floor coating. We’ve talked about the importance of proper surface preparation in previous articles, and we cannot stress it enough – shortcuts taken in the surface preparation stage will greatly reduce the life of your floor coating. Not properly preparing the floor might lead to flaking, chipping, and even bubbles in your coating investment. Don’t take that chance.
This is one of the most important steps of the surface preparation process. Shot blasting is usually done on floors with heavy blemishes, large divots or heavy staining. The “shot” removes these deep imperfections and readies the floor for the coating. Diamond grinding opens up the pores of the concrete and is commonly used when the floor has minor imperfections, pits, and divots.
A hand grinder is used in areas where the shot blaster or diamond grinder couldn't reach, such as along a floor-wall intersect. Failure to complete this step may cause the coating to start peeling or chipping in these areas.
The entire floor area must be free of dust and other debris before the coating is applied.
The first layer applied to the concrete floor is a primer. The primer seals the floor, hardens the concrete, and prepares the surface for additional coating layers.
Once the primer is installed at the desired thickness, a fine sanding is performed, which helps the top layer of the coating adhere to the bottom layers.
The top coat is the final coat, which is applied at the recommended thickness.
Joint caulking seals the joints in the floor and along the floor-wall intersect. This step ensures that dirt and debris will not enter these areas, which helps to prolong the life of the floor coating.
Always consult the professionals when investing in a concrete floor coating for your manufacturing or food and beverage facility because let’s face it; a concrete floor coating is an investment in terms of plant downtime and dollars. And, please remember that not all floor coating projects are created equal. Depending on the starting condition of the concrete, additional steps may need to be taken to ensure proper coating adhesion and installation.
Crane Engineering provides a turnkey service, including proper coating specification, surface preparation, and timely installation for businesses in Wisconsin and surrounding states. Request your free consultation today, and we’ll help you get started on that next concrete floor coating project!
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