Why does my concrete floor coating chip, flake or peal? Whether it's a garage floor, basement floor, showroom floor, or any other concrete surface, the reasons are all the same.
There are two main reasons that a floor coating or other concrete coating delaminates. The first, is that the coating itself is not designed for the environment it is in. This means that, it may be exposed to chemicals or UV light that it was not designed for. It might be in a high traffic area even though it is a light duty coating, or it simply was only meant to have a short shelf life.Visit this site for more info about different types of coating here Thermal Spray Coating and Hvof Spray Coating .
While this may be the case for certain floor coverings, much of the time it is actually because of a fault in the surface preparation. What may look like a "solid" piece of concrete, is actually full of tiny little tunnels called capillaries that are created by water escaping during the initial curing process of the concrete. Long after the concrete has dried, Oils, animal fats, rubber deposits and other penetrants will follow these capillaries into the concrete. If you have ever tried to clean a concrete stain, you will observe that it often, reappears once you have cleaned the area, it you are lucky enough to get it looking that clean in the first place.
Besides being clean, the coating also has to be able to hold or bite into the concrete surface. There are many ways this is done. Acid etching is a common way to etch concrete, but it must be kept in mind that this process will not clean or degrease the surface. Please keep in mind that muriatic acid must be disposed of properly. It can be an environmental hazard!Get more info on floor coating here
Blasting the concrete with sand or other abrasives is a very affective way to prepare the surface for coatings. However, this method also creates a lot of dust. If there is existing equipment that will remain in place during this process it must be completely covered or masked to prevent contamination with abrasives and concrete debris. The cleanup for this type of abrading can be extreme and some types of abrasives are restricted due to their ability to cause respiratory problems.
Another method is to use a Scabbler. Scabblers are pneumatic hammer devices that pound & break up the concrete surface, water can be used to help control the dust level, but afterwards the surface must very thoroughly cleaned so that none of the sludge created my the pulverized cement and water mix remains on the surface. This sludge will act as a barrier between the coating and the substrate.
There are also methods which scratch the surface with a rotating drum, known as scarification, as well as using high pressure water jets. The scarification yields results similar to the scabbler, and the water jets make it difficult to control the profile of the surface because the high pressure water can be very destructive.
One method which creates no mess and minimal extra labor was created by Vortex Sprayliners. They have created a patented SuperSealer. This sealer used the capillaries mentioned earlier to its advantage. The sealer cures slowly, so it works its way down into the concrete. Then as it sets up, it expands, locking itself into place. This eliminates the need to break up the concrete surface to create an incredibly strong bond