We know what it takes to get the floor you want and need. Hands down the most important part of a successful flooring system is the preparation and repair of the concrete substrate.
Prepping before coating or polishing a concrete floor is accomplished by the IA team through a combination of Diamond Grinding, Shot Blasting, Hand Grinding, Sanding, Scrubbing, Vacuuming and Joint Caulking to remove existing floor covering, dust and particles, to level and etch, and to repair all major cracks and chips. Preparation is essential to the strength, durability, aesthetics, and reliability of the floor. The best polishing team or epoxy floor coating solution will be unsuccessful without preparation by a skilled team.
Diamond Grinding is a cutting process that involves removing a thin layer at the surface of hardened concrete using closely spaced diamond blades. Based on the hardness of the concrete, specific tooling is selected to achieve desired results, and the tooling, speed and machine settings are adjusted with each subsequent grinding pass. Diamond grinding doesn’t damage the concrete and the surface is either prepared for resinous coating or further grinding continues to polish the concrete. IA uses Concrete Grinding machines connected to powerful vacuums to eliminate the majority of the concrete dust and prevent air contamination.
Shot Blasting is a preparation method often used when the floor is in need of major repairs or resurfacing. It’s a process of blasting a concrete surface with steel shot (small steel balls) at a high velocity. This removes markings, carpet or tile glues, or mortar beds. The result is a mechanical profile idea for bonding to a resinous coating. Industrial Applications has our own equipment to be able to prep tens of thousands of square feet of concrete a day. Shotblasting as a preparation method eliminates the use of harsh, non-eco-friendly chemicals and leaves the concrete floor with the desired profile. It can be performed indoors or outdoors and lends itself to efficient disposal of dust and other contaminants.
Hand grinding is perfect for hard-to-access places in your factory or location near walls, machinery, fixed equipment or assembly lines. Hand grinding is a crucial step to ensure the proper bond of resinous coatings all the way to the available edge of the wall or around stationary equipment to avoid coating failure that can begin at the edges if the substrate is not prepared correctly.
Cleaning and caulking joints is a critical step to protect the joints in your floor and give your floor a clean and finished look. Effective joint caulking protects sidewalls of the joints to keep them from deteriorating. If joints are not caulked, dirt and debris are allowed to get trapped making them more difficult to clean. Joint caulking is designed to accommodate the expansion and contraction of concrete slabs. If joints are seriously damaged they will need a Joint Repair or complete Joint Rebuild.
To ensure your floor has a clean and finished look, cracks and pits must be repaired. Cracks can be expected in any concrete slab over time, but if left for an extended period of time, will worsen and become more difficult to repair. For very wide cracks, we remove any high material with a chipping hammer or jackhammer, then clean the area to create a solid surface to adhere to. We route out the crack, and expertly trowel the correct patch material until the area is completely patched. Narrower cracks are filled with a liquid patch materials. Our team will address all the substrate damage – expertly cleaning, assessing and repairing the integrity of your concrete slab.
Typically these occur when something is dropped from overhead, off a transport cart, or because of the repeated impact that occurs as part of your process. They may expand over time, and they may be small areas and few in number or there may be extensive work to be done. Our team will clean, assess and repair these areas as well as part of the preparation for your new flooring system.
