You’ve chosen your floors, you’ve chosen your colors, but there’s one more step before you begin installation – surface preparation. Most concrete floors are full of cracks and imperfections that need to be smoothed before laying down new floors. Surface preparation is to flooring what primer is to painting a wall. Sure, you could paint with out it, but the product would not be nearly as beautiful as expected. Prepping the floors first is the best way to guarantee your V-8 hybrid floors are installed properly.
There are many ways to prepare a concrete surface for coating. One popular and very effective option is diamond grinding. Diamond grinding uses closely spaced diamond saw blades to remove a thin layer at the surface of hardened concrete. The uncut concrete between each saw cut breaks off, leaving a level surface.
A simple floor cleaning or dust collection is also recommended. This helps to reduce airborne dust and particulate for a cleaner, safer work environment and easy installation.
If the floor already has an existing resin or epoxy flooring, shot blasting removes old floor coatings without damaging the concrete surface. It is also used on new concrete to clean and roughen for maximum flooring adhesion.
Some contractors may rush through the installation of resin, and neglect to grind down the existing floors. This is a huge mistake, and may require a replacement of the floors later on. This results in a huge waste of money, time, labor, and loss of trust from the client. Prepping the concrete with a combination of the above solutions is the best way to guarantee the floors are installed properly.
