Concrete Laitance, is a weak, milky layer of cement and aggregate fines on a concrete surface that is usually caused by an overwet mixture, overworking the mixture, improper or excessive finishing, or combination thereof.

We know that choosing a top coat for a floor coating can get confusing. With several formulations available, how do you know which is best for you? Which type you choose may also depend on whether you are applying it yourself or having it professionally installed. For this reason, we have decided to review the various clear coat options available to help you decide which is best suited for you. A top coat has many benefits, besides enhancing the look of your color coat, it will also protect the optional color flakes and the rest of the coating from the numerous elements that a floor encounters. It does this by acting as the sacrificial layer. The number one rule when choosing a top coat for your floor coating; The top coat should be of equal or greater performance than the base coat. Remember, your coating is only as good as the weakest link. It will only perform as well as the final coat that is applied.

Our 10 years of industry experience have provided us with invaluable insight on not only the importance of facility hygiene by keeping plant killing pathogens controlled, but also the equal importance of staying compliant in front of regulation changes as they happen. With more and more industry scrutiny, food-grade and pharmaceutical standards will become mandatory.

Although it may not be immediately evident, trafficking impact and the stress imposed on the bond line through repeated fluctuations in temperature will eventually cause the laitance interface layer to delaminate, resulting in the flooring installation failing,” writes Neil Sanders, in the Contract Flooring Journal. Laitance can cost your team big bucks and unnecessary man-hours down the line to repair or replace any coating applied on top of it. So, what is laitance? Laitance is a weak, easily-crumbled layer on the surface of concrete, consisting of cement and fine aggregates that rise to the surface when too much water is added. Laitance may also be caused by over-trowelling, rain damage, or poor curing. Laitance is always present on new concrete – but unfortunately, age is no guarantee that it’s not present unless it has been removed by previous surface preparation. The laitance layer may look like nothing more than fine dust, or it can reach a depth of several millimeters or more. How do I test for laitance? Scrape the surface of your concrete floor with a knife. If a powdery material can be scraped from the surface, excessive laitance is present. To get a sense of how thick the laitance is, “Score the surface of the substrate with a steel edge until the main aggregate is reached,” Sanders writes. If your project needs a more accurate measure, there is also scratch testing equipment available. Then, how do I remove it? There are several ways to remove laitance. The method depends on how much area the laitance is covering, how thick the layer is, and how detailed your work needs to be. If laitance is thicker, mechanical planing may be preferred. Surface planers, also called scarifiers or milling machines, remove the layer faster and more aggressively because “they use the pummeling action of multi-tipped cutting wheels that rotate at high speeds to chip away at the surface,” ConcreteNetwork.com explains. In large areas, shot blasting and grinding are the fastest and most efficient ways to remove laitance, preparing thousands of square feet at a single go. Scrabbling, abrading, or grinding are also recommended for removing laitance in areas that require more precision, with equipment designed for control, ease of handling, and safe operation in smaller areas and on edge detail. Acid etching can remove laitance but has some disadvantages. Results vary underprepared denser surface areas. Treated surfaces must be flushed with water, rinsed with a neutralizing wash, flushed with water again, then fully dried before a coating can be applied.

For proper bonding of overlays and coatings, it is important that a concrete surface has the correct Concrete Surface Profile or CSP. A CSP rating is a standardized rating that allows you to visually determine the concrete surface roughness. We recommend a CSP Rating 3 for FX-100 The most important step in creating a quality floor is the preparation. For the proper bonding of any coating or overlay, you need to properly prepare the floor with the proper concrete surface profile. What is a concrete surface profile? A concrete surface profile, known as a CSP, is a standardized measure for the ‘roughness’ of a surface that is defined by the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI). A very rough surface will have a high CSP number, such as CSP 9. A very smooth surface with almost no preparation at all will be a CSP 1. See concrete prep guide here. https://documents.flexrockcoatings.com/flexrockcoatingsconcreteprepguide CSP Rating 2 This rating can be achieved with tooling that carries a 70–80 Grit rating. For coating applications from 2–3 mil thickness, the surface profile should be a CSP. FlexRock Coatings CSP Rating 3 This rating can be achieved with tooling that carries a 30-40 Grit rating. For coating applications from 4–5 mil thickness, the surface profile should be a CSP 3. FlexRock Coatings CSP Rating 4 This rating can be achieved with tooling that carries a 16 Grit rating. For coating applications from 15–50 mil thickness, the surface should be a CSP 4.

f you plan to overlay or restore existing concrete, proper surface preparation is essential to achieving good results. Preparing concrete surfaces for coatings, overlays, stains, or repair materials is a time-consuming task that many contractors perform reluctantly or are tempted to overlook altogether. If you’ve ever skipped this essential first step in the process, you undoubtedly learned the hard way how critical it is to the success of the job. Concrete surfaces are prepared prior to resurfacing concrete to look like plain concrete again or to be upgraded to a decorative finish. Today polymers can be applied as thin as 1/8 ” or up to 3/4″ thick and stamped, producing a surface that looks just like a normal stamped concrete surface. Surfaces are also prepared prior to various floor-coating installations in industrial, commercial, and institutional applications. The most important characteristic of resurfacing materials or floor coatings is the texture of the concrete. This section offers an overview of the steps required for surface preparation as well as an introduction to the machinery that is used. If you plan to overlay or restore existing concrete, proper surface preparation is essential to achieving good results. It could be twice the cost to reinstall a floor that had defects. We recommend a Level 3 Profile Rating for FX-100 See concrete prep guide here. https://documents.flexrockcoatings.com/flexrockcoatingsconcreteprepguide

You will only have 30 to 40 minutes (See curing estimates chart) to apply your coating material (after Part A and Part B are mixed together) to the surfaces before the coating material starts to harden. In order to begin coating, the substrate must be dry which is generally not achievable without having the dew point temperature being at least 5°C or 10°F below the substrate temperature.

1lb per 10 Sq ft. We recommend having double that to broadcast to rejection. People that have experience can typically use 50lbs per 400sf to broadcast to rejection. Guide to broadcasting Decorative Chip

We know that choosing a top coat for a floor coating can get confusing. With several formulations available, how do you know which is best for you? Which type you choose may also depend on whether you are applying it yourself or having it professionally installed. For this reason, we have decided to review the various clear coat options available to help you decide which is best suited for you. A top coat has many benefits, besides enhancing the look of your color coat, it will also protect the optional color flakes and the rest of the coating from the numerous elements that a floor encounters. It does this by acting as the sacrificial layer. The number one rule when choosing a top coat for your floor coating; The top coat should be of equal or greater performance than the base coat. Remember, your coating is only as good as the weakest link. It will only perform as well as the final coat that is applied.