“It’s all in the prep…”
You’ve heard it repeated over and over as you researched your epoxy coating project and it’s true, the best epoxy products available are only as good as the substrate to which they are applied. Cracked, spalled or otherwise damaged concrete will need attention as part of your surface preparation efforts in order to achieve and assure a successful coatings application.
In an ideal world every project would begin with a brand new concrete slab. In our world that’s not always the case but, fortunately for you, you’ve chosen Wolverine Coatings for your coatings needs and we have solutions for just about every challenge that you might face on your way to a durable and beautifully coated floor.
In this TechNote we will address the repair of significantly damaged concrete and will utilize a customer’s project to illustrate the proper repair of a cracked and displaced concrete utilizing Wolverine Coatings TrowelEase 1162 epoxy mortar patch kit. In this particular case the extent of the damage was not fully realized until all prior coatings were ground off revealing the compromised substrate. Due to overall rough condition of the existing substrate we chose to apply two 6-10 mil coats of BondTite 1101. The first coat was applied after all the damaged concrete had been exposed, removed and prepped. The second BondTite coat was applied after the TrowelEase 1162 repairs were completed. The first BondTite 1101 coat is not required but may be considered if the overall floor is in bad shape.
The examples above show a corner of the slab that had cracked all the way through as well as deteriorated concrete surface similar in appearance to spalled concrete. The first step was to identify and remove all the affected concrete. In the case of the broken corner it was simply a matter of loosening and removing all of the suspect material. For the deteriorated edge the customer pinged the surrounding concrete with a ball peen hammer, breaking up the compromised concrete. It is not necessary to utilize a lot of force, light to moderate taps of the hammer will reveal “soft” areas. Make sure to utilize proper eye, ear and respiratory protection!
Make sure to break up and remove all suspect concrete.