We’re often asked how we prepare and coat a floor, so we thought we’d walk you through the steps.
1. Taking stock
When you decide to paint a piece of furniture, you must be sure the paint will adhere to the surface, so you may need to first apply a product to improve the adhesion of the paint. Floors are no different. Our team examines the state of the existing floor to determine how best to prepare it and whether any repairs are needed before the coating goes on. We also check the humidity level of the concrete and verify whether your floor will need any particular cleaning.
2. Preparing your floor
For all types of concrete, we mechanically scarify the surface. This abrasion ensures that the polymer about to be applied will adhere. Just as you sand your piece of furniture to remove all traces of the old paint and smooth out the surface, scarifying enables us to remove any grease, dirt, residue or other substances that might stop the polymer from adhering properly.
Some people choose to go it alone when coating their floors. After all, the process appears straightforward enough. However, not all floors are the same, and it’s easy to omit certain steps for specific types of surfaces. That’s why the expertise of a professional is essential in determining the right solutions and preventing problems that can arise from inadequate water tightness, a lack of uniformity or any other defect. For example, if your surface is porous, our team will likely apply an epoxy primer or a polymer concrete.
3. Applying the coating
This is without question the most highly anticipated and trickiest step: application of the coating product. A number of options are available to you.
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Epoxy
Epoxy is perfect for living areas such as a condo, basement or office, and transparent epoxy is ideal on this type of surface. For factory or warehouse floors, we recommend coloured epoxy, as it’s recognized for its ability to resist heavy traffic. We apply the epoxy using a scraper or roller. For a non-slip finish, we add aluminum oxide or silica sand.
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Vinyl chips
The application of vinyl chips is strongly recommended for garage floors but can be equally effective for commercial floors, such as kitchens, cafeterias, commercial businesses, and more.
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Transparent polymer
If you choose vinyl chips, we apply a transparent finish at the end of the process to seal the chips. This coat, which may be epoxy, polyurethane or polycarbamide, protects the coloured polymer layer and gives a glossy finish to the floor. For your home, for example, we recommend polycarbamide, because its colour remains intact and it can be applied in a thick layer.
We invite you to contact us or visit one of our outlets for more information about our floor coatings.