The Stronghold Floors Blog

There are a lot of products that are used with concrete.  One newer item that causes some confusion is concrete densifiers.  Are they a sealer?  Are they the same as epoxy?  Just what is a densifier?

Concrete Densifiers Explained

Concrete densifiers are chemicals that are applied to the surface to:

1)      Fill in the pores at the surface

2)      Increase surface density

3)      Improve the wear resistance

4)      Reduce dusting

We continue to install more commercial coatings that will have a lot of traffic on them.   Some will see mostly foot traffic, while others are subjected daily to automobile, forklift and lift jacks.   These coatings differ in their construct, but regardless of whether it’s a showroom or a warehouse floor, cleaning and maintenance is a must.

Last Thursday, Dave and I went to see three commercial prospects in northern Virginia and Maryland. That, in itself, was not unusual. What was bizarre was the variety of prospects we went to see in just one day.   I’ll review them in order to show how broadly epoxy coatings can be applied in different industries. 

Our team gets asked all the time about why floor coatings fail.   Sometimes it’s for a garage floor that was painted with a big-box store’s epoxy kit.   Other times it’s a commercial service garage where the epoxy just won’t stick.   The reasons can vary, but I’m going to attempt to describe the most common reasons why epoxy coatings fail (this will typically hold true for other types of coatings such as polyaspartic or polyurea). 

Improper Surface Preparation

Too often, an epoxy paint kit from a big box store will instruct the DIY user to just clean the floor or etch it with muriatic acid.   Cleaning along is NEVER enough.   Acid etching, while a valid preparation method, will only work if the concrete’s pores are open enough to allow the acid to react and remove the laitance (the thin cement paste on the very top).  Acid etching will also not suffice for areas of the concrete which are sealed, oil stained, painted or contaminated (with wax, tire shine or other chemicals).

To ensure a proper concrete surface profile (CSP 2 or 3), we normally utilize our shrouded concrete grinders. On rare occasion, we may also shot blast the concrete.  For more information:   Epoxy Floor Coatings: Concrete Surface Profiles Explained

The word epoxy is used too much, even many architects and general contractors do not realize how specialized many coatings materials can be. While most general purpose, epoxy coatings afford a high level of chemical resistance to the concrete they protect, a special class of epoxies, called Novolac provides extremely high chemical resistance.  The Novolac epoxy resins increases resistance to many acids and solvents; although these coatings often have lower flexibility than other coatings.

In epoxy and other polymer coatings, there is always the question of whether the concrete has been properly prepared.   Is the surface rough enough to allow the coating to soak in?  Is it too rough so that the ending surface is not the desired or specified texture?