Guide for Applying Thick Film Coatings and Surfacings Over Concrete Floors – SSPC-Guide 20
Definitions
Broadcast Flooring:
Unfilled resins (commonly) or aggregate-filled slurries into which aggregate is scattered by a seeder or manually into the wet uncured resin or slurry which then cures with the aggregate embedded in it.
Broadcast to Saturation/Excess:
The process of scattering aggregate into a wet matrix (see Broadcast) until no matrix wetness is observed (until no more aggregate can be embedded into the wet matrix).
Keyed (Key-in):
The process by which cured concrete is removed to create a termination border for a fluid-applied flooring system.
MVT (Moisture Vapor Transmission):
Description of moisture vapor that passes through a membrane.
Planarity:
General evenness of a surface in an intended direction; may be a sloped or level area.
Recoat Window (Time):
A period beginning at a point when a coating has dried or cured sufficiently to be re-coated and ending when the coating has reached a degree of cure that re-coating is not recommended without an additional surface preparation procedure such as the application of a bond coat or abrading the surface.
Self-Leveling Flooring:
Resinous or polymer cementitious materials that flow out over a concrete slab to seek their own levels; they usually require termination strips rather than key-in terminations.
Sloping Correction:
1) An adjustment applied to a distance measured on a slope to reduce it to a horizontal distance between the vertical lines through its end points 2) The process of installing a given pitch to a surface.
Slurry Flooring:
An aggregate, powder, filler, resin mix producing a flowable, but not necessarily self-leveling mixture. Slurry floor materials are usually troweled to the thickness of the largest aggregate in the material.
Design Considerations for Resinous Flooring Systems
Chemical Resistance:
Correctly selected and applied resin-based floorings are effective in protecting substrates from attack from many types of chemical spills.
Wear Resistance and Durability:
In general, the service life of a resinous flooring system is proportional to the total thickness of the applied system.
Temperature Resistance:
Resinous flooring systems are utilized in a variety of ambient and extreme temperature conditions.
Slip Resistance – wet or dry service conditions:
Smooth surfaced resin-based flooring can be designed to produce excellent slip resistance when dry; however, these same surfaces require a texture to maintain adequate slip resistance under contaminated conditions.
As a general rule, smoother and less porous flooring surfaces are easier to clean and coarse textured surfaces are more difficult to clean. Designing a resinous floor requires a compromise between slip resistance and ease of cleaning.
UV Resistance and Color Retention:
When selecting resin-based flooring materials in areas exposed to prolonged sunlight, high intensity lighting, or ultra-violet radiation, it is important to note that some materials will discolor over time.
General Surface Preparation
Testing for Moisture:
There are four commonly accepted methods of identifying the presence of an adverse moisture condition within a concrete subfloor: the concrete moisture meter, the calcium chloride test, the relative humidity test, and the plastic sheet method. All four methods perform well but each has limitations that, if ignored, can result in a failed project.
Moisture Mitigation:
Moisture vapor emission should be controlled to match the resinous flooring system limitations in order to prevent subsequent bond problems with an installed impermeable coating or flooring system.
Surface Profile:
Surfacings and coatings adhere to the concrete surface primarily through mechanical attachment during the curing process. In general, a profiled substrate surface will gain maximum adhesion by removing the “weak” concrete paste, removing surface contaminants, and increasing the profile for mechanical bond. Depending upon the resin system “wetting” capacity, some systems may require less surface profile than others.
Referenced Standards and Publications
ASTM D4260 Standard Practice for Acid Etching Concrete
ASTM D4262 Standard Test Method for pH of Chemically Cleaned or Etched Concrete Surfaces
ASTM D4263 Standard Test Method for Indicating Moisture in Concrete by the Plastic Sheet Method
ASTM F1869 Standard Test Method for Measuring Moisture Vapor Emission Rate of Concrete Sub-floor Using Anhydrous Calcium Chloride
ASTM F2170 Standard Test Method for Determining Relative Humidity in Concrete Floor Slabs Using in situ Probes
ASTM F2420 Standard Test Method for Determining Relative Humidity on the Surface of Concrete Floor Slabs Using Relative Humidity Probe Measurement and Insulated Hood
SSPC-Guide 20 Guide for Applying Thick Film Coatings and Surfacings Over Concrete Floors
SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings, www.sspc.org
Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Protective Polymer Flooring Systems for Concrete – NACE 02203/ICRI Technical Guideline 03741/SSPC-TR 5
Surface Preparation
Figure 1: ICRI Method Selector
| Coating | Thickness | Surface Profile |
| Sealers | 0 – 3 mils | CSP 1, CSP 2 |
| Thin-Film | 4 – 10 mils | CSP 1, CSP 2, CSP 3 |
| High-Build | 10 – 40 | CSP 3, CSP 4, CSP 5 |
| Self-Leveling | 50 – 125 mils | CSP 4, CSP 5, CSP 6 |
| Polymer Overlay | 125 – 250 mils | CSP 5, CSP 6, CSP 7, CSP 8, CSP 9 |
Polymer Flooring System Design
Terminations
Figure 8: Leading Edge Floor Termination Design
Figure 9: Floor Termination Design at Embedded Angle Iron or Plate
Figure 10: Floor Termination Design at Floor Drain
Figure 11: Floor Termination Design at Unsleeved Pipe Penetration
Figure 12: Floor Termination Design at Unsleeved Pipe Penetration
Figure 13: Rolled Radius Cove Base Detail
Figure 14: Cove Strip Cove Base Detail
Figure 15: Pre-Cast Cove Base Detail
Figure 16: Gypsum Wall Board Cove Base Detail
Figure 17: Isolation (Expansion) Joint and Cove Base Detail at Floor/Wall Junction
Figure 18: Radius Cove Base Detail
NACE 02203/ICRI Technical Guideline 03741/SSPC-TR 5 Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Protective Polymer Flooring Systems for Concrete
NACE International, www.nace.org
ICRI 710.1-2004 (Formerly 03741) Guideline for Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Protective Polymer Flooring Systems for Concrete
International Concrete Repair Institute, Inc., www.icri.org
ICRI 310.2R-2013, Selecting and Specifying Concrete Surface Preparation for Sealers, Coatings, Polymer Overlays, and Concrete Repair
International Concrete Repair Institute, Inc., www.icri.org