The words on a coating quote, defined so you can compare bids without a chemistry degree.
Using muriatic or citric acid to roughen concrete. Cheap, ineffective, and the reason most DIY floors peel. We never use it.
Two families of polyurea/polyurethane chemistry. Aliphatic (like polyaspartic) is UV-stable; aromatic yellows in sunlight. Topcoats should be aliphatic.
The first resin layer, whose job is to bond into the concrete and carry the pigment. Usually polyurea or 100%-solids epoxy.
Throwing flake or quartz onto the wet base coat until it can't hold any more. Produces a full, uniform, thick decorative layer with no base coat showing.
A 1–10 scale of surface roughness. Coatings need CSP 2–3, which diamond grinding produces and acid etching does not.
A lithium or sodium silicate that reacts with concrete to harden the surface and stop dusting. Used under polished concrete and on bare slabs.
White, powdery salt deposits pushed to the surface of concrete by moisture. A sign of vapor movement that must be addressed before coating.
A two-part thermoset resin. 100%-solids epoxy is a strong body coat for interior floors; water-based epoxy is a thin paint. Epoxy yellows under UV.
Vinyl color chips broadcast into the base coat for a granite look, texture and film build. Sizes from 1/16" to 1".
When a hot tire softens a weak coating and pulls it off the concrete on the next cold start. A failure of prep and product, not of the driver.
The weak, chalky layer on the surface of cured concrete. Must be ground off or the coating bonds to it instead of to the slab.
One thousandth of an inch. A DIY kit is 3–5 mils; a professional flake system is 25–35 mils.
Water vapor moving up through a slab. Measured with calcium-chloride or in-situ probe tests; high readings require a vapor-barrier primer.
An aliphatic polyurea formulated for hand application. UV-stable, fast-curing, flexible, chemical-resistant. Our standard topcoat.
A fast-setting resin family with excellent penetration and flexibility. Used as a base coat and as crack/joint filler.
Colored quartz sand broadcast into resin, often twice, for the toughest, grippiest decorative floor.
Surface concrete flaking off, usually from freeze-thaw and de-icing salts. Repaired by grinding to sound concrete and skim-coating.
The clear final layer that takes the abuse. Should be aliphatic polyaspartic with an anti-slip additive.
A moisture-tolerant epoxy primer applied to slabs with high vapor readings so the coating above doesn't bubble.
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