Preventing Blisters and De-bonding Issues for Resinous Floors

From the Ground Up: Preventing Blisters and Disbonding Problems of Resinous Floors
Applying a finish to a concrete floor using epoxy, urethane or other polymeric materials provides both durability and enhanced aesthetics. On rare occasions, an installation may experience disbondment. This unexpected development presents problems to owners, contractors, specifiers and material manufacturers alike. The three key areas to focus to prevent disbondment problems are: sub-grade preparation, concrete specification, and surface preparation.

Landscape and Sub-Grade Design
The landscape around the building should allow for proper drainage away from the slab. Below grade concrete must be waterproofed on the exterior using urethane coatings to prevent water from accessing the slab or area beneath the slab. Grades should provide natural flow away from the building and roof drainage must be directed away from the building.

The concrete slab sub-grade must be designed to prevent water from accessing the slab. This requires the use of 100 mm of coarse aggregate to break the capillary flow of water, 50 mm of coarse sand is placed over this to fill surface voids and allow for the application of the vapor barrier. The vapor barrier must meet ASTM E 154-88/93 having a minimum perm rating of less than 0.09, as represented by 10-mil polyethylene. Placement of this moisture barrier must be continuous and in compliance with ACI 504. ACI 302 recommends a 50 mm layer of dry sand above the vapor barrier. If following this recommend practice, extraordinary measures must be taken to keep this sand dry. If water is allowed to be captured within this sand layer, it will serve as a water reservoir under the slab. In some cases, it may be more advantageous to pour the concrete directly onto the moisture vapor barrier. Wet curing the concrete will prevent slab curl and corner cracks.

Concrete Formulation (1)
The concrete itself must below permeability and high density to minimize moisture movement within the slab. The following guidelines will yield a suitable concrete mixture:

Installing a concrete mix which meets the above criteria will not only prevent problems associated with high porosity concrete but will minimise the risk of Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR). ASR requires reactive forms of silica or silicate in the aggregates, sufficient alkali (sodium and potassium) from cement, and sufficient moisture in the concrete. The reaction of the alkali fluids in the pores with the silica rich aggregate results in the formation of a swelling gel. The resulting pressure will eventually lead to cracks in the concrete.

The concrete should be finished with a light steel trowel. Over finishing the concrete will only bring additional past to the surface, which does not offer a strong, bonding surface. Best results are obtained when the concrete is wet cured for three days using ponding or wet burlap. The concrete must cure for a minimum of 28 days prior to the application of epoxy or urethane flooring systems. This arbitrary length of time has been adopted by most floor finish manufactures based upon laboratory studies indicating that 95% of the excess water will have left the slab by this time. If the environmental conditions are cooler and/or more humid than typical laboratory conditions, this period of time will be longer. Using a calcium chloride test kit (ASTM E-1869) to measure the moisture drive prior to proceeding will help determine the readiness of the slab for coating.

Surface Preparation (2)
After any decontamination of existing concrete, surface preparation is the same for new construction or existing slabs. Mechanical pulverization using shot blasting is by far the best technique. Acid etching introduces excess water and leaves a salt residue and is not recommended as a preparation technique. The surface profile for coatings, slurries and broadcast systems should be not less than 20% of the thickness of the system. For trowel-applied systems, the surface profile typically should be not less than 0.25 mm. For more detailed information refer to ICRI's recent publication on standardized surface preparation. 

After shotblasting, inspect the concrete for surface irregularities in need of repair. Use polymer modified concrete or epoxy fill materials for repair areas. Cracks can be treated with EPO-FLEX and reinforced with 100 mm fiberglass cloth.

The reading obtained from the Calcium Chloride test must be less than or equal to three pounds per 1000 square feet per day at use conditions. Both temperature and humidity will affect this reading. Moisture will migrate through concrete from warm damp conditions to cool dry conditions. The relationship between temperature and humidity is called vapuor pressure. Moisture will move from high vapour pressure to low vapour pressure. If the MVT reading is higher than 3#/100sf/24hr, remedial measures must be taken. Raising the temperature of the room and increasing the ventilation prior to placing the flooring material will help remove the excess moisture from the slab. If time is not an option, apply primer to help neutralize excess ions and Recover 9000 to increase the density and decrease the porosity of the upper slab surface.

Priming
Using a good penetrating primer will also help to eliminate disbonding problems. This primer serves to repair some of the micro fracturing of the slab due to the shot blasting. Most primers work through mechanically bonding. They penetrate the pores as a liquid then polymerize as a lock and key model. Some contractors continue to "scrub-in" the primer to assist in the penetration process. In special cases, it may be necessary to work with a pre-primer that actually bond to the substrate when surface bonding is in question.

Following these steps will minimise, if not eliminate, problems associated with disbonding of the flooring system from the slab. In new construction, sub-grade detail and landscape design remove potential sources of water. Placing a dense, non-porous slab with proper curing will minimise moisture vapour movement. And proper surface preparation and priming will provide an excellent bond.

1) Guide Specification Cast in Place Concrete for Floor Slabs on Grade that Will Receive Semi-Permeable or Impermeable Finishes.

2) Guideline Instructions for Concrete Surface Preparation.

3) Selecting and Specifying Concrete Surface Preparation for Sealers, Coatings, and Polymer Overlays.