When it comes to choosing what type of surface preparation is right for your task, you know a lot of factors come into play. What kind of concrete surface profile are you trying to achieve? Will there be a coating or overlay applied? What kind of space or surface are you working in?
To help you choose the right surface preparation equipment, we’re comparing floor grinders, scarifiers, and shot blasters. To see them in action, check out the video below!
Why You Need a Floor Grinder
Floor grinders are essential in both residential and commercial surface preparation because they’re incredibly versatile and able to achieve a smooth, even surface. They are used to remove old coatings, grind away cracks, stains, and damage, and smooth away pits and uneven spaces to create a safe, level surface. The Prep/Master Jr is an excellent grinder for small spaces, to get into narrow areas, and it’s an affordable option if you don’t use a grinder very often but need one in your equipment inventory.
Adding a Scarifier to Your Inventory
A scarifier uses powerful cutting wheels to mill concrete, cement, and asphalt. These are most often used to remove thick coatings, plastic, remove the first layers of damaged concrete, or create heavily textured surfaces for a non-slip surface. If you frequently need to achieve a concrete surface profile of 4 or higher, a scarifier is one of the more effective ways to do it.
In the video above, you’ll see the Airtec Euro-Sprint 8-inch scarifier in action. This is a compact tool that’s ideal for small areas like garages or residential areas whether you need to mill asphalt, remove old parking lines, paint, or coatings, or even remove rust from flat metal surfaces.
Why You Need a Shot Blaster
A shot blaster is one of the most relied-upon tools in surface preparation. Because all but the smoothest surface profiles can be achieved, depending on the size of the shot being used, shot blasters are often used to remove paint and epoxy and get the right profile to add fresh coatings, including epoxy, mastic, and plastic. Aside from removing thick, rubber coatings (the shot can bounce, rather than remove), hardwood flooring, and carpet, shot blasters can be used in all types of surface preparation.
The video above shows the IMPACTS 210E 8-inch shot blaster. Like the other two in the video, this is a compact option that’s perfect for occasional use and smaller spaces. It includes an In-Line Separation system so it can separate dust and debris and collect that for disposal while recycling abrasive shot to use over and over. This saves you time and reduces cost on your task!
Contact Us for Your Surface Preparation Equipment
If you need compact surface preparation equipment to help you improve performance and tackle more jobs, we can help! To get a quote or learn more about each option and determine which one is right for you, call our product experts today at (815) 472-9749 or by filling out our contact form.