Prepping the Decorative Floor
With any project, the floor needs to be surveyed for its beginning condition and the customer’s expected outcome. This particular floor has a thick epoxy coating covering and is intended to be used for semi-public foot traffic. Clean-ability is important too, since staining liquids and dirt will be common as the surface is trafficked.
To remove the coating, that is over 1/4-inch thick, a 2807 P/M Machine and PCD #00 Prep Tool is used to remove the bulk material. Removal of all the coating is not necessary but at least 90% of the material should be cleaned from the floor’s surface. After the floor has been treated with the #00, it’s vacuumed to get any residual dust left during the PCD process.
Next step is to remove all the epoxy residue and smooth the floor to an approximate #2 CSP. This is done using a 16 grit, 10S tool that will grind the concrete surface clean and change the rough profile left by the PCD to a more smooth condition. After the floor has been treated with 16 grit, it’s vacuumed to get any residual dust left during the 10S process.
Coloring the Decorative Floor with Stains
The color choice and combination is virtually limitless so in this demonstration we used two colors. This color stain is made by Smith Paints and is called Color Floor. It’s a non-fading, concentrated, liquid pigment that is easily diluted when mixed with eight parts distilled water to one part Color Floor.
Once mixed, the color floor can be sprayed by pump sprayer, HVLP sprayer, ragged, brushed, or any other way as the decorative floor need merits. In this case, a simple hand pump sprayer is used to apply an inconsistent pattern for a more natural result.
Once the color has dried (usually 30 minutes minimum), the last step is to apply a sealer that can protect against stains and be easy to clean. For this demonstration, we chose Smith Paints Polyaspartic 1000 series sealer. This is a two-component sealer that is ready for light traffic in six hours and full traffic in 24 hours.
It can be applied by squeegee or roller or a combination of both. In this demonstration, the polyaspartic is applied by squeegee at a rate of 800SF/gallon. The material is pulled thin by the squeegee and then a 1/4-inch, no shed roller is used to even the coating. After a minimum of 90 minutes, a second coat is applied the same way.
With the mottled decorative floor project now complete, our process has cleaned the floor, left a profile the color can bond to, and created a sealed condition that will handle door traffic and remain stain-free for years.
Need the Tools for a Mottled Decorative Floor?
For more information on working on a decorative floor project or, if you need the tools needed to accomplish it, please call (815) 472-9740 today or browse our website for any number of surface preparation products.