How To Waterproof Concrete Floors

Visit www.rocksolidsurfacing.com for more information 800-328-1443

Steve Conklin, and his nationwide network of Rock Solid Surfacing professionals know how to waterproof concrete floors. It has taken years of trial and error  developing the right products and methods to come up with a solution that has burdened commercial and residential property owners forever.

Over the years many attempts have been made but until the development of polyurea coatings nothing worked.

Polyurea coatings were originally developed over 20 years ago by Bayer Material Sciences. They have been used as a coating over steel to prevent corrosion with excellent results. Bayer research and development experimented with polyaspartics for many uses, one of which was coating concrete.

They tried many blends finally coming up with the right combination of  ingredients and blending process that works when concrete is properly grinded and cracks, blemishes and spalling fixed.

Steve Conklin owner of Rock Solid Surfacing has been using the pure Bayer formula since 2006.  After field testing polyureas on thousands of floors in challenging environments  Steve discovered how to waterproof concrete floors using the Bayer Pure blend.

The problems their clients had were unique to floors with basement space. The challenge was how to prevent water from seeping through concrete garage floors into basements causing mold and damaging valuable space.  In the Rocky Mountains many homes are built on a hill with garage floors higher than the basement.

How To Waterproof Concrete Floors The Challenges www.rocksolidsurfacing.com

1. Garage Apron – the exterior apron or edge outside the garage door is where the problem starts. Road salts tracked by auto tires deteriorate the concrete. Then rain and melting snow start to saturate the concrete.  Saturated, wet concrete will freeze, expand and crack the concrete.
2. Let’s talk about that crack. Once it starts more water gets in and the freezing makes the crack bigger. The crack may only appear as a hairline but below the surface the crack is wider. Water seeps through and now starts working it’s way below  to your basement or below grade space.
3. Water may not actually drip but travel along the crack and down a wall so you might not know that the crack is the source. If it is traveling down the wall via a crack you might think it’s water coming through the wall. An expensive remediation will prove that’s not the case.

How To Waterproof Concrete Floors The Solution

1. Polyaspartics have the unique ability to soak into concrete which no other product I know about can do. Epoxy products typically stick to concrete and can delaminate. Polyaspartics on the other hand will soak into concrete then dry. Imagine glue soaking into a sponge. When it dries the glue is part of the sponge and the sponge is rock hard. As a result polyaspartics become like a moisture prevention membrane. The concrete will break before the polyaspartic comes free.
2. For polyaspartics to soak into the concrete the surface must be grinded. The purpose is to open the pores of the concrete so the polyaspartic can soak in. Additionally the grinding will expose cracks that you couldn’t see.  The concrete is grinded with a heavy machine and diamond blades. Machines range from 300 lbs for small floors and up to 1,000 lbs for large projects. Then the cracks are properly filled with a polyurea that also soaks into the walls of the concrete. Polyureas also have flexability so they will not crack. The fix is permanent.
3. Leveling the floor- grinding will level the floor so that water doesn’t have anywhere to pool while providing a nice flat surface for applying the polyaspartic. Properly grinded to a smooth level surface ensures a high quality decorative result when completed.
4. Cove molding – Steve Conklin of Rock Solid Surfacing uses cove molding along the edges before applying the polyaspartic coating. The polyaspartic is applied up to the top edge of the molding. They tape the top edge and pull the tape for a nice crisp edge. The cove molding travels along the interior walls. The final result is a seamless pan. Any water that gets on the floor can be easily and quickly removed with a squeegy.
5. Outside edge - Polyaspartics will not yellow and will perform outside as well as inside. I might add that they are easy to clean. When polyaspartics scratch as will any flooring the scartches are clean. If you looked under a magnifying glass you would find a nice clean scratch. Epoxies on the other hand fray when they get scratched trapping dirt. As a result polyaspartics are easily cleaned and will look like new indefinately.

This process of how to waterproof concrete floors is fairly new, proven technology, a result of innovation by a number of creative individuals and companies.  You can contact  Steve Conklin if you need a concrete waterproofing solution for your home or business.  Steve travel for large commercial projects and with their network of Rock Solid Surfacing applicators. For smaller projects they will recommend the appropriate specialist in your geographic area.

For Information about How To Fix a Concrete Floor click this link

Steve Conklin of Rock Solid Surfacing 800-328-1443 www.rocksolidsurfacing.com

Popularity: 32% [?]