Epoxy Floor Preparation: Shot Blasting vs Diamond Grinding
Floor preparation is an imperative task and needs to be handled by practiced workmen. Many homeowners may try to complete the prep work themselves. But the truth is, that prepping concrete can be challenging, and can lead to many flooring mistakes if not planned properly. Whether it’s concrete flooring in construction or metal surface in automobile industry, preparation can’t be avoided in order to ensure high quality end results. There are handful methods of doing so, but most used ones are two techniques; Shot Blasting and Diamond Grinding. Both the methods have their merits and demerits, which depends upon when and where floor preparation is being carried out.
1) Shot Blasting: It is referred as to the process of either cleaning or preparing floor by propelling concrete. This is done to take out floor contaminants. Shot Blasting is also functional as it cleanses the floor and exposes the holes so to create superior adhesion, which creates a better bond for epoxy epoxy flooring. In addition, shot blasting is obliging for urethane flooring and at times it is also carried out in waterproofing process. Not just efficiency, Shot Blasting is also notable for its economy. It is one of the fastest processes of preparing floor. If done with utmost care and by efficient set of equipments, Shot Blasting also turns to be an environment friendly floor preparation because dust and debris are handled attentively by such specialized machines. None the less, this method is not recommended to prepare or repair micro-topping concrete or slim-mil coating floors because of its striped blast prototype impact.
2) Diamond Grinding: When even expert operators find it difficult to prepare flooring without leaving a striped-pattern effect during Shot Blasting, the odds of undesired and enduring damages to floor are likely to be there. Otherwise in any case substandard or say uneven finished flooring will be the outcome in thin-mil epoxies. That is where the second method called Diamond Grinding is quite appealing. In this process, removal of most concrete blots is done with great success and surface is smoothened to avoid strip-pattern impact typical of Shot Blasting. It facilitates utmost control over the resultant floor profile. May it be repair of existing surface and preparing it for epoxy, acrylic, urethane or concrete hardener, Diamond Grinding is s preferred choice over Shot Blasting. This method guarantees efficient removal of adhesives and coatings. It is also most sought process for preparing thin-mil epoxy as well as cement micro-topping and architectural staining. Since Diamond Grinding is clever choice in high-polishing and removal of heavy coatings as well, it is illustrious for its multi-purpose utility. Even Diamond Grinding is an economic affair where high end finishing is required. Instead of spending huge on polished flooring blocks, comparable smoothness and leveling can be attained on mere concrete flooring using Diamond Grinding.
So it all depends on when, where and what kind of flooring preparation is sought. A budget may influence the decision sometimes or the project’s schedule can influence the decision. But regardless of the influence, both Shot Blasting and Diamond Grinding can be excellent choices for floor preparation.