Mechanical profiling, not acid etching
We profile slabs with diamond grinders. Grinding removes laitance, old sealers and surface contamination, and opens the concrete to a consistent texture the coating can key into. Acid etching — the method in consumer kits — cannot reliably do that, leaves residue behind, and is a common root cause of delamination.
Grinders run with vacuum shrouds and HEPA extraction so the work stays largely dust-contained, which matters in an attached garage or a finished basement.
Crack, joint and spall repair
Cracks are chased out, cleaned and filled with a structural repair material rather than skimmed over. Control joints are treated based on whether they should be honored through the finish or filled. Spalled and pitted areas are patched with a repair mortar and re-ground flush so the finished floor reads flat.
Some cracks are moving cracks and will eventually telegraph through any coating. When we see that, we say so before the work rather than after.
- Diamond grinding to a consistent profile
- Structural crack routing and filling
- Control joint treatment
- Spall and pit patching with repair mortar
- Oil and contamination remediation
Oil, grease and contamination
Old garages and shops usually have oil that has soaked into the slab. Surface degreasing is not enough on its own — contaminated areas get degreased, ground back and, where saturation is deep, treated with a tolerant primer. Coating directly over contaminated concrete guarantees a bond failure at exactly that spot.
Moisture evaluation
Water vapor moving through a slab can lift a coating off perfectly clean concrete. Below-grade slabs, slabs without a vapor barrier and slabs in wet ground are all candidates. We look for the signs during the estimate and specify a moisture-mitigating primer where the risk warrants it.
What good preparation buys you
A coating bonded into a properly profiled, repaired, contaminant-free slab resists hot tire pickup, chipping at the edges and delamination at joints. It is the difference between a floor that is a permanent improvement to the property and one that becomes a removal project.