How to treat concrete flooring
Concrete is not all the same
Brand new concrete may not be done correctly and insufficient cement used in the mix leaving the surface rather porous and weak.
If it is of high strength (Mpa) and power floated to leave a smooth hard surface it must be approached differently to the first type.
If it is old concrete with possible oil contamination then degreasing is essential and sometimes not possible if saturated with oil.
In essence, the proper diagnosis of the condition of the concrete will determine the measures to be taken to seal it or coat it. This is best left to a professional.
What to use in each case differs but a principle to understand in sealing concrete is to penetrate the surface and leave a barrier which repels contaminates and is hard wearing.
Latest High Performance screed
You will not believe the technology behind this latest screeding for concrete or in fact for any substrate needing a super-performimg thinly laid screed that has an increased abrasion resistance factor of 30X that is 30 times more abrasion resistant than concrete.
We call it MortaKote, it is like no other screeding ever.
Download the brochure here and be prepared to be amazed.
This must be the easiest and least expensive floor system available!
It is superbly versatile meaning that it can be applied as a thinly laid slurry over tiles, or bricks, or rough concrete etc. Or it can be tinted to any colour or sealed with super smooth top coats if needed. Or it can be mixed into a thick plaster to repair concrete bridges, it is that powerful.
How to use it is explained in the brochure, but very simply there are two components, a dry component and a wet component. You add the dry component to the wet component until you reach the desired consistency you need for the job at hand. The formula is simple, one part blue cement to two parts fine clean silica sand. This is the dry component. Then mix one part MortaKote to two parts water. This is the wet component.
MortaKote performs
As you can tell from the comparison table to the right all the tests prove beyond doubt that MortaKote is outstanding.
The chart on the right may not be interpret-able to the layman so we will help you to understand the important benefits of using MortaKote..
Lets say you have a workshop or a warehouse with forklift trucks carrying tons of weight all day every day and a possibility of chemical spills etc. You need a floor that can withstand all the abuse and for a very long time. You also want the best floor at a reasonable price. Then the chart on the right will make your decision easy, because nothing beats these tests at any price.
A simple concrete sealer
Whilst the word simple is used rather loosely here because to the untrained DIY enthusiast who wishes to treat his own concrete floor it may not be that simple to choose the right product or know how best to apply it and also to diagnose the condition of the concrete so as to correctly prepare it for a top sealer.
We produce a variety of concrete sealers, namely...
KonKote A clear semi-penetrating sealer, (see below)
FlorKote A specialist coating with colour and formulated with super fine silica for long life and hardwearing
SiKote is super specialist deep-penetrating modifier of the surface concrete elements. See the details below...
Other concrete coatings fall into a category of hardwearing aeshetically pleasing sand or pebble coatings which we will cover separately.
KonKote
KonKote is our most popular sealer because it is highly effective in keeping the surface clean and dry (hydrophobic) and acid resistant.
It is produced as a clear coating but we can pigment it if needed.
The Brochure can be downloaded here
