A failed floor is the cheap one
It sounds backwards and it is consistently true. A coating that has debonded, whether it was acid etched instead of ground, applied over a damp slab or simply worn out, has already released from the concrete, so much of it comes up in sheets under a scraper before the grinder even starts. A properly installed coating is mechanically keyed into the profile and has to be abraded away millimetre by millimetre.
What removal actually involves
A planetary grinder with PCD tooling, which is a set of polycrystalline diamond segments designed to shear coatings rather than polish concrete, run under HEPA extraction. On heavier builds or a large commercial area, shot blasting is faster: steel shot fired at the surface, rebounding with the coating fragments, all recovered and separated by the machine. Either way the goal is not just removal but leaving a clean CSP profile ready to recoat.
Why it belongs in the quote as its own line
Removal is the single most common reason an initial estimate moves, and it is the one thing that cannot be assessed reliably from a photograph. We test a small area at the site visit, which tells us within a couple of minutes whether the existing floor lifts or fights. That result goes on the quote as a separate line, so the number you sign covers the actual condition rather than a hopeful assumption.
The case for not removing it
Sometimes the honest answer is to leave it. A sound, well-bonded existing coating with no delamination can occasionally be abraded and recoated rather than stripped, which is far cheaper. That decision depends on what the old product is, whether the new system is compatible with it and whether adhesion testing passes. We test rather than assume, because building a new floor on an old bond you have not verified is how a floor fails twice.
Want this answered for your slab?
Free site visit with a moisture reading, then a written fixed price. Across the BC Interior.