26 terms your quote will use
The words on
your quote
Contractors use these terms as if everyone knows them. Knowing four or five of them is the difference between comparing quotes and guessing.
- Aliphatic
- A resin chemistry that is stable under ultraviolet light. Polyaspartic and polyurethane topcoats are aliphatic, which is why they do not yellow in sunlight. The opposite is aromatic.
- Aromatic
- A resin chemistry that breaks down under ultraviolet light, ambering and then chalking. Standard epoxy is aromatic, which is why a clear epoxy topcoat should never be the final layer on a floor that sees sun.
- Broadcastalso: Full broadcast, partial broadcast
- Throwing flake or quartz aggregate into wet resin so it embeds in the surface. Broadcasting to "full rejection" means continuing until the floor will not absorb any more, typically 0.5-0.8 lbs per square foot for flake.
- Calcium chloride test
- A moisture test where a sealed dish of anhydrous calcium chloride sits on the slab for 60-72 hours and is re-weighed. The result is moisture vapour emission in lbs per 1,000 sq ft per 24 hours. Most coatings cap this at 3-5 lbs.
- Coving
- Turning the floor coating up the wall as an integral radius, usually 4-6 inches. Eliminates the floor-to-wall joint entirely, which is why it is required in most commercial kitchen and food-processing inspections.
- CSP (Concrete Surface Profile)
- The industry scale for how mechanically open a concrete surface is, running CSP 1 (acid-etched, barely textured) to CSP 9 (scarified). Thin coatings need CSP 2-3; thick broadcast systems need CSP 4-5. The wrong profile voids most manufacturer warranties.
- Delamination
- A coating separating from the slab. Almost always caused by inadequate surface preparation or by moisture vapour pressure from below, rather than by the product itself.
- Densifier
- A penetrating lithium or sodium silicate that reacts with free lime in concrete to harden the surface chemically. Used in polished concrete and as a standalone dust-proofing treatment. There is no film, so nothing can peel.
- Diamond grinding
- Mechanically opening the concrete surface with planetary grinders fitted with diamond-segment tooling. The correct preparation for any coating, and the alternative to acid etching.
- Efflorescence
- White crystalline salt deposits left when water moves through concrete and evaporates. Found under delaminated coatings, it is a clear sign that moisture from below caused the failure.
- Flakealso: Chip, vinyl flake
- Coloured vinyl chip broadcast into wet resin for texture, slip resistance and appearance. Comes in blends and in sizes from 1/8" (refined) to 1/4" (bold and textural).
- Hot tire pickup
- Coating lifting off in a tread pattern when a vehicle with hot tires is parked on it. Plasticizers migrate out of warm rubber into thin or under-cured coatings. The signature failure of consumer kits and of floors driven on before full cure.
- In-situ RH test
- Drilling to 40% of slab depth, inserting a sleeve, and reading relative humidity inside the concrete after 72 hours of equilibration. More reliable than a surface test because it measures the whole slab. Most systems need readings below 75-80%.
- Mil
- One thousandth of an inch, the standard unit for coating thickness. A professional residential flake system is 25-35 mils; industrial builds are 40+; a hardware-store kit is typically 2-4.
- Moisture mitigation primer
- A 100% solids epoxy primer engineered to resist vapour pressure from below, applied before the decorative build on slabs with high moisture readings. Typically rated to 95%+ RH and adds $2-$4 per square foot.
- Novolac
- A high-chemical-resistance epoxy used where aggressive acids, caustics or solvents contact the floor regularly. Specified in zones rather than across a whole floor, because it costs considerably more.
- Polyaspartic
- A fast-cure, UV-stable aliphatic polyurea used as a topcoat. Recoats in one to two hours, cures down to roughly 0°C, and never ambers. Costs 30-40% more than epoxy per gallon and gives crews far less working time.
- Polyurea
- A resin family known for fast cure and flexibility. Rigid polyurea is the standard crack filler because it cures harder than the surrounding concrete; polyaspartic is a deliberately slowed aliphatic polyurea used as a topcoat.
- Pot life
- How long a mixed resin stays workable before it starts to set. Epoxy is forgiving; polyaspartic can be as short as fifteen minutes, which is why an inexperienced crew leaves lap marks in it.
- Quartz broadcast
- Ceramic-coated coloured quartz aggregate broadcast into resin, usually in two full passes, to build a seamless 1/8"-1/4" surface. The standard specification for commercial kitchens, breweries and labs.
- Shot blasting
- Firing steel shot at the slab to profile it and strip coatings, with the shot recovered and recycled by the machine. More aggressive than grinding, used for thick coatings and for the CSP 4-5 profile that broadcast systems require.
- Solids content
- The percentage of a coating that remains after solvents or water evaporate. 100% solids epoxy leaves everything applied; a 45% solids product leaves less than half, which is why consumer kits build so little thickness.
- Spall
- Concrete flaking or breaking away from the surface, usually from freeze-thaw cycling, salt intrusion or impact. Spalled areas are rebuilt with resin mortar and ground flush before coating, coating over them just reproduces the damage.
- Thermal shock
- Rapid temperature change at the floor surface, as when boiling water hits a cool slab in a dish pit. Standard epoxy expands at a different rate than concrete and eventually debonds; urethane cement is formulated to handle it.
- Urethane cement
- A cementitious urethane system with a thermal expansion rate close to concrete. The correct specification for commercial kitchens, breweries and any floor taking boiling liquid or steam cleaning regularly.
- Vapour barrier
- A membrane installed under a concrete slab at the time of the pour to stop soil moisture wicking upward. Slabs poured without one, common in the Okanagan before the 1990s, are the ones that need moisture mitigation before coating.
See these terms in context
Every Apex quote is written using these words with the numbers filled in. CSP profile, film thickness in mils, moisture reading, broadcast rate.