SCRATCHING THE SURFACE Claude Besson, Country Manager for France at surface preparation equipment


manufacturer National Flooring Equipment, explains the risks of taking shortcuts when it comes to concrete profiling and advises on best practice.


When oil painting, priming your canvas with gesso protects the fibres and means your painting will last the test of time. If poorly primed, the oil can sink into the canvas and leave dull patches on the painting. Similarly, correct concrete profiling is essential for beautiful, long- lasting flooring.


Concrete surface profile (CSP) is a standardised measure for the roughness of a surface, defined by the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI). To understand CSP, we can think of the concrete surface as a landscape with mountains, where the CSP indicates the average distance between the highest peaks and the lowest valleys. This


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measure ranges from one to nine ― the higher the number, the rougher the surface. Concrete profiling is required in two major areas, surface preparation and surface finishing, though it can also find a variety of other applications.


Surface Preparation


During surface preparation, concrete profiling is critical to ensure that the overlay will adhere properly. In this phase, the substrate is cleaned, pre-existing coatings are removed, and the concrete is treated to obtain the right CSP. Overlays bond best to surfaces with a rough, sandpaper-like finish. The thicker the overlay or topping, the higher the CSP should be.


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