Residents and business owners choose concrete for their flooring projects due to its durability. Installing concrete is also cost-effective, even when adding commercial coatings. In addition, you can also choose from numerous color schemes, designs, and patterns.
However, despite concrete’s many advantages, issues like damage from UV rays and moisture can occur. While these issues are natural, dealing with them can quickly become tedious and expensive.
This guide explores how to prevent excess moisture from impacting your concrete flooring projects.
What Problems Can Excessive Moisture Cause?
Before exploring effective solutions for preventing or combating moisture, it’s important to know what kinds of problems excessive moisture can cause, such as:
- Your concrete surfaces can start cracking or bubbling, diminishing your floor’s aesthetics.
- Crumbling can also occur, leading to ridges and holes. These imperfections are not only unattractive but create safety hazards.
- Moisture may trigger uneven surfaces increasing the risks of people slipping and falling.
- Excessive moisture can create the perfect environment for mold growth, leading to structural damage alongside potential health risks.
These issues are significant concerns for homeowners and become more serious when running a business. Having unattractive concrete surfaces can cause customers or clients to take their business elsewhere. However, proper commercial coatings and other solutions can prevent these potential problems.
Why Does Concrete “Sweat”?
Concrete sweating occurs when warm air from the outside mixes with a concrete slab’s interior. This process causes moisture to grow on the concrete’s surface. This problem typically occurs when there’s a lot of humidity outside.
Sealants and coatings can help prevent excessive moisture, avoiding further issues like mold spores. However, business owners may still experience sweating concrete, and fixing the problem may require joint sealants or similar solutions.
Simple Ways to Keep Your Floors Dry on Rainy Days
The best way to protect your concrete surfaces is through implementing coating solutions from an expert commercial coatings company in Charlotte.
However, you can use a few simple solutions to protect your concrete when it’s raining:
- Use a dehumidifier to dry your floors.
- Use entry mats and other floor mats to reduce moisture levels.
- Adjust an area’s temperature levels to prevent your concrete surfaces from sweating. You’ll want to make your interior areas the same temperatures as outside.
- Dry your concrete surfaces using floor fans.
Steps to Take for Applying a Concrete Coating System
You should take certain steps to apply a commercial coating system for your business:
Take Your Time
As a business owner, you want any repair or floor installation project to disrupt your normal activities minimally. Unfortunately, this desire may lead some business owners to cut corners by reducing time or resources.
However, reducing your floor’s natural drying and curing time can cause vapors to collect underneath your surfaces. As such, it’s better to keep your flooring project’s drying and curing time flexible when possible.
Sometimes, you can use heaters or dehumidifiers to expedite the process, but it’s still best to consult professionals before deciding to do so.
Run Comprehensive Moisture Tests
After completing the curing and drying process, it’s good practice to conduct tests to see if your concrete flooring has any lingering moisture. Two main concrete moisture tests exist:
- Calcium chloride test: An older testing method, experts also call this test the moisture vapor emission rate (MVER) test. This test involves placing calcium chloride salt over 72 hours and measuring the concrete slab’s weight difference.
- Relative humidity (RH) probes: Most professionals prefer using an RH probe to measure relative humidity inside concrete floors. The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association recommends an RH level of 75 to 80% before installing commercial coatings.
Use the Best Materials Possible
Whether installing brand-new concrete floors or exploring commercial coatings, you always want to use the best materials possible. The correct installation can protect your concrete surfaces from moisture, chemical spills, fire, everyday wear and tear, and more.
The right materials are especially vital for businesses. For example, commercial properties constantly deal with heavy foot traffic and potential water damage from regular cleaning.
At Southeast Floor Maintenance, our team provides year-round epoxy bases and polyaspartic topcoats and polyurea bases with polyaspartic topcoats during winter.
Call Us Today for the Best Commercial Coatings Company in Charlotte
Excessive moisture can quickly damage your concrete surfaces, diminishing your commercial property’s value. While some DIY solutions exist, the best option is to call a professional crew.
For top-notch commercial coatings to protect your business from moisture and similar issues, call our experts at Southeast Floor Maintenance at (704) 741-9912!
