Concrete is tough and long-lasting, making it a great floor material for most kinds of properties. Given its repute, it may shock you to read that concrete is in truth porous. Given enough time, water from beneath walkways or slabs makes its way through the concrete to the surface, where the water then evaporates. During its travels, the water picks up salts taken from the concrete. These salts become a white powder when the water dries on the surface of the concrete. This unwanted substance is called efflorescence.
If you see cracks or joints in your floor that never completely dry, this points to a significant cache of moisture under your concrete. Some people attempt to conceal the issue with tile or DIY epoxy. Without a quality sealant however, the water finds its way through, resulting in loose tiles or coatings that bubble and peel away. Then the problem is worse and more expensive to fix.
What To Do About Efflorescence
Depending on severity, you might need to resolve the water issue ahead of proceeding (sealing the concrete may not prevent challenges in the walls or other locations). If the situation is localized to the concrete, a cleanup and epoxy sealing makes sure your floor surface won’t be vulnerable to moisture again. West Coast Epoxy adds a liquid barrier to our epoxy sealer that prevents bubbling from water vapor. After the procedure is complete, the concrete foundation is indeed waterproof on top and you can confidently overlay it with ceramic tile, wood, carpet, or laminates.
For epoxy sealers, the age of the concrete generally does not matter as long as it is stable. Epoxy coatings dry rapidly, limiting delays, but it cannot be applied to brand new concrete until the material is fully set. To discover more about moisture remediation for concrete floors, connect with West Coast Epoxy for help in Alameda.
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