Service · Surface preparation
Prep the slab right — everything else gets easier.
Polished floors that hold their gloss. Coatings that bond and stay bonded. Stains that absorb evenly. They all start with surface preparation that's done correctly, dust-controlled, and matched to whatever comes next.
Why prep matters
Every floor failure traces back to prep.
Every coating failure we get called to fix traces back to prep. A polished floor that won't hold its sheen, an epoxy that delaminates, a stain that absorbs unevenly — almost always a profile or contamination problem on the surface, not a product problem.
Grinding, shot blasting, scarifying, planing, chemical strip — we own and operate the full range. We don't over-prep when light grinding works, and we don't under-prep when the surface needs full profile.
What we do
Five prep techniques, matched to what comes next.
- 01
Diamond grinding
Mechanical grinding using diamond-segmented tooling to level high spots, remove a thin surface layer, or open up a closed slab. Standard prep for polishing and most coating systems.
- 02
Shot blasting
Steel-shot abrasion that profiles the slab to a clean, open, coating-ready surface (CSP 3–5). The right prep for epoxies, urethanes, and thicker coating systems.
- 03
Coating & adhesive removal
Stripping old epoxies, paints, mastics, carpet glue, and VCT adhesives. We use the right tool for the layer — diamond grinder, shot blaster, or chemical strip — and verify clean substrate before next steps.
- 04
Joint repair & filling
Saw-cut joints get a semi-rigid polyurea joint filler for traffic-bearing floors. Random cracks get evaluated, routed, and repaired so they hold up under load.
- 05
Crack & spall repair
Structural cracks and spalled edges get repaired with the right product — polymer-modified mortar, epoxy injection, or polyurea — depending on what's underneath.
About surface preparation
Prep questions, answered.
- What's the difference between grinding, shot blasting, and scarifying?
- Grinding uses diamond tooling to remove a thin, even layer of concrete — the standard for polishing and light coating prep. Shot blasting throws steel shot at the surface to create an aggressive profile (typically CSP 3–5) ideal for thicker coating systems like epoxy or urethane. Scarifying uses tungsten-carbide cutters and is the most aggressive — used for thick coating removal, leveling, or heavily contaminated slabs. We pick based on what's coming next.
- What is CSP and why does it matter?
- CSP stands for Concrete Surface Profile, a standardized measure (1–9) of how rough or smooth the surface is. CSP 1 is essentially polished smooth; CSP 9 is heavy scarification. Different products require different CSPs to bond properly: polished concrete prefers CSP 1–2, thin coatings around 2–3, thicker epoxies 3–5, and self-leveling overlays 4–6. Spec the right CSP, get the right adhesion.
- How do you remove old epoxy or mastic from a slab?
- Depends on the layer. Thick epoxy gets scarified or shot blasted off mechanically. Thin paint or sealer comes off with a coarse-grit diamond grind. Carpet glue and mastic — often the worst — typically need a chemical solvent strip followed by mechanical cleanup. We test a small area first to confirm the right approach before quoting the full floor.
- Do you fill cracks before polishing or coating?
- Yes — and the timing matters. Cracks should be cleaned, routed if needed, and filled with the right material BEFORE the polish or coating goes down, so the finished floor reads as one continuous surface. We use semi-rigid polyurea for joints that move and epoxy or polymer-modified mortar for structural repairs. Every crack repair gets evaluated individually.
- How dust-controlled is your grinding?
- Fully — we run HEPA-filtered vacuum extraction on every grinder and shot blaster. On commercial occupied-building projects, that means we can prep adjacent to live retail, healthcare, or office space without contaminating it. On residential projects, that means we don't fill your house with concrete dust. Containment is part of every quote.
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