Nuplex Construction Products  offers a comprehensive range of resin floor toppings for use on concrete floors.

Laying resin flooring on new concrete creates several issues, mostly caused by the shrinkage of concrete and the consequent delamination of the resin topping.

Newly laid concrete shrinks largely over a period of 14 days and to a much lesser extent for the next 14 days. Resin floor toppings on the other hand are almost fully cured in 24 hours. Continued concrete shrinkage beneath the cured resin floor topping can cause the latter to delaminate.

If a resin floor is planned to be laid early while the concrete is still curing, the delamination can be prevented by installing more concrete and resin topping control joints.

Even if delamination were to occur, the cracking will only follow these joints where they may be more easily repaired.

Water in concrete is a lesser problem while laying resin floors as it may reduce to low levels within the 14-30 day curing period as long as the floor is protected from further weather or site based wettings.

Additionally, it is important to keep the site and concrete surface clean if resin floor toppings are being laid early since the open, clean surface will dry much more rapidly.

Concrete curing compounds used to hold water, prevent excessive shrinkage and obtain maximum strength are largely redundant after 10 days and can be removed as they will drastically retard the drying process and make resin floor coverings difficult to lay.

Shot-blasting is an effective method to remove concrete curing compounds, and will additionally clean and open up the surface to enhance rapid drying and adhesion.

The blasted surface and site must be kept clean and dry to enable early application of resin floor toppings.

While site warming and heating is impractical, natural or forced air cross-ventilation over a continuous period will rapidly drop moisture levels.

Time pressures at construction sites are a real problem but laying resin floors on concrete during the curing period will always be risky due to the variable nature of concrete, the laying conditions and the drying conditions.

A curing and drying period of one month for concrete pours must always be built into the planning to ensure resin floors are laid effectively.