Using a Micro-topping to Repair Concrete Floors

Anyone who has ever worked with concrete knows that dealing with the elements can sometimes pose problems. When the San Juan Museum of Art had the concrete slab poured for their new atrium, there were many factors that weren’t ideal.  What they got was certainly not what they were hoping for.  The slab had an uneven color. There were small unsightly surface cracks over the re-bar. The owners felt these issues would only serve to detract from the art they wished to display in the new space.  We were contacted to resurface the space and resolve the issues, getting it back to concrete canvas they originally wanted.

The project was already behind schedule. Tearing out the slab and re-pouring it wasn’t in the cards. Resurfacing with a micro-topping, not only allowed the work to be done in less time, it cost less than starting over as well. It was a win / win for the Museum and the contractor who would have been on the hook for the repairs.

We started by grinding the entire surface to even it out. The larger cracks were chased and then filled with a flexible joint filler. We then installed a medium aggregate integrally colored micro-topping base coat. This was sanded and then a fine aggregate coat was installed with the same integral color. The floor was sanded again and a water based epoxy primer was used to seal it. There were several decorative saw cuts in the slab that were now full of micro-topping. We re-cut these to open them up again. Once everything was cleaned and vacuumed we applied a high performance gloss urethane.

In just a few days, the cracked and discolored slab was repaired and looked like new. And after a few final projects the Atrium was ready to display art. For information on the museum you can visit their website here: http://sjima.org.

If you would like more information on concrete resurfacing, micro-toppings, or any of our other decorative coating options, please give us a call. We would love to hear from you.