Surface preparation

Nothing sticks to a dirty floor. Preparation is the least glamorous part of this trade and the part that decides whether the layer on top lasts or lifts.

Back to something sound

The bond is all important: it is where every layer above gets its strength. Old adhesive, old levelling compound, laitance, paint, curing agents and contamination all have to come off, and the surface has to be keyed so the new layer has something to grip. We take floors back mechanically to a sound, clean, dry base — and if what is underneath turns out to be unsound, that is a conversation to have then rather than after the screed is down. This is removing what is ON the floor. Cutting into the slab itself — a channel, a high spot, a profile that will not bond — is milling, and it is a different machine and a different page.

How floor milling works →

What we remove

Old adhesives, screeds and floor coverings
Old levelling compounds
Laitance and curing compounds from new slabs
Paint, resin and coatings
Contamination — oil, grease and the rest of it

Questions we get asked

Why can we not just lay over the old floor?

Because whatever you lay is only as good as what it is stuck to. The bond is all important — it is where the layers above get their strength. Old adhesive, old levelling compound, laitance, curing agents and contamination all stop a bond forming, and the failure shows up months later when the building is occupied.

Is it dusty?

Mechanical preparation is dusty by nature. Dust extraction at the tool and wet cutting keep it down, we sheet off, and on an occupied building it is worth planning which areas are done when.