Bond testing is to be performed per the adhesive, resinous coating, and/or the cementitious materials manufacturers guidelines and ASTM F-710. It is important that the installer, specifier, and manufacturer all confirm the intended use (application) of all adhesives, primers, resinous coatings, cementitious materials, and adhesives; and that they are suitable for applications on a “Non- Porous” substrate prior to any bond test. Utilization of ASTM F-710’s “best practices” in conjunction with the manufacturer’s published non-porous installation guidelines is a must.
Since most adhesive & flooring manufacturers do not produce their own adhesives, the building owner is normally offered aCommercial Flooring Manufacturers “Material-Defect” Warranty for products the manufacturer produced. We recommend that all parties review the manufacturer’s published non-porous (power troweled) installation recommendations & instructions.
Detailed Industry Answer: PIA and MVRA technologies both promote adhesion to the flooring industry defined nonporous (power troweled/burnished) slabs. Flooring manufacturers have both “porous” and “non-porous” adhesive options. Some have one adhesive for both applications applied at different rates per square foot, others have specific adhesives for each applications.
Since 95%+ of commercial concrete slabs are power troweled/burnished slabs, a “non-porous” flooring application should be followed. Conversely, on most commercial projects, a “porous” adhesive is incorrectly approved and installed (which is usually twice the amount of adhesive needed for non-porous applications). This one decision (approving and/or installing the wrong adhesive), is the basis for greater than 75% of all flooring complaints/failures, over-application of adhesive.
Over-application of adhesives can lead to:
➢ Trowel-mark show through and bleeding with tile.
➢ Excessive indentations with sheet goods.
➢ Swelling and buckling of the flooring.
➢ Extended “open times”
Barrier One recommends completing a flooring bond mock-up/bond test to verify the following:
➢ Verification of required floor preparation.
➢ Verification that the correct non-porous flooring application has been selected for each type of flooring.
➢ Verification of the adhesive application rates (and trowel sizes) for each type of flooring.
➢ Verification that the selected non-porous application can be installed directly to the power troweled slab, or if a underlayment is needed.
➢ Verification of the adhesive “open time” or time needed for adhesive to set before installing flooring.
➢ Verification that the adhesives, patches, and/or cementitious underlayment’s have properly bonded to the concrete slab.