Concrete Grinding vs Shot Blasting

Concrete Grinding vs Shot Blasting

Shot Blasting Concrete Sydney

We specalise in Shot Blasting Concrete services across Sydney and our team has undertaken thousands of kilometres of Shot Blasting Concrete since our adoption of this service.

Concrete Grinding vs Shot Blasting

Shot Blasting Concrete and Concrete Grinding are both methods used to prepare floors for epoxies and resurfacers when installing new flooring systems. But which is the best method for you and your floor installation? How do you determine which technique will better support your new flooring system? Let’s delve into these approaches and find out.

What Is Shot Blasting Concrete?

Shot Blasting machines concentrate these beads in one area at extremely high speeds to clear materials. Typically, this blasting method is used for metals and concrete, and it’s preferred for its surface preparation ability and environmental friendliness.

Shot Blasting Concrete works by using an airless, centrifugal wheel that propels blast media at a high velocity in a controlled pattern and direction. A blast wheel is accelerated at the concrete. Shot Blasting is a one-step preparation technique that removes laitance, paint, old coatings, dirt, and other contaminants and profiles the concrete surface all at once. It will not remove oil-ingress and water.

Shot Blasting machines propel thousands of shot beads as small as 1mm thick and up to 2mm thick over the surface of the floor to dislodge a thin layer of concrete. Once dislodged the loose concrete and shot beads are recycled back into the Shot Blasting machine, with the concrete dust going into an attached vacuum and the shot beads being recycled and used again in the same process.

Shot Blasting beads hit the concrete flooring at high pressure and speed in order to leave it in an optimal condition to then apply a new coating.

Shot Blasting machines are the professionals’ preferred solution for the cleaning and preparation of surfaces before applying a coating, paint, tiles, resin, ETC. It is completely dust free with a high rate of removal, cost-effective & minimum downtime.

Captive Shot Blasting is very effective for the removal of concrete laitance, latex, old coatings, and contaminants, and for creating non-slip surfaces. The depth of the profile is variable allowing different textures from light abrasion to fully exposed aggregates depending on the floor specification.

Shot Blasting is a great way to prepare concrete floors for the application of line marking (to ensure the paint has a rough surface to adhere to) or to remove unwanted line markings.

However, it’s important to know that they can also be used on different types of floors, such as asphalt, concrete, and even steel.

Pros & Cons of Shot Blasting Concrete Floors

Shot Blasting Concrete is an affordable option, but it’s not always the best choice for every circumstance. When Shot Blasting, the machine is required to overlap areas which result in blast lines. Even if a contractor is extremely careful, Shot Blasting can result in pits, valleys, and fractures in the floor.

When the intent is to apply thin film coatings like epoxy or urethane over the concrete, Shot Blasting is not the ideal method. The imperfections and rough profile caused by the Shot Blaster will show through these coatings.

Applications For Shot Blasting & Diamond Grinding Concrete Floors

The thickness of your coating should be taken into consideration before you select a preparation method.

1)  For applications like urethane and epoxy, we recommend Concrete Grinding for optimal results.

2) For floors that are installed at 1/16” or greater Shot Blasting is recommended.

There are exceptions to these recommendations and each floor project should be surveyed by an experienced contractor to make the proper recommendation.

What Is Shot Blasting Typically Used For?

1) To clean and prepare surfaces | such as steel, concrete, and asphalt. Shot Blasting is the quickest and most affordable way to remove thick layers of concrete per pass. You can choose up to 10 different bead options for different results while Shot Blasting.  Similar to Concrete Grinding. Shot Blasting also has a range of different abrasives to choose from. Different types of abrasives beads are used to achieve your desired results.

2) To remove top layers & coatings | like paint and epoxy. Shot Blasting is a great way to tackle tough and thick coatings that regular Concrete Grinders cannot penetrate. When it comes to a thick coating in places such as warehouses, Shot Blasting is the best method and quickest method.

3) To remove markings & rubber | from highways, runways, industrial floors, and more.

4) To expose the aggregate | abrasive blastings, such as sandblasting or shot blasting, can be used to expose the aggregate after the concrete has hardened and been set. However, this procedure is not suggested if you want to preserve the exposed aggregate’s colour and shape because it can break and diminish the entire look

5) Preparation of line marking on polished floors
Painting on polished floors without abrasion of the floor prior to painting is essentially like painting on glass. The paint will

not penetrate the floor and will not have a rough surface to grip. The paint will be sitting on top of the floor and once a vehicle tyre turns on it, the paint will dislodge immediately.

Shot Blasting machines are used to prepare the area where line markings are applied to a polished floor to ensure the paint has a rough surface to which it can grip so it doesn’t flake off.

6) Removal of Line Marking
Shot Blasting is the best way to remove unwanted line markings. This is because the Shot Blasting machine moves in a straight, crisp line which results in a cleaner removal of paint. Once the removal process is completed, a surface seal is a great option to seal over the rough concrete and blend the treated surface back in with the rest of the floor

7) To clean and prepare surfaces | such as steel, concrete, and asphalt.

Shot Blasting is the quickest and most affordable way to remove thick layers of concrete per pass. You can choose up to 10 different bead options for different results while Shot Blasting. 

Similar to Concrete Grinding. Shot Blasting also has a range of different abrasives to choose from. Different types of abrasives beads are used to achieve your desired results.

8) To remove top layers & coatings | such as paint and epoxy.

Shot Blasting is a great way to tackle tough and thick coatings that regular Concrete Grinders cannot penetrate. When it comes to a thick coating in places such as warehouses, Shot Blasting is the best method and quickest method.

9) To remove markings, rubber, and asphalt | from highways, runways, industrial floors, and more.

Shot Blasting improves the micro-texture of the concrete and asphalt pavement surfaces; increasing skid resistance friction values and texture depth. Shot Blasting is an effective method for Highways, Runways, and Industrial Floors.

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