PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FROM SITE
Knowledge
How to get the surface right. Preparation, grinding sequences, joint timing and floor treatment, explained without the sales pitch.
SURFACE PREPARATION
What is Concrete Surface Profile (CSP)?
Concrete Surface Profile, or CSP, is a standardised scale developed by the International Concrete Repair Institute to describe the roughness of a concrete surface before a coating, overlay or topping is applied. It runs from CSP 1, which is nearly smooth, to CSP 10, which is heavily fractured. The scale exists so a specification can state a required texture in a way anyone on site can verify against a physical reference.
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WHY IT MATTERS ON SITE
A coating fails at the bond line more often than it fails in the material. Too smooth and there's nothing for the coating to key into, so it delaminates under traffic. Too rough for a thin film and the profile telegraphs through, or the coating runs thin over the peaks and fails there first.
The profile isn't a quality target where higher is better. It's a match — the thicker the system, the deeper the profile it needs.