Moisture Mitigation

Moisture Mitigation

You’ve decided you want concrete flooring, and you may have determined what kind and in what area. There is another factor involved with a concrete flooring installation.
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Concrete floor slabs contain excess moisture. This can damage many types of concrete floor finishes. Let’s briefly explain the nuts and bolts and technical aspects of this process.

Prior to the installation of concrete flooring of any kind, permeance testing may be required. Permeance testing following the ASTM E96/E95M, Standard Test Method for Water Vapor Transmission of Materials, is the long-term test most applicable.  
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A critical characteristic of a vapor-retarding coating is its permeability, which measures the degree to which moisture vapor can pass through the coating. The permeability must be less than that of the overlying flooring. Moisture vapor passing through the coating can not be allowed to be trapped below the flooring. This break would down the adhesive bond to the slab.
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Essentially, the purpose of any moisture mitigation system is to limit or eliminate the movement of water vapor into the flooring system. This may include water vapor from exterior sources like groundwater, or moisture vapor from a subfloor system itself, such as off-gassing from an insufficiently dry concrete slab.
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Lastly, since both topical and admixture moisture mitigation products have a history of failure, an ASTM standard for moisture mitigation materials has been developed for use by concrete flooring company installation companies. ASTM F3010, Standard Practice for Two-Component Resin Based Membrane-Forming Moisture Mitigation Systems for Use Under Resilient Floor Coverings (pub. July 2013). It includes many requirements to help designers and contractors review, select, and install floor moisture mitigation products.re are