Material selection is a process of comparing the properties of various floor coatings products and trying to get the best combination of the desired properties. The optimal combination is one that reconciles the facility’s need for good performance and cost savings. This means that the final floor coatings solution that will be chosen has the best technical and cost properties of all products that were considered.
This can be a difficult task to do if not for the help of a material selection guide. As the name implies, a floor coatings material selection guide contains very useful information from product manufacturers about the floor coatings product. It commonly contains the product profile starting with a general description of the product and the common usage. For example, a 100% solid epoxy floor coatings will have its various usages outlined in the material selection guide, whether if it can be used as a filler, surfacer, or for repair. The guide will also contain the surfaces wherein this particular floor coatings is suitable to, as well as its acceptable-for-use application conditions.
The material selection guide can be quite lengthy in details, and most of them are technical in nature. Every product property or feature is disclosed. Another useful content in the guide is the application methodology from surface preparation to product mixing and handling, to disposal. Often, too, the manufacturer will include the certified method that can be used. For example, for concrete surfaces, the guide may contain a curing recommendation of several days and a dryness verification test using “plastic film tape down test” as recommended in ASTM D 4263. Or SSPC-SP10/NACE 2 blast cleaning with a specific anchor profile for surface preparation.
