FAILURES
Emily R. Hopps
Concrete floor slabs contain excess moisture that can damage many types of floor finishes. To address this problem, manufacturers have developed products aimed at mitigating the moisture in concrete. However, not all these products are suited to their intended purpose.
There are various materials for retarding emission of moisture vapor from concrete floor slabs, many of which are topical treatments applied to the slab surface before finishes are installed. Investigations have revealed there are multiple factors that can contribute to failure of these products.
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 so any moisture vapor passing through the coating will not be trapped below the flooring, breaking down the adhesive bond to the slab.
Permeance testing, usually following ASTM E96/E95M, Standard Test Method for Water Vapor Transmission of Materials, is a long-term test most applicable to the expected in-service exposure of the coating or treatment. Shorter-term tests of moisture vapor emission, such as ASTM F1869, Standard Test Method for Measuring Moisture Vapor Emission Rate of Concrete Subfloor Using Anhydrous Calcium Chloride, will not provide a valid indication of the treatment’s expected long-term performance.
Permeance is directly related to coating thickness—there have been moisture mitigation failures of well-formulated coatings due to inadequate application thickness and continuity. However, even coatings with the right permeance, thickness, and continuity can fail when they are not formulated to withstand the moisture and high alkalinity (i.e. pH) of the concrete substrate. Many typical coating materials and formulations are unsuitable for the conditions to which they will be exposed when applied onto a slab below low-permeability floor finishes. There have been cases where the coating’s formulation was not robust enough for this exposure, which led to excessive moisture vapor emissions and floor finish failure.
To avoid the issues associated with developing and properly applying moisture mitigation coatings to slab surfaces, some manufacturers have developed admixtures for the concrete to reduce moisture vapor emissions. Mixed into the wet concrete, these materials typically do not require additional topical treatments before the finishes are installed.
Investigations have shown some admixtures may reduce concrete porosity, making it more difficult to achieve proper adhesion of the floor finishes. Studies have also revealed some admixtures may not adequately reduce moisture vapor emissions to prevent moisture-related failure, may increase the concrete surface pH, and may increase potential for a layer of bond-inhibiting surface laitance.
Since both topical and admixture moisture mitigation products have a history of failure, the ASTM committee responsible for overseeing resilient flooring installation recently developed a standard for moisture mitigation materials. ASTM F3010, Standard Practice for Two-Component Resin Based Membrane-Forming Moisture Mitigation Systems for Use Under Resilient Floor Coverings, was published in July 2013. It includes many requirements to help designers and contractors review, select, and install floor moisture mitigation products.
The new standard includes requirements for material characteristics (e.g. permeability), concrete surface preparation, mockup installations, and quality control testing (e.g. adhesion testing and thickness measurements). It may not prevent all future flooring failures, but it goes a long way in helping all stakeholders better understand the important criteria of moisture mitigation materials and be appropriately cautious when selecting a material or system for their next project.
Emily R. Hopps is a senior project manager in the Building Technology division of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH). Leading SGH’s flooring practice, she has wide experience in the design, failure investigation, and repair of various finishes. Hopps can be reached at erhopps@sgh.com.
I am doing some contract moisture testing for an independent company and they want RH, MVER and Impedance testing. I sometimes feel that no one is confident in any of the tests and they amount to no more than a risk assessment. My company has done a lot of decorative concrete projects using product from leading suppliers and had very few problems. I feel the problem is everyone has to count on the contractor before him doing his job properly.
Would you suggest using a moisture mitigation system as a safety factor?
Thanks for your time,
The best method for testing, is first, ensure that the environment itself isn’t creating and/or contributing to the problem.
It is unfortunate that most testing procedures are not adequately taught to those who conduct such tests.
Moisture impedance, used along with RH probes are a good way to inter-compare moisture values. I strongly recommend against using only a single method, as the information gathered may be more misleading than helpful.
The best way to avoid moisture problems, demand better concrete. The technology for concrete that is basically “self-dessicating” has been around since the mid 1970’s but most are still unaware that such technology exists.
What self-dessicating concrete is basically: concrete that essentially has no “free” water, so as the concrete cures, it becomes increasingly dense, the capillaries become smaller and the capillaries disconnect.
Properly placed, there is sufficient surface “grab” for an adhesive…however, caution is needed that dew point is avoided at all costs and a denser surface reaches critical dew point much earlier, since less moisture is needed to create harmful condensation. This can be monitored in real time by use of a hygrothermograph, moisture impedance meter and an infrared thermometer. Details on this approach are at this link: http://www.xlbrands.com/wp-content/themes/xlbrands2012/pdf/Floor-Moisture-Testing-Requirements-by-Bob-Higgins-2014.pdf
Hope this helps!
Hi,
I have a product called Drycrete Moisture Stop that has been used for about 7 years with no failures. There is a lifetime of the concrete warranty for moisture mitigation with this product. There is no bond issues when using this product as it goes into the concrete and becomes part of it. It is a manufactured colloidal silicate. Check out the website at http://www.drycrete.com. Please contact me about this as well.
Create concrete that meets ASTM E96 instead of making concrete constantly in need of commodity “band-aid fixits” – Make your slab retain its volume and do not try to relieve it of “excess moisture.” #WhenInRome #GoodArticle
We just finished an interesting class a few weeks ago at the Floor Educational Guild’s May Seminar in Dalton, GA.
Many times, moisture testing is not done correctly or the meters used, may not be used correctly.
We find there are many issues that can be avoided, and many times, wrong specification for correction of moisture issues specified that are not needed. That is wasted money.
Be careful of using companies that claim to be national for concrete moisture testing. They often use flooring inspectors inadequately trained because, well frankly, the good ones will not do the tests and examination for the greatly reduced fees these companies want to pay them.
You can find good quality flooring inspectors who can do moisture testing. If you are having problems finding one, contact me. I will find you one at no charge to anyone involved to get you to the right person, well, as long as I don’t get swamped. If that happens, I will put them on a web page.
Selva “Lee” Tucker
Tucks Floor Service
Floor Educational Guild
tuckerselvalee@gmail.com
by the way, Bob Higgins was one of our instructors, and has been helping us for many, many years.
We also had Tarkett, Shaw, Tramex, Delmhorst, as well as several other flooring manufacturers attending. Bob was right on target. For too many times, there is wasted money that can be saved. Testing is a huge business, as well as selling the probes, and many correction companies support these tests not done correctly so they can make huge dollars off selling the products. Be careful,
SLT
I am in need of moisture mitigation in my basement in Roanoke Virginia. Can you recommend a company in my area. Thank you