Concrete is a sponge that never fully stops breathing. Water vapor moves up from the ground, through the slab, and out the top surface. Seal that surface with a vapor-impermeable coating and the pressure has nowhere to go.
The result is blistering, bubbling and sheet delamination — usually three to twelve months after the install, long after the cheap contractor has stopped answering the phone.
Which buildings are at risk
Any slab poured on grade without an intact vapor barrier is a candidate. In West Michigan that describes a large share of pre-1990 industrial building stock.
Add a high water table, a lakeshore location, poor exterior drainage, or a new pour that has not fully cured, and the risk goes up further.
The two tests that matter
Calcium chloride testing (ASTM F1869) measures how much moisture emits from the surface over 72 hours, reported in pounds per 1,000 square feet per 24 hours.
In-situ relative humidity probes (ASTM F2170) measure humidity inside the slab at 40 percent of its depth. This is the more reliable of the two for slabs drying from one side, and it is what we lean on.
Free assessment
Not sure which system your facility needs? We will walk the floor, test the slab, and give you an itemized proposal at no cost.
Request a Free QuoteReading the numbers
Most coating manufacturers cap acceptable emission around 3 pounds and internal relative humidity around 75 to 80 percent. Above those thresholds, the system needs help.
Help means a moisture-mitigation primer: a high-solids epoxy barrier engineered to hold back vapor pressure and give the finish system a stable substrate to bond to.
What it costs to skip
A mitigation primer adds a meaningful but manageable amount to a project. Redoing a failed 15,000 square foot warehouse floor — removal, re-prep, re-install and the downtime around it — costs multiples of that.
We test every slab before quoting. If your bids do not mention moisture testing, ask why.
