Background to costly problem
Every year across America people are faced with a serious problem that affects untold millions. Floor system failures have become one of the most misunderstood phenomena in the modern construction age. As people, we all have a concern for buildings, because we spend most of our lives inside them.
The purpose of a building is simple; it is an environment in which you keep your things. Whatever those things are they reside upon the floor covering. The floor covering is affixed to the concrete foundation and the concrete slab is a natural moisture emitting mechanism.
It is logical then, to realize that the floor covering is financially-critical part of the building itself. If it fails unexpectedly, the costs associated with moving your things off the floor to solve the problem, and the downtime costs as well, can be catastrophic. Billions of dollars are lost in America each year due to floor system failures.
It has been said that floor system failures over concrete represent the largest problem in the modern floor covering age, according to their own industry journals. More accurately, floor system failures represent one of the most costly post-construction problems because it typically happens within a year after the owner takes occupancy.
Floor system failures caused by concrete vapor emission and alkalinity are neither the fault of the floor covering industry or the concrete industry. It is a purely environmental phenomenon as natural as the weather itself. Since we tend to call hurricanes and earthquakes “natural disasters” it should be just as easy to call floor system failures by the same label. If you have to pay for it, it’s a disaster.
This publication
will give the reader a working knowledge of the physics of moisture emission,
how it is affected by concrete slab design and environmental factors, testing
procedures, options to conditions, and other pertinent information.
It must be appreciated that this is the kind of problem that occurs when it is least suspected. In most cases, the moisture condition will not even be considered in the construction practice until the 11th hour, when the floor covering is about to be installed, or until after the floor has failed.
This leads to controversy and misunderstandings about who is at fault. Concrete is one of the most complex engineered mechanisms mankind has ever made. It is not incompatibility between floor coverings and adhesives to concrete, for most floor systems work fine. The problem is one of the uncontrolled basic physics, in accordance to laws of nature.
Concrete slabs can be designed for floor covering compatibility with only a small increase in the per. Sq. ft. cost, providing it is allowed the time to properly dry. If a compliant slab can not be achieved through design and placement of the concrete, or because of long drying times, the most cost-effective solution is to have the condition treated prior to installing floor covering.