COATING & FLOOR-SYSTEM REMOVAL

Commercial Coating & Floor-System Removal

Commercial floor coating removal exists because a coating is only as good as what it is stuck to. Delaminating epoxy, worn urethane, old sealer and failed resinous systems have to come off completely, or the replacement bonds to a failing layer and fails with it. Part of our flooring demolition and removal work.

Since 1990
Commercial and industrial only
1,000 – 160,000 SF
Project range
10 to 15
Trained crew members
Same-day answer
24 to 48 hour mobilization, Front Range
WHY COATINGS FAIL

What commercial floor coating removal is dealing with

It failed for a reason

Coatings delaminate because the original preparation was wrong, because moisture is moving through the slab, or because the system was not right for the traffic. Removing the coating without finding the cause repeats the failure.

Partial bond is the hard case

A coating that is fully failed lifts easily. One that is bonded in patches is slower, because the sound areas resist the same equipment that clears the loose ones, and the finish has to be even across both.

Layers on layers

Older commercial floors often carry several coating campaigns stacked up, sometimes with a sealer underneath. Each layer can respond differently, which affects both method and production rate.

Moisture underneath

Coating failure is frequently a moisture problem rather than a bond problem. Once the slab is exposed we can test it, and where vapour is the cause the fix runs through moisture mitigation before anything new goes down.

HOW WE DO IT

Stripping a failed coating back to sound concrete

The method follows the coating. Thin, brittle systems grind off. Thick, elastomeric or well-bonded systems need something more aggressive. The goal is the same either way: bare concrete at a consistent profile, not a floor that is clean in places.

Grinding

Diamond grinding removes thin films and sealers and reaches edges, corners and detail areas. It is precise and suits occupied buildings.

Scarifying

Scarifying cuts through thick, well-bonded or elastomeric coatings that grinding only polishes. It leaves a coarse profile that is refined afterwards to the level the replacement needs.

Shot blasting

Across large open floors, shot blasting strips coating and leaves an even, repeatable profile, which is why it is the common choice ahead of a new epoxy or resin system.

Containment on live floors

Coating removal generates fine dust. We run HEPA-managed containment and phase the work so warehouse, manufacturing and facility operations continue around it.

HOW A PROJECT RUNS

How a commercial floor coating removal project runs

01

Assess the failure

We check what the coating is, how much of it is still bonded, how many layers are present and what the slab underneath is doing.

02

Test area

A test section confirms which method releases the coating cleanly and how fast, which sets the scope and schedule before work is committed.

03

Strip the coating

The system is removed across the area with the confirmed method, working in sections so the building keeps operating around the work.

04

Check the slab

With the coating off, the slab is checked for moisture, cracking and previous repairs, so the replacement system is specified against real conditions.

05

Profile and hand off

The concrete is profiled to the CSP level the new system requires, cleaned down and handed over ready for coating, flooring or polishing. Profiles follow the ICRI concrete surface profile scale.

WHERE WE DO THIS WORK

Where we provide coating and floor-system removal

All West Surface Prep is based in Commerce City, Colorado and has worked on existing concrete since 1990. We take commercial and industrial removal work across Colorado, and travel for suitable projects in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota.

Our shop is in Commerce City, Colorado. Removal crews work out of there across the Front Range and travel for suitable commercial projects in the five states below.

Common questions about commercial floor coating removal

Can you remove only the failed sections?

Sometimes, but it is usually a false economy. A partial strip leaves a seam between old and new coating and keeps whatever caused the failure in place under the sound areas.

Do you find out why the coating failed?

Once the slab is exposed we can test for moisture and look at the original profile. That matters, because specifying a replacement without knowing the cause tends to produce the same result.

Can this run in a working facility?

Yes. HEPA-managed dust containment and phased sections are standard on warehouse and manufacturing floors that cannot shut down.

What is left when you finish?

Bare, sound concrete profiled to the level the replacement system requires and cleaned down, with any slab issues found underneath reported before the new system is specified.

Get a commercial floor coating removal quote

Send the building type, the approximate square footage, what the existing coating is if you know it and what is replacing it. We will come back with a method, a sequence and a number.