Frequently Asked Questions

A food and beverage company in Greater Noida is constructing a new 3,500 square metre bottling and packaging facility where the ground floor slab will receive an MC-Floor SL self-levelling epoxy floor topping — what are the critical substrate conditions, application sequence, and quality control steps required to ensure a defect-free, durable self-levelling epoxy floor that passes the commissioning inspection and meets FSSAI hygiene requirements for a food contact zone?

Installing a defect-free, FSSAI-compliant self-levelling epoxy floor in a 3,500 square metre food bottling and packaging facility in Greater Noida requires meticulous attention to substrate condition, application environment, and process discipline — self-levelling epoxy is the most demanding floor system to apply correctly because its flowing consistency that produces the smooth mirror finish is the same property that amplifies any substrate or application defect into a visible or performance issue on the finished floor. Here is the complete quality-controlled installation programme. Substrate requirements and testing: the concrete substrate must be minimum M25 grade (25 MPa compressive strength), minimum 28 days old before applying the epoxy system (earlier application risks moisture-related adhesion failure from the ongoing cement hydration releasing bleed water), and must have a moisture content below 75 percent relative humidity (measured by in-situ hygrometer per BS 8203) or below 4 percent by CM meter at 20 mm depth. For a new construction facility in Greater Noida, schedule the epoxy floor installation for the dry season (November to February) if possible — if the slab is cast during or immediately after the monsoon, the concrete must have minimum 12 weeks of drying time (not just 28 days curing) before epoxy application, as water content in freshly cast monsoon-season slabs can remain elevated for months after casting. Substrate preparation: shot-blast the entire 3,500 square metres of slab surface to an ICRI CSP 3 profile — this is the most critical single step. Shot-blasting removes laitance, exposes the aggregate surface, opens capillary pores for primer penetration, and removes any contamination from the construction period (oil from formwork, curing compound, footprints). Do not use acid etching (hydrochloric acid) as a substitute for shot-blasting — acid etching does not remove laitance reliably, leaves chloride contamination in the concrete that affects epoxy adhesion, and is environmentally problematic in an enclosed building. After shot-blasting, vacuum-clean the entire floor and blow off residual dust with compressed air. Inspect for honeycombs, cracks, and damaged areas — repair all defects with epoxy mortar (MC-Nafufill EM) or cementitious repair mortar before priming. Primer application: apply MC-Pox 1K (single-component epoxy primer) by short-nap roller at 0.15 to 0.20 kg per square metre over the entire shot-blasted and cleaned floor. The primer must penetrate into the open pores of the concrete and wet the aggregate surface. For porous or absorbent concrete (typical of lightweight concrete or high fly-ash concrete), a second primer coat may be required. Allow primer to cure to tack-free (4 to 8 hours at 25 degrees Celsius). Before applying the self-levelling epoxy, broadcast dry, clean quartz sand (0.2 to 0.4 mm grading) lightly over the still-tacky primer in areas of high porosity to seal any pinholes — this prevents pinholes from appearing as air bubbles in the finished self-levelling layer. Environmental conditions during application: MC-Floor SL must be applied when the slab surface temperature is between 10 and 30 degrees Celsius and more than 3 degrees Celsius above the dew point temperature. In the enclosed Greater Noida facility during construction, measure the air temperature, relative humidity, and slab surface temperature before starting — if the slab is below 15 degrees Celsius or the relative humidity is above 85 percent, delay application. In summer (Greater Noida May to June temperatures 40 to 45 degrees Celsius in the building envelope), apply during the cooler hours (before 10 AM), prechilling the epoxy components in a cool area, and ensuring the slab temperature is below 35 degrees Celsius — high temperatures reduce pot life to 15 minutes or less and must be managed. Floor temperature and component temperature critically affect the self-levelling performance: cold components (below 15 degrees Celsius) are too viscous to self-level properly; hot components (above 30 degrees Celsius) gel too quickly before adequate self-levelling occurs. MC-Floor SL application: mix Part A and Part B in the correct fixed ratio by mass (use a calibrated scale — not by eye or can volume) in a clean mixing bucket using a slow-speed (below 300 RPM) drill with paddle mixer for 3 minutes, scraping the sides and base of the bucket. Over-mixing at high speed entrains air — this is the most common cause of bubble defects in the finished floor. Pour the mixed epoxy onto the primed floor and spread immediately with a notched trowel (3 mm x 3 mm notch for 2 mm finished thickness, or 4 mm x 4 mm notch for 3 mm finished thickness). Follow immediately with a spiked roller (passing in two perpendicular directions at slow speed) to de-aerate the coating and ensure uniform thickness — the spike roller is pulled through the wet film, not rolled quickly, to release entrapped air. Work in bays: for 3,500 square metres at 25 to 30 minutes pot life, the application crew should consist of 2 mixers, 2 pourers and spreaders, and 1 spiked roller operator, covering 200 to 300 square metres per batch cycle. Plan the bay sequence to avoid walking on freshly applied material. Maintain consistent bay edges by applying within the pot life — the wet-on-wet junction between adjacent bays within the same application session is invisible; wet-on-cured junctions create a visible ridge. FSSAI compliance: the finished MC-Floor SL floor meets FSSAI requirements for food contact zone floors by virtue of its seamless, non-porous, smooth, impermeable, chemical-resistant, and cleanable surface. At commissioning, verify: no visible pinholes, ridges, or contamination in the finished surface; pull-off bond strength minimum 2.0 MPa (3 tests per 500 square metres); surface hardness by Shore D test; and floor flatness (F-number or 3-metre straightedge test). Document the batch numbers, mixing ratios, application temperatures, and cure conditions for each application day in the quality record. Space Arc Engineering supplies MC-Floor SL, MC-Pox 1K primer, and the complete MC-Bauchemie flooring system for food industry, pharmaceutical, and commercial facility floors in Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Delhi NCR, and Uttar Pradesh.