F_BALL_SUBFLOOR_PREP_BROCHURE-Jan-26 - Flipbook - Page 10
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Subfloor Preparation Guide | All aspects of subfloor preparation and floor covering installation
Mechanical Planing/Scabbling
Often referred to as ‘concrete planing’, the machines
incorporate a drum which carries rows of flails/picks
tipped with tungsten. This is an excellent method to
remove laitance and other forms of surface contamination.
The finished profile is dependent on the size of the
machine and the type and size of the flail selected
by the operator.
Various types of flail are available:
Mechanical Planing/Scabbling
• Milling flails are used for the removal of thermoplastic
line markings, bituminous and rubber deposits, with
minimal profiling to the background surface.
Grinding/Abrading
• TCT (Tungsten carbide tipped cutters) are used
for cleaning and texturing concrete, asphalt stone
surfaces and removal of screeds and coatings,
creating a “rippled effect” on the background surface.
Grinding machines are designed for precision, control
and safe operation. The process is provided by diamond,
tungsten or resin bonded grinding plates fitted to either
single or multiheaded machines which rotate.
• Beam/Star flails are used for cleaning/ removing
soft composition materials from hard surfaces/
concrete without damaging the surface but cannot
be used on hard materials.
The diamonds cut, smooth and clean the background
surface. There are different grades and sizes of
diamond plates/tools and also Polycrystalline
Diamond (PCD) especially designed to remove
sticky compositions and adhesives.
Typical applications are:
• Profiling concrete (TCT flails)
• Removing Thermoplastic lines (Milling flails)
• Removing soft materials (Beam/ Star flails)
• Reducing levels (TCT Flail)
Removing screeds/asphalt in excess of 5mm in
thickness. (Picks are used on large ride on models).
Always check that the profile that is produced by the
flail/picks selected are suitable for the material to
be applied, the type and thickness of surface to be
removed and the finished profile produced.
The finished surfaces may be grooved or flat and are
generally rougher than using dust-free shot blasting.
Greater thicknesses of the substrate can be removed
quickly and more effectively than by shot blasting.
Mechanical planing is slower and noisier than other
methods but when attached to a suitable vacuum
cleaner reduces dust to an acceptable minimum.
Grinding would be selected for smoothing concrete,
removal of coatings, adhesives, smoothing compounds
and contaminants.
Grinding machines are also used to polish a variety
of surface finishes.
Grinding an uneven surface will skim across the
high profile and not touch the lower ones unless the
surface is reduced to the lowest point of the surface
being prepared.
Sticky compositions may prove difficult to remove
and merely re-disperse the material rather than
remove if the correct diamond accessory is not
selected. It is important to determine the type and
thickness of material to be removed or prepared.
The selection of the wrong type of diamond/resin
attachment can prove costly.
There are a number of methods of abrading which
include the use of STR machines, carborundum blocks,
or abrasive papers etc. These have limited uses and
are not generally used on larger areas.
Note: Hard compositions may create a problem for smaller planing machines as there is not enough weight to cut into the surface.
