Micro Toppings For Sealed Or Polished Concrete

Topical sealers work great to protect surfaces like concrete, tile, stone, and metal. Unfortunately all sealers have their limitations. Let’s use epoxies for an example. Epoxies work great because they can be applied thick and can have metallic pigments mixed into them for effect. These are commonly known as metallic epoxies. These epoxies look great but they can be scratched and stained fairly easily. Usually when installing metallic epoxies some sort of a topcoat is required to protect the epoxy even though the epoxy itself is a “sealer”. Other sealed surfaces like floors and counter tops might need an extra layer of protection.. so that’s where micro toppings for sealed or polished concrete come in!

Micro toppings have been gaining in popularity over recent years because of their high chemical and abrasion resistance. They also bond well to smooth surfaces like sealers or polished stone and concrete. What makes them a micro topping instead of being considered a sealer is the fact that they are an ultra thin coating (or protective layer). The two types of micro toppings I’ve personally used are a silicone ceramic based micro topping and a silica based micro topping. Both of these are highly chemical resistant, heat resistant, stop plasticizer migration, and are UV stable. They also add slip resistance to the surfaces.

I’ve now introduced these toppings into my application process. For an additional fee I’ve been applying these over my polyaspartic flake systems for garage floors. This makes the floor more slip resistant and stops plasticizer migration from hot tires or door mats. I’ve also started adding them to my interior stained concrete. After diamond honing, staining, and sealing the concrete with a urethane topical sealer, I then add the micro topping over the topical sealer for slip resistance, and added durability.