Industry guidelines for creating surface profiles

The International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) has created a technical guideline #03732, “Selecting and specifying concrete surface preparation for sealers, coatings, and polymer overlays.” This guideline provides concrete surface profiles of CSP 3 to 9 which are used under the following conditions.

  • For coating applications from 4–5 mils in thickness, the surface profile shall be a CSP 3. This is known as a light shotblast.
  • For coating applications from 15–50 mils in thickness, the surface profile shall be a CSP 4 or 5. This is known as a medium shotblast.
  • For coating applications from 40 mils to 1⁄8″ in thickness, the surface profile shall be a CSP 5 or 6. This is known as a medium-heavy shotblast.
  • For topping applications from ¼” to ½”, the surface profile shall be a CSP 6 or 7. This is known as a heavy shotblast.
  • For concrete overlays greater than ½”, the surface profile shall be a CSP 8 or 9. This is known as an extreme shotblast.

International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) Concrete Surface Profile (CSP) Scale

Concrete Surface Profile 1
Concrete Surface Profile 2
Concrete Surface Profile 3
CSP 1
(acid etched)
CSP 2
(grinding)
CSP 3
(light shotblast)
Concrete Surface Profile 4
Concrete Surface Profile 5
Concrete Surface Profile 6
CSP 4
(medium shotblast)
CSP 5
(medium-heavy shotblast)
CSP 6
(heavy shotblast)
Concrete Surface Profile 7
Concrete Surface Profile 8
Concrete Surface Profile 9
CSP 7
(heavy shotblast)
CSP 8
(extreme shotblast)
CSP 9
(extreme shotblast)

*Industry test results indicate that this Concrete Surface Profile offers no improvement in adhesion with overlays, compared to that of CSP 7.

Download the Guideline Instructions for Concrete Surface Preparation