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
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| CSP 1 (acid etched) |
CSP 2 (grinding) |
CSP 3 (light shotblast) |
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| CSP 4 (medium shotblast) |
CSP 5 (medium-heavy shotblast) |
CSP 6 (heavy shotblast) |
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| 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
