Untreated industrial concrete wears under forklifts, gives off dust and soaks up stains. Lithurin Formula is a water-based impregnating agent that reacts within the surface layer of the concrete and becomes part of the slab. There is no coating to flake or peel.
What happens to the floor, step by stepCheck your floor in one minute
Industrial hall, existing floor. Left: before treatment. Right: after grinding and Lithurin Formula treatment.
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How unprotected concrete wears, what Lithurin Formula does in its surface layer, and how the floor then holds up in daily use. As you go, tick what you see on your own floor.
Illustration, not a measurement.
Power-floated concrete has a softer, porous top layer. Under the wheels of forklifts and pallet trucks it breaks down into fine dust that rises over the traffic aisles and settles on stock, racking and machinery.
Illustration: A warehouse with racking and a traffic aisle. A forklift and a pallet truck are moving, dust rises behind their wheels, and a haze of dust hangs over the aisles. A circle on the aisle marks the detail we then show close up.
This is the same concrete in cross-section. Tick the signs you recognise from your own floor.
The top layer breaks down into fine dust, which settles back on goods, racking and machines soon after sweeping.
In traffic aisles and on turns, the aggregate starts to show and the surface becomes rough and damaged.
Illustration: Close-up cross-section of a concrete floor: grains of dust rise from the top layer, and the traffic aisle shows a shallow worn track with exposed aggregate.
An open surface absorbs whatever a wheel leaves behind or drips from a vehicle.
Dark wheel marks work their way into the open surface and stay even after cleaning.
Oil and lubricants penetrate the pores. The stain remains even when the surface is dry.
Illustration: Dark tyre marks and an oil stain on the surface; in cross-section, the stain spreads down into the concrete.
Liquid absorption and peeling coatings are two sides of the same problem: the surface cannot take the load.
Water and dirt soak into the concrete. The floor stays dark for a long time and cleaning takes longer.
An epoxy or acrylic coating is a film on top of the concrete. Under traffic and moisture it can come away, and it has to be removed before the floor can be renewed.
Illustration: A drop of water spreads and soaks into the concrete through the capillaries; on the right, an epoxy coating is lifting and curling.
We grind existing floors first. We remove the soft top layer, stains, marks and old coatings until we reach sound, absorbent concrete. On a new slab, the surface must be clean and free of curing compounds that would close the pores.
Without proper preparation there is no good result. Poor preparation is the most common reason a treatment falls short of expectations.
Illustration: The whole surface has been ground: stains, marks and coating are gone, and the open pores of sound concrete are visible.
Lithurin HARD is a water-based impregnating agent. It penetrates the surface layer through the capillaries, where its fluorosilicate reacts with free lime in the concrete. This forms calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H), which fills the micropores. The surface layer becomes harder and denser, with no film on top.
reaction in the poresCa(OH)2 + fluorosilicate → C-S-H + CaF2
Illustration: A surface layer marked in violet shows where HARD has reacted; the pores in this layer are filled and there is no film on the surface.
The second application closes the pores at the surface. Less dust rises from it, less liquid soaks in, and the floor is easier to clean. SEAL 3.0 is also suitable for wet and outdoor surfaces.
In dry indoor areas, SEAL may also be suitable. We decide which one during the site visit. SEAL or SEAL 3.0?
Illustration: After SEAL 3.0, the pores at the surface are closed, with the treated layer marked in violet below. A wheel has crossed the surface and raised only a few grains of dust.
Where oil and spills are part of daily work, we add PROTEC. This impregnating agent makes the surface liquid-repellent: drops stay on top and are easier to wipe away.
Spills still need to be cleaned up promptly. PROTEC improves stain protection; we do not promise chemical resistance.
Illustration: A drop of water sits on the treated surface as a bead. A cloth has already wiped up the oil drop and carries a dark stain. A dashed outline shows where water used to soak into the concrete.
Forklifts run along the same routes, but much less dust rises behind them. Daily machine cleaning with a Suprashine 8000 diamond pad and Concrete Soap removes the abrasive dirt that would otherwise grind down the surface.
Illustration: The hall after treatment: a forklift drives along the same aisle with far less dust, and a scrubber with a round diamond pad cleans a strip of the aisle.
This summary is built from what you ticked. It is a starting point for a site visit, not a quote: we set the final sequence and preparation once we have inspected the concrete.
You have not ticked anything yet. What do you see on your floor?
Starting point for a site visit
Industrial power-floated floors
Wet areas and regular wet cleaning
Dustproofing self-levelling compounds
Indoor dust binding and curing of fresh concrete
Ground and polished concrete
Outdoor surfaces with a finer texture
Outdoor surfaces with a coarser texture
Garages, workshops and car parks
Why this sequence
Industrial power-floated floors
Indoor dust binding and curing of fresh concrete
Outdoor surfaces with a finer texture
Outdoor surfaces with a coarser texture
Typical sequence for similar floors. Results depend on the concrete, preparation and maintenance.
We first grind existing floors back to sound concrete, then apply the Lithurin sequence. Drag across the photo.
Wherever bare concrete is the working surface and has to last for years. For each type of building we show what happens to the floor and which sequence suits it.
Forklift traffic aisles, racked storage, loading docks.
Floors loaded by machinery, traffic and regular cleaning.
Vehicle wash bays, food and agricultural buildings, regular wet cleaning.
Vehicle traffic, oil, water and frequent cleaning.
Aprons, ramps, loading and handling areas.
Diamond-ground floors in industrial, commercial and public buildings.
Sales and service areas where appearance matters too.
These figures are published by AB Lindec, the Swedish manufacturer of the Lithurin Formula system, and we quote each one with its source. The result on your site depends on the concrete, preparation and maintenance.
higher abrasion resistance
Source: AB Lindec, based on independent tests by Aston Services, United Kingdom. Approximate figure compared with untreated concrete.
of concrete floors treated in more than 35 countries
Source: AB Lindec, Lithurin Formula presentation.
Indoor Air Comfort Gold for HARD, SEAL 3.0 and PROTEC
Source: Technical data sheets and emission test reports from the manufacturer. Emission test reports
declarations of performance for HARD, DENS, SEAL, SEAL 3.0 and PROTEC
Source: Available to download in Slovenian and English. Documents
Surface layer hardened with Lithurin HARD.
Source: contractor's figure based on completed projects. The value applies to the hardened surface layer and depends on the quality of the concrete and the preparation.
References listed by the manufacturer, AB Lindec
International references of the manufacturer, not projects carried out by the contractor in Slovenia or Croatia.
Five short questions about your floor, traffic and cleaning. We show a typical Lithurin Formula sequence as a starting point for a site visit.
Step 1 of 5
Location
Starting point for a site visit
Warehouses, production halls, logistics centres. Forklift traffic, dust, wear in traffic aisles.
Typical sequence
Vehicle wash bays, food and agricultural buildings, areas with regular wet cleaning.
Typical sequence
Self-levelling compounds that are dusty or porous.
Typical sequence
New indoor floors after final trowelling, or indoor floors where the main aim is less dust.
Typical sequence
Diamond-ground floors in industrial, commercial, hospitality and public buildings.
Typical sequence
Outdoor aprons, ramps and handling areas with a smoother surface.
Typical sequence
Coarser outdoor surfaces, or areas that need extra protection, such as loading docks and handling areas.
Typical sequence
Vehicle traffic, water, oil and frequent cleaning.
Typical sequence
Industrial power-floated floors
Indoor dust binding and curing of fresh concrete
Outdoor surfaces with a finer texture
Outdoor surfaces with a coarser texture
This is a typical sequence for similar floors, not a quote. We set the final sequence and surface preparation after a site visit and an inspection of the concrete.
We assess the concrete, the traffic and how the floor is cleaned. Existing floors are ground or cleaned back to a sound, absorbent substrate.
We apply the Lithurin sequence: hardening or densifying, sealing and, where needed, stain protection.
Regular cleaning with Concrete Soap and the Suprashine 8000 diamond pad keeps the treated surface in good condition.
No. Lithurin is an impregnating agent that reacts within the surface layer of the concrete. It does not form a film, so there is no layer on top that could peel off the way a coating does.
Yes, as long as the concrete is sound. Before treatment we grind or thoroughly clean existing floors back to an absorbent surface. The treatment improves the surface layer, but it does not fix major defects in the concrete, cracks or a poor base slab.
It depends on the size, condition and accessibility of the area. For around 1,000 m² we usually allow 2–3 days. We draw up an exact schedule after the site visit.
The manufacturer states that a single application gives long-lasting protection. How long it lasts in practice depends on traffic, contamination and maintenance, so we recommend regular cleaning with Concrete Soap and the Suprashine 8000 pad.
Treatment with PROTEC improves stain protection, but we do not promise chemical resistance. Whether the floor is suitable depends on the type of liquid, its concentration and how long it stays on the surface.
On a site visit we check the condition of the concrete, the traffic, how the floor is cleaned and what it is exposed to. Then we propose the surface preparation, the product sequence and a schedule that fits around your operations.
