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Five Questions to Your Floor: Decision Tree

May 2026 · 7 min read

Clean concrete surface ready for decision-tree spec

Five questions in order narrow any seamless-floor specification to one or two products. This is the text version of the System Selector wizard at decision-tool.html — the same branching logic, expanded so you can copy-paste it into a brief or run it manually with a client over coffee. Each answer either rules products out or pushes you to the next question.

Q1 — What's the use case?

The category sets the whole frame. Aesthetic projects live in finish; industrial projects live in load; food and pharma live in chemistry and certification.

Residential → go to Q2. Aesthetics dominate.
Office / retail / showroom → go to Q2. Aesthetics plus light traffic dominate.
Industrial / warehouse → go to Q3. Load class is the driver.
Food / pharma / healthcare → go to Q4. Chemistry and certifications drive the answer.
Sport / playground → rubber per EN 14904 / EN 1177 fall-height table. Stop here — the standards table closes the spec.
Outdoor / coastal → go to Q5. UV plus chloride drive the answer.

Q2 — What's the substrate and downtime?

Substrate condition rules the field. Downtime then rules the product within the field. These two together resolve all residential and aesthetic-commercial projects.

New construction or full renovation, dry sound slab → polished concrete L2–L3 if the slab is power-trowelled flat; otherwise microcement (residential premium) or vinyl-flake epoxy (commercial fit-out).
Existing tile floor, tenant fit-out, must stay closed ≤ 2 days → microcement on epoxy primer with fiberglass mesh (Ardex P82 primer + 4×4 mm mesh in scratch coat).
Existing tile, less than 8 hours downtime → MMA Pronto (Sikafloor-24 PurCem Pronto SL 4 mm). The only chemistry that cures fast enough.
Wood subfloor → Sikafloor ComfortFloor PU SL (crack-bridging) or engineered parquet if substrate < 2% CM moisture. Never rigid epoxy.

Q3 — What's the load class?

For industrial and warehouse the load class is the defining variable. Get the number from the operations manager, not the architect — the operations manager knows what actually moves on the floor.

Pallet jacks and carts only (no powered equipment) → Sikafloor-263 SL 2–3 mm + Sikafloor-264 topcoat. R10. Default light-industrial.
Electric forklifts ≤ 3 t → Sikafloor-263 SL 4 mm + 264 topcoat OR Sikafloor MultiDur EB-24. R10 maximum — R11 destroys PU forklift wheels.
LPG/diesel forklifts 3–7 t, racking point loads → PurCem 22N HD 9–12 mm OR dry-shake hardened concrete + Li densifier (lifetime-cheapest for dry warehouses).
Heavy machinery > 7 t, presses, drop-test rigs → structural concrete with steel-fibre and machine-base isolation. No resinous topping survives direct impact > 50 J.

Q4 — What's the chemistry, temperature, and cert requirement?

For food, pharma, and healthcare the spec is decided by the regulatory regime and the chemistry of the operation. The product list is short; the wrong product is automatic audit failure.

Hot wash plus acids plus thermal shock plus HACCP (food production, brewery, dairy, meat, fish) → PurCem 22N HD 9–12 mm, silicon-carbide R12 broadcast, hot-coved 100 mm, RAL food-industry palette. Non-negotiable.
Wet kitchen plus R11 plus HACCP (restaurant kitchen, cafe back-of-house) → PurCem 21N 6 mm + aluminum oxide medium broadcast, hot-coved 75 mm.
Cold storage −20 to −40 °C → PurCem 22N HD installed during shutdown OR MMA Pronto cold-cure (in-service install, 24 h downtime instead of 7 days).
Pharma plus ESD plus GMP → Sikafloor-235 ESD (dissipative, 10⁶–10⁹ Ω) or 262 AS (conductive) on 156 primer, coved 75 mm, earth-bonded.
Healthcare corridor plus low-VOC plus bacteriostatic → Sikafloor MultiDur ES-26 with Bioblock silver-ion + 305W satin, R10, EC1+ certified.
Solvent lab (ketones, aromatics, strong acids) → Novolac epoxy Sikafloor-381 OR vinyl-ester Sikagard N-VE.
None of the above (dry, no chemistry, no certs) → go to Q5.

Q5 — What's the UV exposure, aesthetic, and budget?

The final question resolves the projects that survived Q1–Q4. UV decides the topcoat chemistry; aesthetic decides the system body; budget breaks the final tie.

Indoor only, no UV, premium aesthetic, residential → microcement 3 mm + Sikafloor 304W satin. Pandomo Loft style. Default Israeli penthouse spec.
Indoor + windows or skylights, premium aesthetic → polished concrete L2–L3 + lithium densifier + polyaspartic seal (Sikafloor-2540 W). UV-stable, lifetime-permanent.
Indoor commercial fit-out, fast install, premium aesthetic → Sikafloor DecoDur EB-Flake 1/8" Torginol Domino blend 70% coverage + 305W gloss. 4-day install.
Outdoor / coastal / port → PurCem 21 + Sikafloor-2540 W polyaspartic OR hardened concrete + polyaspartic. Never aromatic epoxy in UV.
Budget-constrained warehouse, dry, foot plus light wheeled → dry-shake hardener cast into fresh concrete + grind L1 + lithium densifier. Lifetime-cheapest industrial floor.

Quick-Reference Cheat Sheet

If the brief contains one of these phrases, the spec is essentially fixed:

  • "Food production, wash-down, certs" → PurCem 22N HD 9 mm + Si-C R12 + cove 100 mm
  • "Wet kitchen, R11, HACCP" → PurCem 21N 6 mm + Al₂O₃ R11 + cove 75 mm
  • "Forklifts, 5 t, dry warehouse" → Dry-shake hardener + L1 polish + Li densifier
  • "Pharma, ESD, GMP" → Sikafloor-235 ESD 2 mm + cove 75 mm
  • "Cold room, can't shut down" → Sikafloor Pronto cold-cure MMA
  • "Penthouse, seamless, warm-floor" → Microcement 3 mm + Sikafloor 304W satin
  • "Coastal villa, sea air" → Polished concrete L2 + 2540 W polyaspartic
  • "Showroom car dealer" → Polished concrete L3 + metallic seed
  • "Hospital corridor, low-VOC" → Sikafloor MultiDur ES-26 + Bioblock + 305W
  • "Bathroom remodel, seamless wet" → Microcement + fiberglass mesh + R10 PU + anti-slip sand
  • "Retail fit-out, 4 days, premium" → Sikafloor DecoDur EB-Flake + 305W
  • "Gym, kids fall safety" → EPDM-PU thickness per EN 1177 fall-height table
  • "Solvent or acid lab" → Novolac Sikafloor-381 or vinyl-ester
  • "Outdoor exposed, UV" → Polyaspartic topcoat (2540 W) over anything
  • "Office 500 m²" → Polished concrete L2 + Li densifier

When the Tree Doesn't Resolve

Two cases force the decision tree to stop and ask a follow-up question rather than name a product:

  • Mixed use case — a kitchen-plus-dining cafe needs two systems with a divider strip, not one compromise system. Two specs, two prices.
  • Substrate unknown — without a substrate condition the tree cannot enter Q2. Run a moisture test (ASTM F2170), a pull-off test (ASTM D7234), and a chain drag (ASTM D4580) first; come back to Q1 with the data.

Read next: The 11 criteria in priority order — full version · 15 Israeli use cases with recommended systems · Five expensive mis-specifications.

Sources

  • Sika Technical Data Sheets (Sikafloor product family).
  • BASF MasterTop / Ucrete TDS family.
  • DIN 51130 / 51097 (slip), EN 1177 (playground), EN 14904 (sport), IEC 61340-5-1 (ESD).
  • HACCP / FSSC 22000, FDA 21 CFR 175.300, ISO 14644 (cleanrooms).

Use the Wizard

The interactive version of this tree is at decision-tool.html — click through the five questions and get a product recommendation in 90 seconds.

Open Wizard Get Free Quote