Downers Grove Epoxy Flooring installs ESD flooring in Downers Grove, IL, serving surrounding cities including Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Western Springs, La Grange and Westchester. With more than 20 years on commercial and industrial concrete, we know that a static-control floor is a measured system, not a color choice, and that a floor which looks perfect can still fail the one test that matters if the grounding and the slab underneath were handled carelessly.
Static electricity can damage sensitive electronic components and, in some settings, ignite flammable materials. Electronics assembly, repair benches, labs, imaging suites, data rooms and some clean manufacturing spaces use static-dissipative or conductive flooring to carry charge safely to ground. Our proposals name the product line, the resistance range the floor is built to, the grounding layout and the test method, so the finished floor can be checked against the paper.
The sections below explain the standards behind ESD flooring, the systems we install, how we prepare and ground the slab, and how the floor is tested and maintained.
ESD Flooring Standards and Resistance Ranges
Conductive Versus Static-Dissipative Floors
Static-control floors are classed by their electrical resistance. Under the ANSI/ESD STM7.1 test method, a conductive floor measures below 1.0 x 10^6 ohms, and a static-dissipative floor measures at or above 1.0 x 10^6 and below 1.0 x 10^9 ohms. Conductive floors drain charge faster and are common where explosives or highly sensitive devices are handled, while dissipative floors suit most electronics work.
Which range you need depends on your equipment, your internal ESD control plan and sometimes your customers’ requirements. We build to the range written into your specification and confirm it with testing rather than assuming a product data sheet will carry over to your slab.
ANSI/ESD S20.20 and the Floor-Footwear System
ANSI/ESD S20.20 is the program standard many electronics manufacturers follow, and it looks at the person, the footwear and the floor together. One of its benchmarks is that a person wearing approved, grounded footwear should not generate over 100 volts, measured with the ANSI/ESD STM97.2 walking test, and floors in electronics handling areas are expected to measure below 1.0 x 10^9 ohms.
That is why we ask about your footwear program before specifying a floor. An ESD floor paired with the wrong shoes can still let people build a charge, and the floor gets blamed for a problem that lives in the shoe rack.
Where Static-Control Flooring Is Used
Typical spaces include electronics assembly and rework areas, test labs, server and data rooms, medical imaging and diagnostic suites, and parts of light manufacturing where components are handled. Some facilities need ESD flooring only at benches and aisles in one room, while others need it wall to wall, and we scope the floor to match the protected area rather than coating the whole building by default.
ESD Epoxy Systems We Install
Static-Dissipative Epoxy Coatings
The most common system we install is a static-dissipative epoxy built in layers: a primer bonded to the ground slab, a conductive layer tied into a grounding network, and a dissipative epoxy body coat that controls the final resistance. The result is a seamless, chemical-resistant floor that looks like a solid-color commercial coating and performs within its specified range.
Because the floor is seamless, it also avoids the joints and seams of static-control tile, where dirt collects and conductive adhesive can fail over time. That makes a coated ESD floor easier to clean and easier to keep consistent from one end of a room to the other.
Conductive Epoxy Floors
Where a conductive range is required, the system is formulated to carry charge to ground more quickly. Conductive floors are often specified in areas that handle very sensitive devices or energetic materials, and they demand the same careful grounding and testing as dissipative floors.
Striping, Workstations and Aisles
ESD floors can be striped and marked like any commercial floor, with aisle lines, workstation outlines and protected-area boundaries coated in. Marking paints and tapes are chosen so they do not create insulating islands in the middle of a protected work zone, and we plan the layout with your team before installation.
Slab Preparation and Grounding
Grinding, Repair and Moisture Testing
An ESD system has to bond directly to sound concrete, so existing coatings, adhesives and sealers are removed by diamond grinding or shot blasting to an ICRI concrete surface profile, with vacuum dust capture at the machine. Cracks and spalls are mapped and repaired, and a moisture test is written into the scope before the price is final, because vapor that lifts a standard coating will lift an ESD coating just as quickly.
Copper Grounding Strips and Ground Points
The conductive layer is connected to building ground through copper grounding strips laid on the primed slab and terminated at ground points that an electrician confirms. The number and placement of ground points depends on the size and shape of the floor, and they are recorded so future testing and repairs can find them.
Temperature, Humidity and Cure
ESD materials, like any epoxy, cure by chemical reaction and are sensitive to slab temperature and the dew point spread at the surface. Moisture condensing on the slab during application can cause amine blush and affect both bond and electrical performance, so we schedule by measured conditions rather than the calendar.
Testing and Maintaining an ESD Floor
Resistance Testing After Installation
Once the floor has cured, we test resistance at points across the floor using the method named in your specification and record the readings. A floor that does not test within range is corrected before handover rather than left for your quality team to discover during an audit.
Cleaning Products That Protect Performance
Waxes, floor finishes and some general-purpose cleaners leave insulating films that raise resistance over time. We provide cleaning guidance for static-control floors and recommend periodic retesting so your ESD program has current numbers on file.
Phasing Around Operations
Electronics plants, labs and data rooms often cannot shut down for long. We phase work in sections and use overnight and weekend windows when a space cannot close, choosing products inside the Illinois VOC limits for floor and industrial coatings so the work stays compliant while your operations continue nearby.
- 20+ Years of Floor Work
- Moisture Tested in Writing
- Free Written Quotes