Concrete Surface Profile Chart
Two lookups on one page: what a given depth of profile adds to the material you have to buy, and which profile character belongs under which film build.
The first table answers what the profile costs you: find the peak to valley depth of your prepared surface down the side, and read the coating it takes to fill that texture before any of it starts building film. The second answers which profile belongs under which build. Neither table names a CSP number, and that is deliberate: the number your job needs is printed on your coating’s data sheet, and CSP explained covers what the scale means.
What the profile costs in coating
| Profile depth (mil) | Fill (gal / 1,000 ft²) | Share of a 5 mil build | Share of a 10 mil build | Share of a 20 mil build |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0.62 | 20% | 10% | 5% |
| 4 | 1.25 | 40% | 20% | 10% |
| 6 | 1.87 | 60% | 30% | 15% |
| 8 | 2.49 | 80% | 40% | 20% |
| 10 | 3.12 | 100% | 50% | 25% |
| 15 | 4.68 | 150% | 75% | 38% |
| 20 | 6.23 | 200% | 100% | 50% |
| 30 | 9.35 | 300% | 150% | 75% |
| 40 | 12.47 | 400% | 200% | 100% |
What each cell is: the coating consumed filling the texture of 1,000 ft², and what that is as a share of the material a flat floor would take at three common builds. Computed from 1,604 ft² per gallon per mil, with the profile modeled as filling to half its peak to valley depth.
Reading the first table
The middle column is the coating that disappears into the texture on a 1,000 ft² floor before any of it starts building thickness on top. The three right hand columns put that in proportion: the same profile is a minor allowance under a heavy build and a large one under a thin film, which is the whole reason profile and film build are a single decision rather than two.
Read the right hand columns as the honest version of the coverage rate on a data sheet. A sheet quotes coverage for a flat surface, because that is the only surface it can assume. Every figure in those columns is material you need on top of that quote, before the loss allowance for the bucket, the roller and what the slab drinks, which is a separate deduction again and is commonly collapsed into the same round number.
Worked example
A 2,400 ft² commercial bay, a 10 mil standard build epoxy, and a prepared surface around 10 mil deep peak to valley. Read the 10 mil row: the fill is 3.12 gal per 1,000 ft², so the floor takes about 7.48 gal filling texture, and the row says that is 50% on top of the flat surface figure for that build.
On a kit sized product that is very often a whole extra kit, and it is the specific reason material runs short on rough slabs rather than on smooth ones. Put your own solids and thickness through the film thickness calculator for the flat surface figure, then add the allowance from this table on top.
Which profile belongs under which build
| Film build | Profile character | If it is too coarse | If it is too fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penetrating sealer or thin film | The finest profile that still keysThere is not enough film to bury a texture, so anything coarse shows through as roughness and wears at the peaks. | Peaks barely covered, and the floor feels rougher than the customer was shown | Nothing to key into, so the coating relies on adhesion to a closed surface |
| Standard build epoxy | The middle of the range, and the one most sheets nameEnough film to cover a working texture without the profile driving the material order. | Material runs over the coverage rate and the topcoat telegraphs the texture | The usual under prep failure: sheet peeling with a clean film back |
| High build or self leveling | More open, and the sheet will say soA thick film needs mechanical key across a larger contact area, and it has the volume to fill a deeper texture. | Rarely the problem at this build; the cost is material rather than appearance | A thick film on a closed surface is a lot of weight held on by very little |
| Broadcast system, flake or quartz | Open, because the base coat is doing two jobsThe base coat has to bond and hold aggregate, so it is applied heavier and wants a profile to match. | Base coat drains into the valleys and the broadcast lands on a starved film | Base coat sits proud with nothing keying it, and the whole system leaves together |
| Overlay or repair mortar | The coarse end of the scaleThese are millimeters thick rather than mils, and they need a fractured surface rather than a textured one. | Effectively not a failure mode at this thickness | Debonding, because a smooth substrate cannot hold that mass |
Pairing logic, not a specification. The profile your job requires is named by the coating’s data sheet; the two right hand columns are what goes wrong at each end when the pairing is off.
Where these numbers come from
The first table is a unit conversion and one stated assumption, and both are worth seeing plainly.
The conversion: a US gallon is 231 cubic inches and a square foot at one mil is 0.144 cubic inches, so a gallon of solid material covers 1,604 ft² at one mil. That constant is derived from first principles in the film thickness engine rather than typed in, and a harness recomputes it, so it cannot quietly become 1,600 and move every cell on this page.
The assumption: a profile is modeled as filling to half its peak to valley depth, which is the mean of a regular sawtooth. Real profiles are not sawtooths, so this is the size of the effect rather than a purchase quantity, and the direction is the part to trust. A textured surface always takes more than the flat coverage rate predicts, never less.
The second table carries no numbers at all, deliberately. It is pairing logic drawn from what each build is physically doing on the slab, and the specification it defers to is your coating’s data sheet. How to read a data sheet covers where on that document the profile requirement lives.
What this page deliberately does not contain
There is no table of CSP numbers against prep methods here. That mapping is defined by ICRI, who publish the scale and the comparator replicas, and this site does not reprint a standard second hand. Our methodology promises we do not publish figures we cannot defend, and a mapping copied from somewhere that copied it from somewhere else is exactly the kind of figure that promise exists to exclude.
For the profile your specification requires, read the data sheet. For what the number means and how to verify you have produced it, CSP explained covers the scale, the comparator plates and the checks. For the prep itself and the other three gates a slab has to pass, how to prep concrete for epoxy is the pillar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there no table of CSP numbers against methods here?
Because that table belongs to ICRI, who define the scale, and this site does not reprint a standard it cannot hold you to. Our methodology page promises we do not publish figures we cannot defend, and a mapping copied second hand from somewhere else is exactly that.
What you get instead is the part we can generate ourselves and check: the arithmetic of what a profile costs in coating, and the pairing logic between film build and profile character. For the profile number your specification requires, read your coating’s data sheet, and read ICRI’s own guideline for what that number means.
Where do the material numbers come from?
A unit conversion and one stated assumption. A gallon covers 1,604 square feet at one mil, because a gallon is 231 cubic inches and a square foot at one mil is 0.144 cubic inches. That constant is derived from first principles in the film thickness engine and pinned by a harness, so it cannot drift.
The assumption is the geometry: a profile is modeled as filling to half its peak-to-valley depth, which is the average of a regular sawtooth. Real profiles are not sawtooths, so treat the result as the size of the effect rather than a purchase quantity. The direction is what matters, and the direction is always more material than the flat-surface coverage rate predicts.
Does this mean a coarse profile is always a mistake?
No. It means a coarse profile has a cost, and that the cost has to be intended rather than discovered. A high build or broadcast system wants an open profile and the extra material is part of the specification.
The mistake is pairing a coarse profile with a thin film, where you pay for the extra material and get a floor whose peaks are barely covered as well. That is the pairing the second table exists to prevent.
How do I use this when quoting?
Take the coverage rate for your product at your target thickness, then add the profile allowance from the first table on top of it, and only then apply your normal loss allowance for the bucket, the roller and what the slab drinks.
Those are three separate deductions and they are commonly collapsed into one round number, which is why material runs short on rough slabs specifically. The film thickness calculator handles the first two; the third is a judgement about your own crew.
What if I do not know the profile depth?
Most contractors do not measure it, and that is normal. Use the table the other way round: pick the row that matches how the prepared floor feels underfoot and read the allowance as a planning figure, or run the two rows either side of your guess and see whether the difference changes the order.
On a small floor it usually does not. On a large one, at the coarse end, it can be the difference between one kit and two, which is the case worth checking before the order goes in.