A variety substrates may be covered with esd flooring. Non conductive (insulative) substrates will somewhat affect the conductivity of certain flooring, more so with static dissipative materials like ElectraFloor "Fundamentals" (that rely mostly on the ambient humidity in your environment for conductivity) than conductive flooring like our UltraStatic ESD control Tiles (that are non humidity dependant). When covering wood, standard VCT or epoxy substrates additional grounding straps may be required.

It's always best to "check RTG as you go" when encountering highly insulative surfaces and adjust the number of flooring grounds accordingly. Conversely, concrete surfaces, devoid of sealers and finishes are inherently conductive. Although concrete's conductivity will fluctuate dramatically (depending on the ambient humidity of your environment and the moisture content of the concrete) it will always have areas of conductivity, helping to make grounding of your esd floor relatively easy.

Our experience has shown that with the static conductive or dissipative non-humidity dependant esd vinyl's and carpeting, covering a cement substrate, only one ground per 1000 SF is normally required. When covering insulative substrates or when working with humidity dependant esd floor covering materials 1 ground per 500 SF will provide the best results.