Epoxy Flooring​
Epoxy Flooring
Finding an experienced epoxy flooring contractor is a challenging task. Obviously, the right contractor will need to know how to install the resinous floor material. But do they know how to assess industrial and commercial areas, and address the points of failure?
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Are the joints exposed?
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Is the existing floor delaminating?
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Is the customer concerned about dust mitigation?
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These are all important factors that Industrial Coating keeps in mind when assessing your epoxy floor project. Our epoxy floor coating contractors have installed commercial and industrial floors in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana, Aruba, and more. We have the equipment and experience to repair damaged concrete, prepare the substrate, and properly apply the epoxy, urethane cement, or polyaspartic to ensure that floors get maximum longevity.
Epoxy Floors
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Epoxy is the most common material used for self-leveling flooring projects. Epoxy offers excellent adhesion, chemical resistance, and durability, and creates nice floor installations in shop rooms, distribution centers, and commercial environments. Epoxy floors are built to withstand hard, everyday use.
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100% solid epoxy coatings can be clear, or pigmented. This gives the customer the flexibility to customize their floor for their preference. Customers practicing ISO management systems utilize epoxy’s many colors to create visual work places that help promote worker accountability and organization. An industrial-grade epoxy floor can help with the safety and the aesthetics of your workplace.
Decorative Broadcast Floors
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Resinous material can be used to create beautiful floors in commercial and industrial environments. Broadcast floors can improve the area’s aesthetics. But they can also help hide dirt, and increase safety by adding some slip-resistance texture in the area.
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There are 2 types of broadcast material: micro-chip and decorative quartz. Micro-chip is normally used on commercial floors. It can be manufactured in multiple sizes, and is less angular than quartz. This means that micro-chip floors can be easier to clean than quartz.
Decorative quartz floors will offer the same aesthetics of micro-chip. But because the quartz is made from sand, they will offer more texture than micro-chip. These are popular floors in pharmaceutical areas because of their increased slip-resistance in wet areas.
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Decorative broadcasts floors always receive grout coats of a clear resinous floor material. Epoxy is the most common. However, clear epoxy naturally ambers/yellows over time. So if your decorative floor receives grout coats of epoxy, expect that clear epoxy to discolor over time.
An experienced epoxy flooring contractor should recommend polyaspartics as a grout coat. Polyaspartics are fast-curing urethanes. They can’t replace epoxy in every situation. But they are a perfect replacement for grout coats over broadcast floors. They will not amber, and they will maintain their clarity. Polyaspartic flooring is strong and maintains its color.
Solid Color
Many commercial and industrial facilities just want a smooth, easy-to-clean surface, in a solid color. These are the most common floors we install as an epoxy flooring company. And they can come in a variety of colors. Many factories create their own, standard colors, which normally includes tile reds, slate greys, and bright yellow. But if a facility has a specific color they are trying to achieve, many epoxy manufacturers can match that specific color.
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Solid colors can be used to define areas. Safety colors alert foot traffic of the hazards, and directional markers can inform pedestrians where they need to walk. Solid colors are a great way for facility managers and designers to organize employees and tools.
Slip-Resistant Floors
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If you’re managing a food manufacturing facility, then it’s more than likely that you have some type of wash down area. These areas are normally wet, and frequently covered in animal fat, grease, and even wafer dust. These environments are necessary for every food plant’s operation. However, they can create a safety hazard for employees. Slippery floors can cause costly accidents and down time. Which is why it’s important to consider adding a textured, slip-resistant epoxy floor in your process areas.
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Quartz sand and aluminum oxide are the common aggregates sprinkled into the epoxy. These tough, durable aggregates will hold up against constant fork lift and pedestrian traffic, while still offering the slip-resistant safety your workers need.
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Slip-resistant epoxy floors can be found in areas outside of wash down areas. Auto-shops, laboratories, and animal shelters are facilities that typically have some type of textured floor.
Urethane Cement Overlayments
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Cold, hot, and wet are challenging environments for anyone specifying an industrial floor. And in these environments, urethane cement has proven to be one of the most durable, long-lasting flooring solutions on the market. They are thermal-shock resistant and will not buckle under drastic temperature fluctuation from hot and cold water. They are anti-microbial, which discourages bacteria and listeria from growing in your plant. And they are surface tolerant, and can be installed over wet or contaminated slabs. These performance features make urethane cement floors one of the best flooring options available for food manufacturing plants.
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Because food manufacturing facilities are always cleaning surfaces and substrates, it’s important that floor can hold up to the constant temperature change, and chemicals. And since Pennsylvania and Maryland are one of the top food producers in the country, they are one of the top states that require urethane cement floor systems.
If your facility does not have a vapor barrier, but it has high vapor transmission, then you probably know that epoxy floors will blister and delaminate under the pressure. Urethane cements have a much higher tolerance to vapor transmission, and can tolerate up to 20 lbs of vapor per 1000 SF over a 24 hour period. This is significantly stronger than epoxy. So if these are normal conditions for your Pennsylvania or Maryland facilities, then you’ll want to consider the urethane cement overlayment as your #1 choice for industrial flooring.
Engineered Concrete Underlayment
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Before any flooring system can be installed, the substrate below must be clean, level and free of imperfections. In industrial facilities, years of heavy use under harsh conditions can cause floors to become cracked and damaged. Whether due to normal wear and tear or direct impact, damaged and deteriorated concrete can present serious safety hazards to workers and damage valuable equipment. And these floors may also allow unwanted pests, like bugs, inside your facility, as they crawl through the cracks in your floors. If your facility’s floors no longer perform as needed, you may want to consider resurfacing them with engineered concrete.
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Engineered concrete is a reinforced composite material that improves on regular concrete. Engineered concrete tends to be more lightweight and ductile than regular concrete, which makes it suitable for use in areas where weight is a concern. Like other self-leveling floor coatings, engineered concrete can spread evenly without vibration or another method for even distribution. When used to resurface industrial floors, engineered concrete flows into cracks and crumbled sections, essentially repairing damage and adding a smooth new surface to the entire substrate. However, it is important to properly prepare these cracks before installing the material. Chasing them with a diamond wheel, and sucking the dirt and debris with a vacuum is a common way that industrial floor installers will prepare the floor. Proper surface preparation is important for safety and the longevity of your flooring.
In some industries, this type of flooring may be used as an underlayment. After using engineered concrete to correct imperfections in the existing concrete floor, you can install another type of flooring or floor coating. At Industrial Coatings, we provide engineered concrete for both underlayment and resurfacing applications. Industrial Coatings can help with your concrete restoration and your concrete repairs.
Line Striping and Floor Graphics
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Regularly used in warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing plants, industrial floor line painting allows workers and visitors to easily understand a facility’s workflow. Using a colored epoxy coating, Industrial Coatings can create striping and other visual elements to guide workers and mark potentially hazardous spaces like wash areas, increasing productivity and safety. Epoxy floor coatings offer stronger adhesion than common house paint, which makes them an ideal long-term line striping solution. And these coatings are manufactured in safety colors, which helps create visual workplaces in hazardous and frantic environments.
We can apply the following types of floor graphics for industrial and commercial clients:
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Pallet slot lines: Pallet slot lines help keep warehouses and manufacturing plants organized and productive. When workers can see where pallets are supposed to go, they can maximize the use of floor space and perform their jobs more efficiently.
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Pedestrian walkway lines and aisles: In warehouses and other industrial facilities, workers often travel beside machinery. In busy areas, workers and machine operators need a reliable way to distinguish pedestrian walkways. Line striping in an eye-catching color offers an ideal solution. When workers know exactly where they should walk to stay clear of machinery, they can work more effectively and prevent accidents.
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Company logos: A large representation of your company logo can add personality to an industrial or commercial space, brightening up the atmosphere and making visitors feel more welcome. Epoxy floor coatings come in many colors, which makes it possible to match your company’s branding.
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Rodent and rat lines: Some food processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities may need rodent and rat lines to meet inspection requirements. These lines make it easier to identify signs of rodent problems.
Choosing the Right Epoxy Flooring for Your Business
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Resinous flooring can provide many benefits to your business, whether you own a restaurant or small retail store or manage maintenance at a large industrial facility. The benefits that your facility enjoys from a new floor coating will depend on the type of coating you select, and there are a variety of options, including epoxy, polyaspartics, urethane, urethane cement, engineered concrete and polyurea.
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At Industrial Coatings, we help clients like you select the best industrial epoxy floor coatings for their needs. If you aren’t sure which type of floor coating will help you achieve your goals, we can answer your questions and help you compare the options.
Urethane Cement Overlayments
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Cold, hot, and wet are challenging environments for anyone specifying an industrial floor. And in these environments, urethane cement has proven to be one of the most durable, long-lasting flooring solutions on the market. They are thermal-shock resistant and will not buckle under drastic temperature fluctuation from hot and cold water. They are anti-microbial, which discourages bacteria and listeria from growing in your plant. And they are surface tolerant, and can be installed over wet or contaminated slabs. These performance features make urethane cement floors one of the best flooring options available for food manufacturing plants.
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Because food manufacturing facilities are always cleaning surfaces and substrates, it’s important that floor can hold up to the constant temperature change, and chemicals.
If your facility does not have a vapor barrier, but it has high vapor transmission, then you probably know that epoxy floors will blister and delaminate under the pressure. Urethane cements have a much higher tolerance to vapor transmission, and can tolerate up to 20 lbs of vapor per 1000 SF over a 24 hour period. This is significantly stronger than epoxy. So if these are normal conditions for your facilities, then you’ll want to consider the urethane cement overlayment as your #1 choice for industrial flooring.