Real Estate Articles

Articles about Real Estate Brokerages, Real Estate Investments, and Real Estate Markets.

Real Estate Articles

Advanced Technology Industrial Floor Coatings – Polyureas

Nov. 3rd, 2010
in Real Estate
by Paul Amos

Bookmark and Share

Subscribe

There are very few surfaces that get more wear and tear then the factory or warehouse floor. Traditional concrete industrial floors often present many problems. Due to heavy traffic from forklifts, foot traffic, and the hauling and moving of products and machines, floors often cracked and chipped creating uneven surfaces that could lead to workplace hazards. The old porous cement surfaces were also difficult to keep clean.

The first step is to acquire high production concrete grinding equipment. These are high torque grinders that cut the concrete easily. They have specialized dustless vacuum systems minimizing airborne dust. Surface preparation is critical to successful application. High spots throughout the floor are leveled, including along expansion joints, which typically are higher than most areas of the floor. Polyureas are not a self leveling product like epoxy. Epoxies tend to have varied thickness throughout the floor. Polyureas perform best with a smooth level surface resulting with a consistent coating thickness.

Once the floor is ground smooth, cracks and damaged areas, including expansion joints, are repaired with a filler compatible with the coatings. These repair products are solvent free, do not shrink, are flexible and impact resistant. Once the floor is ground and cracks, expansion joints and damaged areas repaired, the floor can be coated. Polyureas are fast curing, avoiding downtime between repair and application.

An existing conditions survey is primarily needed when existing plans of a structure are missing, or when the plans that do exist are very old and no longer represent what the structure looks like in present day.

Many times the scenario in which existing conditions drawings are required is when repairs or modifications are in order, or when someone merely wants to document the structure for a purpose like determining the rentable square footage.

Polyurea coatings are engineered to be flexible, unlike epoxy. Old floor coatings often crack above expansion joints and cracks due to their brittle nature. The improved polyurea surfaces have the ability to move slightly over cracks as well as completely fill most cracks. This improvement prevents these imperfections from venting moisture pressure under the surface.

A nonslip aggregate can be built into each layer of the floor coating. Some surface treatments only have the aggregate built into the top layers, so after a year or so a warehouse or factory floor could become slippery and fall below the legal levels of Coefficient set by OSHA. The advanced floor treatments keep floors safe and may prevent accidents and legal headaches.

Low Maintenance Being scratch proof prevents dirt buildup. Floors are easy to clean with neoprine squeegees and look great for years. If they do start to fade, they can be lightly sanded, and a single, fast curing new coat can be applied. Service can be restored the following day.

Paul Amos is an Author living in Sydney, Australia He is interested in reading and creating websites His latest website is about All our holiday homes have charm and character Los juegos de Cuentos

categories: commercial construction,residential and commercial construction,residential commercial construction,commercial construction firms,commercial construction companies,commercial construction co,commercial construction company,commercial construction lending

Bookmark and Share     Subscribe