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Polymer Floor & Wall Coatings: Selection, Preparation, Installation and Troubleshooting. System Selection Criteria. When designing a floor and/or wall system, selection of products will depend upon working environment and severity of use.
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Polymer Floor & Wall Coatings: Selection, Preparation, Installation and Troubleshooting
System Selection Criteria When designing a floor and/or wall system, selection of products will depend upon working environment and severity of use. • Physical: Light foot traffic or heavy mechanized traffic? Industrial process or laboratory/clean room? • Chemical: Cleaning agents, process chemicals, combinations. • Temperature: Freezers, steam washdown, extreme ambient temps. • Electro-static: High-voltage equipment, static-generating machinery • Value Engineering: Floor design for the immediate environment Multiple issues occurring over one area
Systems When designing a floor and/or wall system, selection of products will depend upon working environment and severity of use. • Coatings • Slurries • Mortars • Urethane Cement • Wall systems
Coatings • Advantages: • Inexpensive • Aesthetics • Cleanability • Concrete protection • Chemical resistance* • Disadvantages: • Resistance to physical abuse • Repair of poor substrate conditions • Less product for the same amount of surface preparation • Life-cycle costing
What is a Slurry? Resinous coatings filled with aggregate (approximately 2 parts aggregate to 1 part resin) which is applied at 1/16” to 3/8” in thickness. • Disadvantages: • Moderate to good resistance to physical abuse • Will not resurface poor concrete • Thermal shock resistance • Downtime • Advantages: • Great value/installed cost • Significant improvement to abuse compared to coatings • Non-skid applications • Resin-rich systems
What is a Mortar? Resinous coatings filled with aggregate (approximately 4 or 5 parts aggregate to 1 part resin), which is applied by trowel and finished. The systems range in thickness from 3/16” to 3/8”. • Disadvantages: • Cost • Skill level required for installation • Resin-aggregate ratios • Downtime • Advantages: • Resistance to physical abuse • Resurface poor concrete • Thermal shock resistance • Life-cycle costing
What is a Urethane Cement? Urethane emulsion combined with cement and silica sand (approximately 3 parts aggregate to 1 part resin), which is raked and finished at ¼” to 3/8” thickness. • Disadvantages: • Aesthetics • Cost • Limited colors • Skill level required for installation • Advantages: • Great resistance to physical abuse • Bond in wet environments • Thermal shock resistance • Fast installations • Chemical resistance
Wall Systems High-build coating systems Fiberglass reinforced epoxy systems Flexible epoxy wall systems • Disadvantages: • Cost • Substrate imperfections • Downtime • Advantages: • Chemical resistance • Wash-down resistance • Impact resistance • Gloss retention • Cleanability • Aesthetics
Concrete Requirements: Mix Design Proper concrete mix design can produce a slab that is ideally suited for bonding to a polymer topping. • Standard mix design: • Topical treatment: Seamless, film-building sealers, form release • Fiber reinforcement: Coatings, self leveling floors 3/16” • High early mix design: • Concrete additives: Plasticizers, Gill 33
Successful Concrete • “At-use” environment • Surface preparation • Moisture testing • Control conditions of installation • Dew point vs. surface temperature during installation • Sub grade • Vapor barrier • Water to cement ratio • Aggregate selection and gradation • Finishing • Curing
Concrete Concerns • Moisture vapor transmission • Levelness of installation • Drain height • Lightweight concrete • Fly ash pozzolans
Moisture-related issues Improper treatment of moisture-related issues can result in blisters, delamination and potentially a complete floor system failure. Moisture Measurement: A simple calcium chloride test will determine the presence and force of any moisture migrating through the slab. Acceptable levels vary with each system and manufacturer.Causes:Fast-track construction schedules Mix design (wet pour) Topical treatments (slow hydration) Pouring slab in a pan Ground or soil conditions Humidity inside vs. outside Chemistry changes in flooring products
Treatments for Moisture Problems There are several techniques/products available for the prevention and remediation of moisture-related problems. • Slab design: vapor barrier, mix design • Time: may not be on your side • Temperature and humidity control • Topical vapor barriers (Aqua Armor, Koester, FloorSeal) • Product or System: water-based products, thin “breathable” coatings and urethane cements
Scheduling & Planning for Work A timely and efficient mobilization requires room preparation and proper communication between Project Management, Flooring Contractor, and all other trades. Heat: Temperature must be at least 55*F for coatings and toppings. 65*F to 75*F is ideal for most systems. Room/slab temperature directly affects coverage rates of product. Light: The presence of finished lighting impacts application schedules, cure time and aesthetics of finished floor. Power supply: 220v 3-phase, 60 Amp. or 480v 3-phase, 30 Amp. Installation equipment pulls total of amperage when starting up, and will blow breakers.
Scheduling & Planning for Work Effect on facility operations and return to service. Other Trades: Damage to floors, walk off job site, power, lighting Effect on existing operations: Product odor, contamination of inventory, work areas adjacent to application, fire, safety
Slab Preparation Chemical process: Effective in the removal of adhesives, oils, animal fats. Acid etching, stripping, detergents.Mechanical process: Shot blasting, grinding, scarifying, scabbling. Water process: Water jet blasting is entirely dust free. Consider its effect on product selection and time of application. Dust Control: All slab prep machinery is connected to vacuum with HEPA filtration.
Wrap-up Return to service: Maximum allowable shut-down time can dictate the type of system and product selected. Quick-cure polymers, such as MMA and urethane concrete systems can greatly reduce application time and return facilities to service in a matter of hours.Application rates: Installation rates will vary with required prep work, system selected, product manufacturer and schedule. Per-foot rates can range from $2.00/ft. up to $12.00/ft. or more.