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THE CHALLENGE: The cafeteria in a busy material handling facility in Pittsburgh, PA had a broken and worn concrete floor which was impossible to properly maintain. The facility was in constant use 24 hours a day and materials which gave off any odour were not permitted on site.
An extremely rapid turn-around time was vital in order to restore use of the cafeteria as quickly as possible.
THE SOLUTION: A four-man crew installed the BIO-FLOR™ 182 vinyl colour-chip system within a 24-hour period. Initial preparation by Blastrac® centrifugal abrasive blasting equipment removed the contaminated surface of the existing floor and cleaned out numerous cracks.
These cracks were typically ¼ to ½ deep and from ¼ to 1 wide. Mixing sand with standard BIO-FLOR™ 182 created a convenient mortar to fill and level these cracks. Immediately after filling the cracks a base coat of BIO-FLOR™ 182 Haze Gray was applied by roller, because of the solvent-free formulation such ģwet-on-wetī applications are no problem.
The BIO-FLOR™ base coat was allowed to cure for approximately 4 hours before a full application of BIO-FLOR™ 182 clear coat was applied. Immediately after this application the custom blended black and white colour-chips were broadcast by ģchicken-feedingī by hand. Gently lofting the chips into the air allows them to disperse and settle evenly without clumps. When sufficient chips have been broadcast to almost cover the surface they are ģbackrolledī into the fresh BIO-FLOR™ clear coat using the same roller used for the initial application.
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This broadcasting aims at allowing some of the underlying base coat to remain exposed. To all appearances this visible base coat of gray appears as other colour chips alongside the black and white of the broadcast.
A final thin clear BIO-FLOR™ 182 clear was applied as a final glaze after the BIO-FLOR™ 182 and vinyl chip layer had cured for about 4 hours.
THE RESULT: The floor was ready for unrestricted service 10 hours after the final application of glaze coat. In this instance the total turn-around time was about 22 hours from beginning the project to turning it over for unrestricted service. The formerly cracked and unsightly floor is now an attractive, sanitary and seamless floor with only periodic mopping required for maintenance.
For further information:
Paddy Atkinson Director
TFT Epoxies (UK) Limited
13 Ryecroft Lane, Belmont Village
Bolton, Lancashire BL7 8AH
Telephone: +44 (0) 7973 553 447
Fax: +44 (0) 1204 811 212
Email:
info@TFT-epoxies.co.uk
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