Make Spaces Easy to Disinfect.

April 22, 2020
Picture of seamless chip flooring.
A Vermont Interstate Rest Area – Picture taken over 15 years after it was installed. Simple to disinfect. Wash with bleach and water as directed by CDC and you are done.

Scores of customer have taken full advantage of our systems to make spaces very easy to disinfect. Some of them have used our seamless systems on their floors, walls and ceilings. These seamless systems have no place for a virus or bacterial to hide. They are using enhanced disinfecting, and doing so without harming our material.

We can show you how to do this to your facility. Here are some of the kinds of places that this has been done. At minimum most do floors and cove.

  • Athletic Facilities
  • Food Manufacturing Facilities
  • Grocery Stores
  • Hospitals
  • Kennels
  • Laboratories
  • Nursing Homes
  • Pharmaceutical Facilities
  • Research Facilities
  • Restaurants
  • Schools
  • Stores
  • Veterinary Facilities

Contact Norm Lambert at Epoxy.com Technical Support for more information 1-352-533-2167, norm@epoxy.com

Epoxy Coating on Food Wagon walls and ceilings.
Walls and Ceilings of a Food Wagon. Installation on walls floors and ceiling makes it easy to completely disinfect.

Care of Epoxy Floors

November 1, 2016

Epoxy Flooring Systems and Coatings

Daily Maintenance of Seamless Flooring and Floor Coatings

  • Sweep the floors daily.epoxy_chip_flooring_263s
  • If abrasive particles  are present they should be removed by mopping with common household detergents and rinsed completely.  Be sure not to use the detergent at a concentration higher than that recommended by the manufacturer of the floor cleaning material.  Be sure to test any cleaner that you haven’t used before on a sample of the Seamless Flooring Material or Seamless Floor coating.  You may want to be sure to prepare these samples as you are installing the floor so they will be available to you at a later time.
  • Promptly remove grease, and other contaminants from the surface of the floor
  • Be sure to rinse off all chemical solutions that may attack the surface.

Weekly Maintenance of Seamless Flooring and Floor Coatings

Smooth Systems

All seamless flooring and floor coatings should be mopped on a regular bases with a neutral soap or detergent, and completely rinsed. Be sure not to use the detergent at a concentration higher than that recommended by the manufacturer of the floor cleaning material.

Be sure to test any cleaner that you haven’t used before on a sample of the Seamless Flooring Material or Seamless Floor coating.

Mop should be rinsed often. Synthetic mops tend to work better on textured surfaces than cotton mops. The water should be changed frequently as well. Smooth floors are easily cleaned this way. It may be necessary to give extra care to areas that are subject to heavy traffic, hard rubber wheels, and steel wheels that leave marks. In these situations you can use the methods used for textured floors for these more difficult to remove contamination.

Textured Systems

Textured systems may require the use of a stiff bristled brush or floor scrubber to reach to bottom of the anti-skid texture.  Severe problem areas can be treated as follows:

Grease Removal

Grease is typically removed by Tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) or other commonly available biodegradable cleaner. Contact Epoxy.comTechnical Support Department with your specific questions.

Removing Dairy Products

Dairy products should be removed immediately as they may cause staining on some types of seamless flooring and seamless floor coating systems.

Tire Marks Removal

Scrub the area(s) with a stiff bristled brush and using the same biodegradable floor cleaner that you are using to mop with.

Stubborn Dirt or Stain Removal

When you are trying to remove stubborn dirt or stains,allow the biodegradable cleaner to set in the area for a little while longer and do the work for you. Then completely rinse to area to remove the cleaner and the dirt.

Chemical Spills

You should always rinse strong chemicals as quickly as possible completely from the surface. Chemicals allowed to dry on the surface typically become more concentrated as they dry.  That may cause the chemical to get concentrated enough to stain or even attack the seamless floor or seamless floor coating.

Waxing and Polishing of Seamless Flooring and Seamless Floor Coatings

Epoxy.com Epoxy and Urethane Seamless Flooring and Seamless Floor Coating Systems are very shinny and so waxing or polishing are not necessary.  If a floor is very old, or has seen extremely high traffic this shine may dull.  If it does then you can wax or polish the floor with standard commercial products that are designed for that purpose. Better yet, if this happens, you may want to renew or refinish your system – see below.

Renewing and Refinishing Seamless Flooring and Seamless Floor Coating Systems

Epoxy.com Epoxy and Urethane Seamless Flooring and Seamless Floor Coating Systems are designed to withstand heavy traffic and wear.  However, if there is enough traffic and/or abuse to cause the system to loose its shine, or show visible signs of wear, you may wish to restore the floor by “re-glazing” it.  Before re-glazing a flooring system or coating system you need to do the following:

  • Remove all wax, oil, grease and other contaminants from the surface
  • Lightly sand to break the shine
  • Consult with Epoxy.com Technical Support Department for the proper material to re-glaze you floor.  Be sure to follow all directions for installing the re-glazing material.

When in doubt contact Epoxy.com Technical Support at: info@epoxy.com or call us at 352-533-2167. You can also visit our website 24 hours per day at www.epoxy.com


Chemical Resistant Epoxy Selection

October 20, 2016

Requirements for a Chemical Resistant Epoxy or Vinyl Ester


Our Epoxy and Vinyl Ester product lines has extensive uses in Chemical Containment
and Chemical Resistance projects. The kind of product and systems we recommend are
based on a number of factors.  First we need to know exactly what you are doing:

  1. Are you patching concrete that has been damaged already? If so what is the extent
    of the damage?
  2. Do you need a secondary containment coating? If so what kind of traffic (if any)
    will this area see? Many of our systems will handle very heavy traffic.
  3. Are there any cracks that need repairing? If so how many lineal feet of cracks
    are there, what is the average depth and what is the average width. Repairing the cracks
    is the first step in making your project water and chemical tight.
  4. Are you looking to grout tile? We have chemically resistant Epoxy Tile Grout that
    has excellent chemical resistance.
  5. Is there any petroleum oil saturated concrete in the area. If so we have a product
    for that too.
  6. Is there any moisture vapor that is being transmitted through the floor?  We
    have solutions for that so please bring that to our attention when you contact us.
  7. Is this in an area where Static Disruptive or Conductive materials are needed (typically
    only in an explosive environment or where delicate electronics must be protected
    from static discharge).
  8. Total square footage of area requiring Chemical
    Resistant Epoxy or Vinyl Ester.

Then we will need to know some specifics about the chemical you are trying to protect
against:

  1. What is the specific chemical (or chemicals) that you are trying to resist against?
  2. What is the specific concentration of the chemical (or chemicals)?
  3. What is the duration of the exposure, before it will be cleaned up (if ever)?
  4. Is the exposure at an elevated temperature? If so what is that temperature, and
    how long will the chemicals be at this elevated temperature

If you have this information when you contact us, we can quickly help you to decide
what chemical resistant system is best and most economical for you.

Here is some additional reading that might interest you.

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For more information contact Epoxy.com Technical Support at info@epoxy.com or by calling us at 352-533-2167.


Fixing Floor Damage with Epoxy

September 6, 2016

Industrial and commercial floors take heavy abuse. The older the flooring the worse shape it is in. Conventional wisdom says that such a breakdown of the floor is inevitable. There are steps you can take to protect your floor before it gets damaged. Once the damage has happened there are steps you can take to permanently repair most damaged floors.

Floor joints, are the source of many industrial flooring problems. The purpose of these joints (in original construction) is to give the concrete a controlled place for the concrete crack as it shrinks. They sometimes are called expansion joints. In theory they will expand when the concrete gets hot.Indoors, where temperature is somewhat stable, most of their function of these joints has ended after 28 days or so of concrete. Concrete does most of it shrinking in the first 28 days.

wheel across empty  joint

A wheel across an empty Joint

The downside of these joints in the concrete is that it gives a place for the concrete to start chipping away. See the highlighted (in blue) corners in the illustration to the right. When wheels pass across the top it hammers the edge in the opposite side of traffic flow. This breaks off tiny pieces of concrete (again drawn in blue as a triangle at the edges of the concrete joint). The bigger the area chipped out earlier, the bigger and faster additional chipping happens. Time goes on and “pot holes”start to form in the concrete joint in direct proportion to the number of times wheels have hit a given spot.This can become a major trip and forklift hazard.

The best way to prevent this concrete damage is to fill the joints with Epoxy.com  – Product #11-100% Solids Flexible Epoxy Joint Filler for Saw Cut Joints. The #11 is semi-flexible so it still allows some joint movement but (unlike caulking) is firm enough to support the hard wheel as it passes over the joint, virtually

wheel across a filled joint

Wheel Supported by #11 as it passes over the joint.

eliminating the pounding and chipping effect on the sides of the joint. See in this diagram how the #11 supports the wheel as it passes over the joint.

For application on flat surfaces Epoxy Joint Filler for Saw-Cut Control Joints Product #11 can be poured or pumped from an Epoxy.com Binary Pumping Systems. In areas where cosmetics are important mask both sides of the substrate before applying the material.

If the areas are bigger you can use Epoxy.com Product #12  blended with silica sand to make a mortar to fill epoxy_joint_repairthe pothole, then re-cut your joint with a concrete saw as shown in the diagram here. The Product #12 can also be mixed with silica sand and used to repair areas in the center of a slab that might have started as a random crack or because of a chemical spill or due to impact damage.

If you need the epoxy mortar to set at a lower temperature and/or faster Epoxy.com Product #10 Epoxy Mortar Resin in fast or cold cure may be the best option.

Here is an outline of getting your flooring ready and some of the types of flooring we can offer you.

I can easily calculate how much material you will need for your floor.  The patching will take a little more effort and some estimation of the geometry of the repairs from you:

  1. Joints
    1. Fill joints with Epoxy.com Product #11 – epoxy.com/11.aspx.If there is spalling at the joint see “pot hole” repair below.
  2. Pot holes
    1. Fill shallow areas with a blend of Epoxy.com Product #12 – epoxy.com/12.aspx -And Epoxy.com Product #71 – www.epoxy.com/71.aspx fumed silica
    2. Fill Deep areas with a blend of Epoxy.com Product #12 and product #82 Mortar Blend Aggregates
  3. Priming
    1. Oil Saturated areas (if any) – Epoxy.com Product #201 – epoxy.com/201.aspx
    2. Areas with moisture vapor transfer issues (if any – see epoxy.com/surfaceprep.aspx ) with Epoxy.com Product #830 – www.epoxy.com/830.aspx
    3. All areas not subject to the items above primed with
      1. Epoxy.com Product #12 – www.epoxy.com/12.aspx or
    4. Epoxy.com Product #899 – www.epoxy.com/899.aspx.
  4. Floor Coating – High Build
    1. High build all purpose epoxy floor coating:  Epoxy.com Product #1 – epoxy.com/1.aspx or
    2. High build mid range chemical resistant epoxy floor coating: Epoxy.com Product #2 – epoxy.com/2.aspx or
    3. High build highly chemically resistant epoxy floor coating: Epoxy.com Product #633 – epoxy.com/633.aspx
  5. Seamless Flooring
    1. Chip Flooring – epoxy.com/chips.aspx or
    2. Solid Colored Standard chemical resistance Flooring
    3. Product #24 Pigmented mortar – www.epoxy.com/24.aspx and silica sand
      1. Top coated with Product #1 – www.epoxy.com/2.aspx  or
    4. For high chemical resistance Epoxy.com Product #2 – epoxy.com/2.aspx
    5. Epoxy Quartz Flooring – www.epoxy.com/15.aspx.
  6. Chemical Resistant Epoxy Flooring
    1. Product #630 and silica sand – www.epoxy.com/630.aspx
    2. Product #633 and silica sand – www.epoxy.com/633.aspx 

Still not sure? Email epoxy.com Technical Support info@epoxy.com  call us at 352-533-2167. We will help you select the right product for your job. We can also help you estimate how much of it you need, and quote you on those quantities.

You can also visit us at www.epoxy.com 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

 


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