Seamless Epoxy Flooring Systems

Selecting the Right Floor for a Mechanical Room

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Mechanical Room Floors are very unique in their use and conditions. You have to consider the installation environment and the function of the floor. Our Mechanical Room Floor will protect the concrete, and contain any liquids that spill.

Systems used in mechanical rooms should be zero VOC. You do not want solvent evaporating from your material. Evaporated solvent could be picked up by your air handling unit sending it through your building. The best way to prevent this is with a VOC free 100% solids resin system. A resin system that is 100% solids has no solvent (or water) in it. It also means when you spread a gallon of material on your floor after it hardens you still have a gallon of material. With water-based and solvent based materials you lose half the material to evaporation.

Mechanical rooms should be chemical resistant. Typically they are top coated with Epoxy.com Product #2 Chemical Resistant Epoxy – www.epoxy.com/2.aspx. If it is a chemical feed room you can supply a list of chemicals and concentrations to the technical support department so you can make sure the #2 is chemical resistant enough.

The systems used for mechanical rooms are impact resistant. The limiting factor is the strength of the concrete substrate. Properly installed the epoxy will stay bonded to the concrete. The only way the epoxy can chip is if you chip the concrete from underneath the epoxy. You can install a thicker epoxy floor for an additional cost if you think you need still additional protection.

The systems recommend for mechanical rooms are highly abrasion resistant and will easily handle traffic up to heavy fork lift traffic. The system can be made even thicker if you have an unusual amount of abusive traffic.

When the mechanical room is over a finished space, it is suggested that a crack isolation membrane be integrated into the system. This can be done with Product #32 Epoxy Membrane System. The advantage of #32 Epoxy Membrane Resin as part of the system is 100% solids and has zero VOCs.

If the mechanical room is shut down and you can handle solvent and want something still more flexible you can use Epoxy.com Product #459 a two component, high solids, elastomeric urethane instead of or in addition to the Product #32 Epoxy Membrane above. Product #459 exhibits excellent elongation properties along with high tensile strength and tear resistance to make it an ideal crack resistant membrane for use under Product #2 and all of our other epoxy mechanical room floor coatings.

One of the primary reasons you need a mechanical room floor over finished space below is to waterproof it. The above methods accomplish the waterproofing in the center of the floor. The edges of the floor can be protective with a coving material up the wall and around pipe penetrations. That can be accomplished with Product #720 Epoxy Coving Resin System which can be used to install an integral cove base for all of our epoxy based mechanical room flooring and most of our other epoxy flooring and coating systems. This provides seamless wall to floor protection.

For more information on seamless water and chemical resistant mechanical room flooring, contact Epoxy.com Technical Support Department at 352-533-2167, or email me at norm@epoxy.com.

 

Epoxy Cold Temperature

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Installing Epoxy in Coolers and Cold Temperature

Extend Epoxy Installation Season into Winter

I have spoken on this subject here before but this time of year I get a lot of calls and emails about installing epoxy in cold temperatures. Our company started out as an installation company in Vermont. Summers are very short and winters are very long in Vermont. To stay a viable company, we had to figure ways of working through the winter.

Tenting and heating areas during the winter is time consuming and expensive. The solution is found in resin products that will set in low temperatures. The most durable and cost effective options of installation at cold temperatures is Epoxy and Methyl Methacrylate.

Cold Temperature Cure Resins can also be used as a super-fast setting Resinous Mortar or Coating at normal temperatures. Our Cold Temperature Cure Resins used at normal temperature give you quick turnaround time for small jobs, or larger jobs that require a short turn-around time.

Cold Temperatures Epoxies

Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Resins allow installation to be done at low temperatures as low as 35°F., expanding your epoxy coating and epoxy flooring installation season. Epoxy.com Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Resins can also be used in cold storage areas like food processing areas, where the temperature cannot be raised higher than 35° F or so. Normal cured epoxy typically requires 50°F or more.

Depending on how you mix the aggregate into the products below, they can be used as a mortar for overlays, or a grout for sealing between other hardened construction materials.

Commonly Used Cold Temperature epoxies

Product #1 Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Coating is 100% solids and specially formulated coatings for cold temperature applications. Cold Temperature Epoxy Coating #1 is able to cure at temperatures as low as 35°F. It is has Zero (0) VOCs. Since it has no VOCs, it has no solvent so it meets the strictest possible standard for a low VOC coating. It is often used in coolers and food preparation areas that require constant low temperatures. Product #1 Cold Temperature Cure Epoxy Coating is also frequently used in room temperature applications to meet super-fast cure, limited shutdown needs.

Product #10 Cold Temperature Curing Epoxy Mortar Resin – This product has a low modulus of elasticity (flexibility) and is Low Viscosity. The low viscosity allows heavy loading of the right fillers. The heavy filler loading helps not only to save money, but helps to maintain better thermal coefficient with respect to concrete and steel. The low modulus of elasticity prevents it from being brittle making it less vulnerable to thermal coefficient differences. It also gives it better impact resistance.

You can find more information on cold temperature cured epoxy at: http://www.epoxy.com/EpoxyColdCured.aspx.

Repairing Floors with Epoxy Mortar Resin

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epoxy-Deck-after-2
Epoxy Patching Mortar #10 for patching. Coated with Urethane Decking System #495.

Epoxy.com Product #10 is a versatile resin for use in epoxy floor patching. Product #10 comes in standard cure, fast cure and cold cure. It can be used with 3 different aggregates: self leveling, mortar blend, and broadcast aggregate. Product #10 is available in 15 colors plus black and white making a total of 17 colors available. Custom colors are available at a small additional cost.

The Epoxy Cures

Normal Cure at 77 degrees F. has a pot-life (the usable time after mixing) of about 30-40 minutes. It hardens to the touch in about 10-12 hours. Normal Cure should never be used below 50 degrees F.

Fast Cure at 77 degrees has a pot life about 15-20 minutes. It hardens to the touch in about 5-6 hours. At 50 degrees F the Fast Cure hardens to the touch in 10-12 hours. In other words the Fast Cure at 50 degrees will cure as fast as normal cure at 77 degrees F.

Cold Cure at 77 degrees F. has a pot-life of about 8-10 minutes. It sets hard to the touch in about 2.5 to 3 hours. At 50 degrees F the cold cure will typically cure in 5-6 hours. It is able to cure at temperatures as low as 35°F.

The Aggregates

The aggregates come separately from the Product #10 resin and hardener. That allows you to be able to use a unit of resin with multiple aggregates making the system even more versatile.

Mortar Blend Aggregate Product #82 is the work horse of floor patching. You can get up to 50 lbs or more of Product #82 into a mixed gallon of #10 epoxy mortar. This is ideal for deep patching.

Self Leveling Filler Aggregate Product #78 is used for self leveling applications, typically in thicknesses of 1/16 inch plus or minus. This is ideal where a thinner flat overlay is required. A typical use would be where a floor needs to be leveled. Another typical use would be for a “scratch coat” which is where you are trying to cover large amounts of chips and divots in the floor.

Broadcast Aggregate Product #77 is broadcast into wet #10 in order to produce an anti-skid surface. It can be broadcast into a neat coat (just the resin and hardener mix without the aggregate) of #10 or into the Mortar Blend Aggregate or Self Leveling filler systems above.

In addition to being able to mix the #10 with the fillers above, you can also mix it with Product #71 Fumed Silica to make a paste for cracks and other small imperfections.

 

In summary the Epoxy Mortar Resin Product #10 is a versatile epoxy mortar system available in many colors, several cures and different fillers for different purposes. This makes Product #10 an important part of your floor repair tool chest.

 

Additional Information:

Product #10 Lo-Mod Epoxy Adhesive and Mortar Epoxy Binder is a 100% solids epoxy has a low modulus of elasticity (flexibility) and is Low Viscosity. An adhesive used as a binder for epoxy mortar systems in patching and grouting applications, as a seal coat for non-skid surfaces outside, and as a primer to insure high bond strength for coatings and patches.

System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System– is an Elastomeric Urethane Membrane System, that is liquid applied. System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System is seamless, elastomeric (flexible), and UV. Thee qualities make it an excellent choice for outside applications in direct sun and weather, where water tightness, durability, and excellent appearance is required. Its elastomeric properties will allow horizontal movements up to 1/8 inch without breaking. System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System has excellent abrasion and chemical resistance. The surface of System #495 Elastomeric Polyurethane Traffic Membrane System can be varied to achieve the required anti-skid and decorative look.

Waterproof Your Life

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The Concept

About 20 years I had a half way house that came to me and wanted a virtually indestructible waterproof group bathroom. They needed it to be like a shower enclosure for the entire bathroom, and toilet facility. It needed to be easy to thoroughly clean and disinfect.

The resulting system allows you to hose down the entire ceiling, wall and floors. The system that we developed is a completely seamless, waterproof ceiling and coating system. This epoxy ceiling and wall coating is seamlessly integrated with a seamless flooring system. This system is now being used for everything from clean rooms to animal facilities to car washes, daycare centers, assisted living facilities, food processing facilities and more.

The System

Ceiling and Walls

Prime the ceiling and walls with Epoxy.com Product #899 Primer – www.epoxy.com/899.aspx. Product #899 Primer is a 100% solids, low viscosity, moisture tolerant epoxy. It soaks deeply into the substrate, verifies surface preparation, and helps to prevent the much thicker coating from getting bubbles that may be cause by air or moisture trying to escape from the substrate during curing. Allow primer to get hard to the touch.

Before the epoxy primer is 24 hours old (and after the primer is hard to the touch) apply a coat of Epoxy.com Product #1W. The 1W – Wall Coating is 100% solids. It comes in a range of different colors. This means it is zero (0) VOC with no solvent. Just like the 899 Primer the 1W has very little odor. We have even more chemical resistant wall coatings for applications where it is chemicals that are being splashed or sprayed. Contact us if you have strong chemical exposures that you want to contain instead of water.

Let the first coat harden to the touch and before 24 hours add another coat of #1W. Allow the coating to dry over night.

Seamless Epoxy Cove – Optional

Typically the cove is only installed if you are going to install one of the multi-colored flooring systems (Waterproof Floor Options 2 & 3below). Cove is covered in an earlier blog – http://news.epoxy.com/2014/06/25/seamless-epoxy-cove-installation-instructions/. The cove gives you a radius at the bottom of the wall making the floor to wall transition easy to clean and esthetically pleasing.

Seamless Epoxy Flooring System

There are multiple systems that you can use for your seamless flooring portion of the system.

Water Proof Floor Option 1 – Seamless Epoxy Floor coating:

Floor Coating System – www.epoxy.com/1.htm. Product #1 applies with the Product #899 primer under it and in 2 coats just like the 1W. The Product #1 is thinner and flattens better on a floor than the Product #1W. You can also add an optional anti-skid to the #1 Floor Coating. The #1 comes in all the variety of colors of #1W.

Waterproof Floor Option 2 – Seamless Epoxy Chip Flooring:

Chip Flooring System – www.epoxy.com/chip.aspx is a two component 100% Chemical Resistant Epoxy Chip Flooring. System #315 Seamless Epoxy Multi-Colored Chip Flooring is available in virtually limitless color combinations. If your job is big enough our chips can be pigmented to match all the colors of many major paint companies. We can color match our base coat colors as well. Unless the pigments for your custom colored 315 Basecoat are unusually expensive we can color match for a modest small batch charge or at no charge for larger orders. Even our standard color pallet offers you over 45 chip colors that can be blended in any combination and percentage as you want. This gives you the architectural choices you need. The top coating for this system is highly UV resistant so since it doesn’t chalk indoors it can last and look great for decades.

Waterproof Floor Option 3: – Seamless Epoxy Quartz Flooring:

Quartz Flooring System with Product #15 – www.epoxy.com/15.aspx – is also an excellent flooring system for those who like the colored sand look with a good midrange chemical resistant system.

Waterproof Floor Option 4 – Seamless Chemical Resistant Flooring:

We can also help you to combine the systems above with our Novolac Epoxy Systems – www.epoxy.com/novolac.aspx for highly chemically resistant versions of those systems. You can also install an Electro-Static Dissipative or Conductive system www.epoxy.com/conductive.aspx.

 

In conclusion the systems above are only a small fraction of the possibilities. With our wide range of colors and chemically resistant systems the possibilities are endless. Please contact Epoxy.com Technical assistance at 352-533-2106 or email me directly at norm@epoxy.com.