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.
Posted by Norm Lambert 
Fresh (plastic) concrete doesn’t bond to hardened concrete. The exception is when a special epoxy bonding agent like Epoxy.com Product #2007 – is used (this bonding agent will be discussed in a future article). When concrete has hardened or has started to harden and you pour more concrete against it (without the right bonding agent) you get what is called a cold joint. These cold joints are a common source of water leaks.
You can also get cold joints in the middle of concrete walls and floors due to multiple pours. You can get cold joints if concrete is setting to fast and fresh concrete is poured against semi cured concrete. Sometimes saw cuts in the floor can be a source of leaks
These cracks are one of the easiest ways for water to get into your basement. If the water makes it to the fill side of the tank (under the floor or against the wall) it will typically leak out into your basement. You should look carefully for these cracks when looking for potential leaks into your basement. If you are able to investigate into the water infiltration into your basement when it is leaking it will be easy to see. If trying to find the source of leaks when the basement is dry you have to look for water marks on either side of the cracks and beneath the areas that might be leaking.
Many homes and businesses experience leaky basements year after year. The worse time is in the spring after winter accumulation of snow. There are a number of prudent things that you can do to improve drainage against your foundation like roof gutters, grading and improvement of drainage. The recommendations here do not replace that conventional wisdom. It is designed to augment and improve upon these conventional methods.
Epoxy.com News and Tips 