Containment Area Flooring

Polished Concrete vs Resinous Flooring

With polished concrete becoming a dominant force in the commercial flooring industry, there are a few things to note when looking to get your floors finished:

Does your business handle materials that stain? Both systems can potentially have excellent stain resistance. As the polished concrete floor is sealed and has densifier applied, a chemical reaction occurs, causing the concrete to harden and create a floor that is dense enough to repel liquids such as water, oil, and grease.

Does your business handle chemicals? Although polished concrete that has been treated with a densifier has excellent stain resistance, it doesn’t compare to the chemical resistance of having a resinous floor installed. Many products in today’s commercial industry are caustic, which if spilled and left for too long, break down porous concrete and will cause permanent damage. While polished concrete is limited on this type of resistance, resinous flooring has many options available to fit your business-related needs.

Is Your Business Static Sensitive? It was thought for many years that bare concrete (a floor that has no sealer) had the best anti-static properties. However, with technologies of today, we know that bare concrete is porous, and has the ability to take in moisture, and while it may be true that when bare concrete is dry it may be non-conductive, the wet parts of the year actually produce dangerous levels of conductivity. Polished concrete can be treated with an electrostatic discharge (ESD) sealer, that can create reduce the conductivity in the floor. While treated polished concrete can be sufficient for certain businesses, it still doesn’t compete with anti-static qualities of a resinous floor specifically designed to do so.

Will Your Business Be Able to Shut down? While it may not seem like it would affect your choice, this question may actually end up being your deciding factor. Every day that a business isn’t able to function, that business incurs numerous expenses. For example, on May 29^th, 2018, Starbucks made a decision to close all of its U.S. Based stores, more than 8,000 locations across the country, for just an afternoon, which could have incurred up to $12 million in losses. Not all businesses can afford to shut down to have their floors refinished, which is where polished concrete may be a better candidate. Polished concrete can be performed during, or after, business hours as it produces minimal contaminants when done correctly.

Let New England Floor & Wall answer these questions and any more that you may have today!

Bringing A Machine Shop into the 21st Century

A Case Study on Slip Resistant Commercial Flooring

Customer Name: Curtis Products
Location: Bristol, Connecticut
Customer Needs: A proper floor coating that has ample grit in it as slip resistance is a must

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On May 11, 2018, Curtis Products contacted manufacturer Florock to help provide a quote, and that due to the town of Bristol’s interest in this business’ relocation, that they needed this estimate as soon as possible. After a few hours of correspondence, as well as information on the current condition of the slab, New England Floor & Wall (NFW) was able to send out a proposal that same day.

New England Floor & Wall Process: Over the next two weeks, the president of NFW, Ken Bonney came up with a game plan to combat the oil saturated slab, as it had never been sealed. He made two site visits, the first being a preliminary visit to see how much the floor had been beaten up by the previous owner, which to his surprise, they had kept each area “clean” by machine shop standards. On June 20th, a second site visit was made to do preliminary moisture tests, all of which passed with ease. During this visit, Curtis Products president, Ron Weintraub, was able to choose how much slip resistance, which was his main concern. Ken had explained the pros and cons to the different levels of grit and warned Ron that the more slip resistance that is added; the harder it will be to mop the floors. He went on to advise on proper housekeeping and recommended that a walk behind scrubber be purchased.

On June 25th, roughly 45 days from first correspondence, NFW arrived at the building at 70 Halcyon Drive, Bristol, Connecticut to begin preparation of the floor. Although the floor was wide open, each area that housed the previous machines had been saturated over the years, leaving a film even after the prior owner had cleaned the entirety of the floor. With an industrial walk-behind scrubber from Tennant, NFW used an aggressive cleaner/degreaser along with an equally aggressive scrubbing pad to help eliminate any outside contaminants. It took two complete washes to eliminate the oil gloss, in which NFW was then able to start preparing the concrete.

Starting with a 2mm size of steel shot, the entire floor was “opened up.” This process helps to remove the top layer of concrete, as well as create a profile that allows for a deeper diamond cut with industrial walk-behind grinders. Following this process, an area was then prepared using an industrial walk behind grinder to allow for Ken to perform a multitude of floor samples, of which he was in direct contact with the manufacturer’s chemists creating a solution for the oil-laden floor. The following day, adhesion and pull tests were completed, and the best product for this floor was chosen.

After being able to sit overnight, several areas of embedded oil had resurfaced. The entire floor was then prepared a second time using large grinders equipped with blades that are impregnated with diamonds. A rigorous task to complete, over 1/8” of existing concrete was removed to eliminate the contaminated portion of the slab. Directly behind the industrial grinder, the concrete dust was removed using portable industrial vacuums. Given the summer heat wave conditions, doing this was essential as allowing the dust to sit for too long would cause the dust to re-attach itself to the floor. Once more, the floor was given an evening to rest, allowing for any oil that may still have been embedded to show through. These areas were cleaned and degreased once more, and the entire floor was ground for a second time before lunch.

Following a short break, the driven crew, equipped with spiked shoes and roller poles, made their way onto the floor to start the initial coat. It took a little over four hours from the first mix being poured out to complete. The following day, the crew came in and gave the entire floor a once-over with a large rotary buffer using screen. After vacuuming, and tack ragging, the crew installed a second, pigmented, coat to the floor. On the following day, the process of screening was repeated prior to the installation of a final coat. The final coat consisted of a high-performance urethane.

Conclusion: NFW used the maximum amount of grit allowed in this coat, which gave Curtis Products finished slip resistant commercial flooring that exceeded their expectations.

Fairfield CT Polyurethane Flooring Case Study: Brick Walk Tavern Commercial Kitchen Floors

Customer Name: Brick Walk Tavern, Fairfield Connecticut (future)

Customer Needs: A high profile floor finish that looks modern, yet sophisticated.

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Brick Walk Tavern of Fairfield, Connecticut acquired two existing neighboring businesses with the intention of breaking down the walls to create one larger, 3,800 square foot to create an upscale dining experience in a tavern setting. The existing condition of these two areas was mediocre at best with holes in the subfloor that left areas exposed to the basement! New England Floor & Wall recommended that the kitchen be finished with a heavy duty urethane flooring system, and the main areas be completed using a unique metallic finish.

Scope of Work for New Fairfield Urethane Flooring:

• Finish demolition of existing flooring
• Diamond grind entire floor with industrial floor grinder
• Fiberglass over newly installed cement board
• Install patches created by epoxy mortar
• Make “key-way” cuts in the kitchen to help lock in flooring system
• Install various integral cove base to eliminate the fear of water traveling
• Install heavy duty urethane slurry flooring system in kitchen- this product is anti-microbial, is one of the most durable on the market, and is easy to clean and sanitize
• Install an unique, reflective, high performance resinous flooring system- this product has excellent stain resistance, chemical resistance, impact resistance, and slip resistance; it also creates a modern look, with a unique finish that a business can take pride in for years to come
• Install a high performance urethane topcoat to the entire area to create a seamless look

Conclusion: Working alongside an entire contractor group, New England Floor & Wall was able to finish this project on schedule. What was once a broken-down property has been transformed into a business that one would be proud to call their own.

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Things To Consider When Choosing A Flooring System

There are many factors in a business that will change which flooring system will be needed at the end of the day. When sitting down with a potential customer, our experts at New England Floor & Wall bring attention to a few key questions for our clients before they make a decision about their new floors. As with any choice, knowing more about the current situation will help cast a decisive vote.

4 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a New Flooring System

1) What extremes will this floor have to handle?

If your business handles caustic materials or houses multiple fork lifts that are used daily, you will need a different type of system than a business that only has foot traffic.

2) Will this area be used as a showcase?

There are many times when businesses will showcase an entire room – be it an updated restaurant, installing a new piece of equipment to bring in added revenues, if these changes were made available from investors money or even if it is a plant manager showing his corporate office for the first time.

3) Do I have a shutdown coming?

Lots of times flooring projects are planned around a factory shutdown as this will not incur any additional expenses to complete the project. While flooring projects can be completed in conjunction with the business still running, certain flooring options that New England Floor & Wall provides incur byproducts during curing (such as completing our high performance resinous flooring system.) Many of these projects can be completed by creating a sufficient amount of air exchange in the room; however, there are times where products known as zero-voc (volatile organic compounds) can be used if a shutdown is not in sight, and a floor drastically needs repair.

4) How much money do I have to spend?

This is a loaded question, but a question that is always asked. A start-up business may not be able to spend top dollar on finishing their workplace as their funds may need to be allocated elsewhere. Luckily, New England Floor & Wall has options at many different price points.

Let New England Floor & Wall help you make a decision based upon the answers to these questions today, contact us now at (413) 642-5916!

Tip of the Day: Make Your Own Floor Cleaning Solution

If you like the ease of cleaning with a quick floor mop like Swiffer, but hate the high cost of the solution to clean your floor, you can make your own for pennies! Here’s an alternative: mix 1 cup of white vinegar, 1 cup of water, and 5 drops of dish liquid. Pour this into the original Swiffer bottle (you may  have trouble taking the cap off, if so, submerge in hot water for 90 seconds and the cap should loosen, I had to enlist hubby’s muscles to get it off!) and shake well. Now you’re ready to clean those floors and save cash!

Source: Tip of the Day: Make Your Own Floor Cleaning Solution