Construction Chemicals Industry Newsletters Vol. 3
Construction Chemicals Industry Newsletters Vol. 3
Industrial Flooring Systems
The Evolution of Industrial Flooring System
Industrial flooring has evolved immensely over the years, from concrete and wooden floors to heavy-duty reinforced PVC floors, polyurethane screed and epoxy flooring.
The industrial floor is the basis of the production process and therefore plays a role in the maintenance of buildings, working conditions and hygiene. Production techniques are constantly becoming more advanced, and floor treatments increasingly have to meet specific requirements.
Floors need to be able to resist wear from people, vehicles, and products. Also, floors need to be able to withstand impacts from falling objects. Thus, flooring is required to be robust, durable and in line with the exact standards of the industrial environment.
Industries tried using concrete floors as wooden floors weren’t giving the desired outcome. Concrete floors are cost-efficient but could be damaged easily through impact. Hence, concrete floors are not the best flooring solution for factories that use heavy equipment or work with products with falling potential.
Epoxy flooring solution became an improvement on concrete flooring. The epoxy floor finish is high gloss and self-smoothing. Also, It gives an outstanding wearing property with chemical resistance and a decorative finish.
It is suitable for environments that can benefit from the chemically resistant system, such as; warehouses and storage areas, automotive manufacturing, printing plants, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and food and beverage production.
Industrial flooring has evolved from limited options available a few decades ago. Now, industries have the option to choose the best solution that fits the needed requirement.
Interview:
Sharlie Falahah - Managing Director, Upwork Construction Limited.
Q. Kindly tell us about your organization?
Ans. Upwork is a construction company based in Lagos, Nigeria, for almost 5years. We are into building construction, and we focus solely on skeletal building construction.
Q.What can you say about your business relationship with Cormart?
Ans. Our business relationship with Cormart has been good. As always, we get good products and good service delivery. I have no dissatisfaction. I am pleased with our business relationship with Cormart.
Q. When managing a building project, what do you consider the most important thing for the success of the building?
Ans. The quality of the job is crucial to us. We do not ever compromise this. We study every detail of the project, including drawings and choosing our materials carefully. We also run tests for everything, including cube tests for the concretes and steel reinforcement. In everything we do, we make sure we use the best products for the optimum success of our projects.
Q. With the price hike in building materials, how do you navigate the situation during product sourcing, bearing in mind the need to maintain your quality?
Ans. Most companies reduce the quality of their products to match the budget. Like I previously stated, we never compromise the quality of our services. Nonetheless, it is challenging in the market because of the price fluctuation.
Q. Are there other business areas you hope to explore with Cormart?
Ans. When we transition from skeletal projects to complete building projects, we might require a sample of some other products. Perhaps epoxy, waterproof for screed and much more. Majorly, it depends on what we are required to do for projects by clients.
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Read MoreProduct Spotlight: Nitoflor TF5000
Self-levelling epoxy flooring
NITOFLOR TF5000 is a heavy-duty 5mm thick solvent-free combination of epoxy resin and modified amine hardener filled with specifically graded inert aggregates.
Benefits
- It provides long service life to concrete because of its exceptional resistance to abrasion and a wide range of chemicals.
- It allows a safe working environment by providing a good gripping surface to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
- It has minimal disruption, as it causes little interference with existing levels.
Application
- Heavy engineering plants and steelworks.
- Chemical handling and process areas.
- Oil refineries and plating factories.
- Electricity substations and battery rooms.
- Dairies and soft drink factories.
Area of Use
- It can be used as an underlay floor for other epoxy coating products.
- It can be used to form a perimeter edge coving, which prevents dirt from being trapped in wall corners.
Please contact our sales representatives for more information.
Technical Advice & Tips
Importance of Epoxy Self-levelling (NITOFLOR SL1000/2000)
Self-levelling epoxy is an epoxy screed application that smoothens out the floor surface on its own. It creates a consistent and uninterrupted layer that makes cleaning and maintenance more efficient.
The high level of scratch resistance exhibited by self-levelling epoxy coatings means that floors will be durable. The coating retains the quality of the floor, even in areas where high activity is present.
In a pharmaceutical environment, with highly-controlled space, the durability and hygienic properties of the floors have to be considered.
The basic requirements of a concrete substrate before the application of epoxy floor are as follows;
- The sufficient compressive strength of concrete should be 25N/mm2.
- Minimum pull-off or tensile strength should be 1.5N/mm2.
- Substrate should be clean, dry and free of all contaminants.
Treatment of oil and grease contaminated concrete
Mechanical surface preparation methods are ineffective to remove oil and grease-soaked concrete. It is best to install the unbonded screed of a minimum of 55mm thick, using a floor compactor and power floater equipment, and then proceed with a subsequent application.
Reasons for priming
- To achieve better adhesion.
- To reduce or minimize the pinhole in the installed floor.
