Concrete floors are an essential part of your plant infrastructure. Let’s face it, there’s no other real affordable option for large product storage areas. But, these large floor have to have joints to allow for stress relief and expansion/contraction to prevent cracking that could lead to eventual structural failure.

These joints have always been a weak point in the flooring system for areas of heavy traffic. However, the introduction of automated lifts and carts have pushed conventional joint design past its limits. These machines are precise. So precise that the wheels never vary from the most efficient and direct path. This shows up in wear patterns in the floor. However, the real damage is to the joint. These heavy loads are concentrated on smaller wheels that make the machine

Walk in coolers, freezers, and cold storage areas are integral parts to your facility’s productivity. Just like the processing area, these areas of sub-freezing temperatures are also subject to floor damage from normal wear and tear. If these cracks, spalls, or chipped floors go unfixed, it could lead to delays in production or even create a tripping hazard. Most repair materials cannot be applied in ambient temperatures and tend to lose their shore hardness. Selecting the correct application is just as important as the actual repair. Below are a few simple rules to follow when selecting a cold storage repair material:

4 Things to Consider When Selecting the Correct Materials for Repairing Floor Joints in Cold Storage Areas

1. Materials that can be applied in ambient temperatures

You’ve spent the money to get the right flooring for your production areas. It’s perfect. Now you have to maintain it’s like new condition to make sure it can do the job of protecting your concrete floors. 

The new surface will be subjected to impact, normal wear, dragging pallets, cleaning chemicals and high temperature water. These conditions will attack the new surface and will eventually compromise some part of it. It’s not what you want to happen, but it will. The key is to address the failures immediately. Any damage left un-repaired could get worse given the harshness of the service.

These areas can be a path to water getting under your flooring leading to bacteria growth that could cause the flooring to fail.

Take some simple steps to make sure you have a plan

Concrete floors in almost any industry take a real beating on a daily basis. And with all of the traffic in a modern operation, they have to be in service as close to 24/7 as possible. Nobody can justify changing the traffic flow for any length of time unless there’s no other choice. 

Fortunately, there are many innovative options designed to repair floors and joints that require only a minimal time out of service. Most areas can be repaired and opened back up to service in as little as a matter of minutes. 

Even with all kinds of options, most people aren’t focused on these repairs. Some think that it’s just something that’s too complicated for them to tackle. Others don’t think they have the time to do it. The truth is, most of the time, these repairs are done with whatever is available. Give us a call when you