There is a wide variety of material on the market designed to be applied to concrete floors to seal and protect. The best know are Epoxy Based and come in many grades. They can be poured to self-level, squeegeed, rolled, troweled or placed as a grout topping. While they are good for basic applications, epoxy-based products have very similar characteristics and have a very narrowly defined range of service. However, they tend to be resistant to the most commonly used industrial chemicals. But, they do fall short of the mark for two key characteristics: Resistance to Thermal Shockand Large Scale Seamless Installation.

So, what are the characteristics of Urethane Cements that make them so appealing? There are really 5 main points that make this versatile material a great choice for repair and protection. 

Long-Term Durability

Unlike mortar joined quarry tile and acid brick, POLYURETHANE CONCRETE Seamless Systems absorb direct impact blows by distributing

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 to protect your investment

1. Set aside a time to inspect the condition of your flooring each week. Just a quick walk-through. Pay attention to areas that have been a problem

Maintaining the overall health and integrity of your plant’s floor may not seem like a huge part of overall operations, but it is. Everything starts on the ground floor – from foot traffic, to forklift traffic. Small cracks lead to big cracks and big cracks could lead to having to replace an entire area of the floor which could cost production time and decreased efficiency.

It would be nice if your floor was one single huge concrete pad. The reality is that a floor is made up of 100s of slabs separated by joints. The purpose of these joints – to prevent random cracking in the concrete as it shrinks. Since raw materials and finished goods need to be transported, naturally, each individual joint is a transition point that forklifts and employees must cross.

Once the corner of a joint is damaged, spalling can occur, creating a weak point and could create potential loss of production and/or safety concerns which could cost you money.

In the world of Industrial Construction there are many uncertainties. Delays, obstructions and many unforeseen obstacles are present at every turn on every project. You have to be nimble and steadfast since there’s not many guarantees once the project starts. However, one thing you can usually count on is that most of the trades people usually know what they’re supposed to do and have developed some level of skill due to performing the work under supervision. 

However, the task of Grouting is a different story. It’s a critical step in the installation process and will have a great positive or negative effect on the life of that equipment. It’s just like any other task your people perform: doing it right is positive, and doing it wrong is not. The problem is, Grouting as a key task doesn’t get the support of a established system of training, mentorship and evaluation that all of the accepted trades get.

Not sure how to handle this

“My vacuum’s just not cutting it!” We hear this from customers all the time, and believe us, we feel your pain.

Silica dust on your jobsite is becoming more and more of a concern for the safety of your employees and the owner’s employees. And, although you’re making an effort to eliminate the issue, sometimes it’s just difficult to do. You have the attachments, shrouds and bits to help reduce dust. These are fine when the dust is localized and low volume, but what should I do when its overwhelming my vacuum? The first answer is usually, “Get a bigger vacuum.” However, this isn’t always the right decision. You may need a Dust Collector instead.

Know the Difference Between Vacuums & Dust Collectors

Take a look at the difference between the two. The short explanation is that vacuums operate on low volume/ high pressure. The velocity of the air intake is high. But, the material being collected has to be close to the intake hose. Because the

There are those times when you just don’t have the time to make repairs, prep again and then add a protective layer. The fact that you can’t afford the down time or variance from the schedule may force you to seek other ways to achieve the protection you need without the forfeiture of time you don’t have.

Making the repairs and applying a protective layer all in one pass would be the best option for your situation. Of course, when making this choice, you’ll have to choose a material that can meet the challenges of your particular application. But, you’ll also have to get comfortable with other application techniques and equipment you may not have used before. Getting the materials in place and achieving the best bond, finish and coverage is the key to a repair you can count on to protect your process and infrastructure into the future. 

The Material

1. Make sure you choose a material that has the right resistance to the environment it will be exposed to.

You’ve chosen the right coating or lining for your project considering all of the factors. Things like operating temperature, chemicals, concentrations, expected level of protection and so on. Once this system is in place, you or your customer will have just the protection needed to protect critical plant infrastructure.

Now it’s on to make sure the system you’ve chosen will stay in place. It needs to bond to the concrete and stay there. You’ll need to prepare the concrete to present the best possible surface for the coating or lining. Sounds easy. But, the surface you have to adhere to is often not smooth or uniform. Given the fact that you need a protective system at all, it’s probably not in the best of shape. The concrete may be deteriorating, damaged and contaminated and have to be repaired to be a suitable host for your new barrier.

Deciding what to use and how to apply it is the next critical step you have to

Proper dust collection systems for mixing operations are important not only for the health and safety of your crew, but also the health of your business. If you fail to meet the OSHA standards, you could receive a serious and extremely costly violation.

OSHA’s Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction

Workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica dust are at increased risk of developing serious silica-related diseases. OSHA’s standard requires employers to take steps to protect workers from exposure to respirable crystalline silica.

Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard Fact Sheet

OSHA’s Respirable Crystalline Silica standard for construction requires employers to limit worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica and to take other steps to protect workers. The standard provides flexible alternatives, which OSHA expects will be especially useful for small employers.

More About Complying with the Construction Standard

1. Educate Your Employees

Most laborers do not understand why they’re grouting equipment; it just seems like another menial task. But by spending just a few minutes learning why grouting correctly is critical to the success of the entire job, your team is more likely to get it done right the first time.

2. Communicate a Clear Plan

Before beginning to grout the equipment, ensure that each crew member is assigned to a specific task. It is important to allot labor correctly to increase grouting efficiency and to ensure each step is completed correctly. Its surprising how many job sites have half of their laborers standing around for most of the day while grouting.

3. Cut Labor Costs

If your project requires a significant volume of grout, don’t rely on brute manpower. It will save you time and money (in labor costs) to just rent grout-specific equipment to handle the bulk of the labor. Plus, by eliminating the majority of strenuous labor from grouting, your

The process of grouting isn’t necessarily difficult, and the materials aren’t hard to work with. But the fact is: It’s important to the owner. So, we have to put a real emphasis on doing it right the first time.

If grouting is executed incorrectly, it can result in damage to the heavy equipment. Or worse, it can even cause cracks in the surrounding foundation, which can be very costly to repair.

1. Lack of Emphasis by Leadership

It’s best to assume that not all laborers know the ins and outs of the processes they’re helping to build. So, it’s up to the project leader to emphasize which tasks are critical. If the leader acts like it’s important, it will be. In contrast, if a leader says something like, “just get it done!” the task may be skimped over. This lack of direction from leadership often causes the grouting to end in disaster.

2. Inaccurate Assessment of Your Laborer’s Ability

Since there is no trade for grouting and no standard