Tremco CPG India's Durable Industrial Flooring Systems from Flowcrete
Vivekanandan, Vice-President, Tremco CPG India
What factors should be kept in mind while making an industrial flooring?
Industrial environments have very specific needs for their flooring systems, whether they are manufacturing plants, automotive areas, or food processing factories. Some of the major aspects and factors that must be borne in mind during industrial flooring development is the end use of the client; what the client really wants; the benefits of the flooring; its value addition; the acceptable turnaround time of the product applications; life expectancy of the flooring; targeted industries, their produce, various substrate conditions etc.
Some of the typical challenges that floors in industrial sites must withstand includes impact from heavy machinery, potential for dropped tools, point loading from stacked pallets, moisture ingress, thermal shock, abrasion, pedestrian traffic, and wheeled items. The flooring system needs to tackle these challenges whilst boasting impressive resistance levels against cleaning agents, aggressive chemicals, and spillages.
What solutions is Tremco CPG India offering for heavy-duty industrial flooring?
Tremco CPG India has a wide range of industrial flooring systems from the world-renowned Flowcrete brand. These offer highly resilient and durable workhouse surfaces that are well suited for the challenging operating conditions of the industrial sector.
We provide the complete range of industrial flooring solutions to meet the needs of our clients. These include chemical resistance, abrasion resistance, resistance to heavy loads, ease of maintenance, or all of the above.
Our vast portfolio of performance flooring products offers the strength required to deal with an entire host of conditions. Products range from industrial coatings and joint-free self-levelling epoxies to heavy-duty polyurethanes and epoxy mortar systems.
All our industrial floor coating systems are joint-free, delivering a seamless finish with no cracks or crevices to harbour dust, dirt, and bacteria. This makes the surfaces user-friendly, easy to clean and maintain, and ensures hygiene between wash cycles. We also offer fiber-reinforced concrete solutions for warehouses and heavy impact areas.
What is the function of Screed in heavy-duty applications?
Screed is usually applied on top of the concrete slab and is most commonly used as a finishing layer on internal floors or to level the floor prior to final floor coverings like carpet, tiles, natural stone, linoleum, wood flooring, resin coatings etc.
Screeds are required in industrial flooring when a colourful or functional floor is needed rather than a bare concrete surface. For industrial purposes or commercial locations that experience frequent traffic, a more robust screed is required than used in DIY or residential projects.
Most screeds are used for internal purposes only, often covering heating systems, acoustic or thermal insulation. Polymer-modified screeds can be installed in external locations, as they are hardwearing, water-resistant and able to withstand a more rigorous environment.
Self-levelling epoxy/polyurethane flooring screed protects surfaces in industrial environments from heavy-duty mechanical stress and chemical abrasion. They are also suitable for applying in areas that are exposed to high water temperatures and where there is heavy usage of cleaning detergents.
How much emphasis do you put on quality over price?
Clients today have started realizing the importance of floor quality over pricing. The end-users are now more focused on quality and durable solutions. Their awareness that high-performance floors can transform the industrial environment has improved a lot. They understand that the performance of flooring will increase its lifespan, and thereby reduce its repair and maintenance requirements. We see this as a driving force behind the change in the Industrial flooring market. The simple strategy that we follow is to give the right specifications as per the client’s requirements so that they get long-lasting floors.
Please give instances of specialised heavy-duty industrial flooring done by Tremco.
Case 1: A world leader in metal cutting and manufacturing technology, installed a high-performance resin coating from Tremco CPG India’s Flowcrete brand at its new facility in Chennai to ensure that the production area would have a fully optimised floor space.
The floor finish would be subjected to industrial challenges like impacts, traffic from pedestrians and wheeled equipment, point loading, exposure to industrial substances, and frequent cleaning.
1,650 m2 of the high-gloss, self-smoothing epoxy resin system Flowshield SL was applied to provide a long lasting, reliable surface. The seamless, impervious, and glossy nature of Flowshield SL helps to wash the floor quickly and effectively. A bright light blue colour chosen for the floor finish, creates an eye-catching flooring within the large manufacturing area.
Case 2: Tremco CPG India supplied a wealth of hygienic floor, wall and coving solutions for a major refurbishment project for a leading chocolate snack and confectionary brand, at its 40-year-old plant in Pune.
About 7,000 sqm of Flowcrete anti-microbial and seamless polyurethane flooring system, Flowfresh MF at 4mm, was selected for application across all the corridors, staff canteen, chocolate moulding areas, and for the raw material storage rooms. 1,500 sqm of a heavy-duty alternative from Flowfresh RT at 6mm was selected for use in the plant’s oven crumb facility, which is subjected to extremely high temperatures and thermal shock conditions. Both Flowfresh MF and Flowfresh RT contain a silver-based antimicrobial agent, Polygiene®, which destroys gram positive and gram-negative bacteria on contact and remains active for the lifetime of the floor.
In addition, about 25,000 sqm of Flowcrete wall coating system, Flowguard WB was applied across all wall and ceiling areas, as well as 2,500 meters of polyurethane covering to ensure a hygienic transition between the floor and the walls.
The 40-year-old plant had a variety of existing substrate conditions ranging from Kota stone to damaged epoxy finishes. The entire installation had to be completed during the 12-day shutdown. Tremco CPG India approved applicator dedicated a 120-strong skilled workforce. Three teams worked around the clock to deliver a fully operational facility as per the deadline for the chocolate giant.
Concrete Construction April - May 2022
