Three Days In The Park: The Ups and Downs of Coating a Popular Flume Ride

VENDOR TEAM CONTRACTOR: Innovative Painting & Waterproofing, Inc. 250 N. Orange Avenue, Unit C Brea, CA 92821 (714) 257-0200 www.waterproofingcontractor.com 3M COMPANY Respirators 3M Center St. Paul, MN 55144-1000 (888) 364-3577 www.3M.com DEGUSSA Coating, Sonneborn Caulking, Emaco Repair Mortar 379 Interpace Parkway Parsippany, NJ 07054 (877) 202-3463 www.degussa.com GRACO Spray Equipment P.O. Box 1441 Minneapolis, MN 55440 (877) 844-7226 www.graco.com MILLER FALL PROTECTION Fall Protection 1345 15th Street Franklin, PA 16323 (800) 873-5242 www.millerfallprotection.com MILWAUKEE ELECTRIC TOOL CORPORATION Grinders 13135 W.Lisbon Road Brookfield, WI 53005 (800) 729-3878 www.milwaukeetool.com POLYCOAT PRODUCTS Coatings 14722 Spring Avenue Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 (562) 802-8834 www.polycoatusa.com RIDGID Vacuums (800) 474-3443 www.ridgid.com

By  Jennifer Kramer

When Don Dancey, the owner of Innovative Painting and Waterproofing, first learned of the job at the amusement park, he knew that it would be an out-of-the-ordinary project. Several weeks prior, Dancey had gone to the park and given a marketing presentation to make them aware of the versatility of polyurea and of his skilled services. He arranged to come to the park and give what he calls a “shock and awe demonstration” for the general contractor and the facilities department. Dancey explains, “I sprayed the material, let it set for 15 to 20 seconds, and then invited the clients to walk on it. They couldn’t believe it dried that fast.” The park administrators were amazed with Innovative’s work. After the demo, the team left the park hopeful that they would be considered for future projects.

About three weeks later, the phone rang. The amusement park’s general contractor called Dancey and explained that the park needed to complete the rehabilitation of one of their most popular rides, a thick plaster mountain covered with planter boxes. The planters had leaked and damaged the ride’s structure. With the interior rehab complete, attention had now turned to repairing the leaking planters on the ride’s exterior. The general contractor asked him if polyurea would be a good replacement for the multi-coat, modified cold tar coating originally specified for the job. Dancey explained that not only would polyurea be as durable as the cold tar, but that it also has the unique advantages of covering in a single application and quickly setting, as he had proved in his earlier demonstration. Given all these facts, the park decided to change the flume ride’s waterproofing specs from cold tar to polyurea. Dancey was confident that he had the job. He began assembling materials and a crew.

On the following day Dancey learned that the job had gone to another contractor who had quoted a lower bid. Frustrated, but with an already busy schedule, he turned his focus to other jobs underway at Innovative.

A 3 a.m. Audition
The very next day, Dancey received another phone call from the general contractor. The waterproofing contractor that the park hired had failed to live up to expectations. Work done overnight was applied off-ratio, and had not cured by the morning. The project was now behind schedule. Was Dancey still interested in the job?

When he replied in the affirmative, he was asked to arrive at 3 a.m. that night to spray another sample, this time a 600 square foot planter, similar to those on the exterior of the ride. Dancey and his crew complied. He recounts, “By 6 a.m. the park had given their approval and 24 hours later, we started work on the job.”

Quality First
Dancey stresses the importance of experience and using the proper equipment when spraying polyurea. Having been in the painting and waterproofing business since 1974, Dancey knows the importance of on-the-job, as well as classroom training. He carefully selects his crew to reflect this dedication to quality, and applies this same scrutiny when choosing equipment to transfer, proportion, heat, and spray the polyurea to his exacting standards. While his bid may have been the higher bid, the park soon learned that in this instance, the greater initial expense paid off in the long run.

In agreeing to take on the job, Dancey learned that the project called for the final preparation and application of 2,000 gallons of aromatic polyurea to exterior structural plaster designed to appear like the cliff-side of a rugged southwestern mountain. Some of the plaster was old, some new, but all of it was in odd configurations and shapes, echoing the bluffs and buttes of a southwestern landscape. Originally, the specs had been written for a urethane membrane system to be completed in a one-month timeframe. However, due to unexpected circumstances, the timeframe had been reduced to a span of two weeks.

To meet this demand, Dancey assigned a 12 man crew to the project, with five men per application rig, one lead foreman, and one project manager. This crew was larger than normal because difficulties in access further constricted the tight timeframe. Locations around the perimeter of the ride were available to the public and could only be coated in off-hours, when the park was closed. Thus, more men than usual were required to complete the task, and the crew was scheduled to work 12-hour shifts.

Mountain Climbers or Coating Applicators?
In addition to the compressed schedule, this job required some rather unusual safety considerations. “This was essentially a mountain-climbing job,” says Dancey. Rather than scaling the “rock” face of a mountain, however, the crew from Innovative found themselves climbing from level to level. Dancey describes the mountain as “shaped like a gigantic candy dish, made up of planters every four feet.” The vertical nature of the site meant that for safety, workers had to wear harnesses and lines by Miller Fall Protection.

The terrain of the “mountain” itself posed potential hazards, as the work spaces had varying degrees of accessibility. Applicators had to spray coating, using Graco/Gusmer equipment in areas simulating the steep drop-offs of desert cliffs and sheer canyon walls, not to mention spraying while climbing around large “rocks.” Given the strange terrain, they used plastic to cover and protect areas from overspray. In addition to the fall protection, applicators wore hardhats to guard against falling tools and equipment. Standard respiratory protection, including face masks and respirators from 3M, were also worn.

Whistle While You Spray
Before any spraying could occur, the crew had to first remove the failed membranes and any contaminants. The surface was hand-scraped and then grinded as required using 6066 Heavy Duty 7-inch grinders from Milwaukee Tools. Once all of these various layers had been removed, just prior to coating, the work surfaces were vacuum cleaned with Ridgid 6.5 horse power, heavy-duty industrial vacuums. Any surface voids or cavities were filled with Master Builder’s Emaco T-430 by Degussa. Dancey selected this product for use as the repair mortar because of its high-strength, non-shrinking properties, as well as the fact that it hydrates in a 12-hour window.

All drain and pipe penetrations also had to be caulked before spraying could begin. To do this, the crew used Sonneborn’s NP-1 urethane sealant. Since the coating installation was primarily to restore the waterproofing integrity of the planters, keyway sawcuts, or control joints, needed to be installed. A 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch notch, a keyway sawcut allows for the termination of a coating in the middle of a surface. To ensure that the keyways were perfectly straight, WDC.009 Clear Wire Tape from TrimTape was used. The keyway sawcuts were installed at termination points 2-inches above the new soil transition.

Coating approximately 20,000 square feet of planters required roughly 2,000 gallons of polyurea. Given the time constraints, Dancey used polyurea from two different manufacturers, Degussa and Polycoat. Each supplied 1,000 gallons of polyurea. For warranty purposes, the different polyureas were sprayed on in two distinctive colors. Degussa’s product was colored gold, while Polycoat’s was black. Since the work would be covered by dirt, the color difference did not have any impact on the final appearance of the project.

Working from two 28-foot trailer spray rigs, specially designed by Dancey, Innovative’s crew first primed required surfaces with Polycoat’s U-22 100% solids primer. This was sprayed through a Graco/Gusmer Reactor E-XP2 plural component proportioner with a Fusion spray gun and 300-feet of heated hose. Housed inside each trailer, a Graco/Gusmer Husky low-pressure, diaphragm feed pump sent resin and isocyanate (ISO) from 55-gallon drums to the proportioner. Once the primer had been applied, the surfaces were finished with 125 mils of aromatic polyurea. The final step of the project was the installation of drain mat protection boards and gravel bags at the drains as required.

Happily Ever After
Dancey discusses the job with obvious pride. “We sprayed 2,000 gallons of polyurea without a single hitch. The park was extremely pleased with our effort.” Amazingly, Dancey and his crew completed the job in 3 ½ days. Finishing the job with time to spare is impressive, but stepping into a messy situation, climbing mountains, and still finishing the job early is a true testament to teamwork. Needless to say, this performance has led to other projects at the park. Since work finished on this ride, Dancey says, “The crew from Innovative has sprayed another 2,500 gallons of polyurea on a variety of other attractions at the park.”

When Don Dancey and the Innovative crew climbed down the mountain for the last time, it was with a sense of accomplishment. The countless tourists who plunge down the flume ride’s steep slope will probably never give a thought to the effort and hard work that it takes to maintain the fantasy. But those of us in the coatings industry know better, and our “insider knowledge” adds its own thrilling dimension to the magic of amusement parks.

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