Self-Leveling Coatings Heal Doctor’s Office

Self-Leveling Coatings Heal Doctor’s Office

By Steven Reinstadtler, Market Development and Green Building Manager
Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties Bayer MaterialScience LLC

Photos by Steven Reinstadtler

Vendor Team

Seman Floor Leveling & Designer Concrete Floors
625 Henderson Avenue
Washington, PA 15301
(724) 228-4758

ARDEX
Moisture mitigation system
400 Ardex Park Drive
Aliquippa, PA 15001
(888) 512-7339
www.ardex.com

BAYER MATERIALSCIENCE
Coatings
www.bayerbms.com

DUOCHEM
Coatings
1250 Graham Bell
Boucherville (Quebec)
J4B 6H5
(888) 577-6421
www.duochem.com

Walking on an aged and damaged vinyl composition tile (VCT) floor, the owners of a physicians’ office sought a durable, seamless floor coating that was proven to be an effective, long-lasting replacement.

The physicians’ tight schedule and concern for patient safety required a highly durable, bio-based, low-odor, chip-resistant coating that cured quickly and could be installed after-hours on Saturday to be ready for use on Monday. Additionally, they’d need to find a self-leveling coating system that would flawlessly level the rough slab-on-grade concrete floor lurking underneath the damaged tile.

Sound familiar? Contractors and building owners are increasingly facing these coating challenges. This is especially true as buildings formerly used for industrial/heavy use are re-tasked for new commercial or retail uses. If an exam table can leave a gash, imagine what years of fork lift traffic can do to a concrete floor. Additionally, building owners focused on achieving LEED certification must incorporate sustainable specifications into their plans.

Self-leveling coating technology offers several properties to help solve these challenges, including durability, quick curing times, and bio-based formulations.
Building owners interested in re-tasking a former industrial/commercial use structure may not be excited about the need to rip out, re-pour or grind down a concrete floor to create a usable space. Self-leveling coating systems provide a time saving and effective way to turn a badly spalled floor into a perfectly level space through application of a thicker film. Obviously, this saves initial demolition time to tear up a floor and let a new one cure, which can take up to a month. And, choosing a self-leveling coating system can revitalize an old, beat-up concrete floor so that it looks like newly poured concrete.

Durability

Though interest in self-leveling coatings is relatively new in the NAFTA market, the core formulations with a rugged urethane backbone were first developed in Europe 15 years ago and have been tested, applied, and proven since. Today, these coatings offer a pragmatic solution that provides excellent impact resistance and reduced wear compared with traditional coating solutions.

Quick Curing

The hydrophobic formulation has a wide application window – from low-to-high humidity. The coating can be applied and dried in as little as two hours and doesn’t require multiple coats, with the added benefit of limited-to-no bubbles upon application. It can accept a top coat within several hours. This flexibility can lead to quicker return to service and reduced labor costs.

Bio-Based Formulations

Natural oil-based resins used in self-leveling coatings can be derived from a variety of natural resources. Specific natural oil-based resins are used where nature has provided unique structures that are technically and economically viable. The source is based on non-foodstuff oil, so it doesn’t negatively impact the greater food supply. The final formulation typically has 30 to 45% bio-based content with a 10-100 mil (.25mm-2.54mm) thickness or more.

Another benefit is near zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which significantly reduce odor. Additionally, applying these natural oil polyols (NOPs) along with other technologies can enable building owners to obtain green building/LEED certification. Yet, it can be top coated to create terrazzo or other decorative treatments.

Floor Revitalization

Faced with a floor that needed revitalization and with limited time to do it, the doctors who owned the physicians’ office explored a more durable, seamless, and practical solution. They previously had replaced a VCT floor with a similar system, but that system began to break up from normal wear and tear after only three years.

Familiar with the seamless floors at world-class Pittsburgh-area hospitals, the doctors wanted to upgrade their facility to this proven technology. Seamless floors are both preferred and specified for use in certain areas of hospitals based on Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards. Seams and cracks in healthcare flooring, such as those found in a VCT tile floor, can harbor bacteria and disease and are more difficult to clean and disinfect.

A typical epoxy system was not a consideration from a timing perspective, as it would include:

•    Installation of the basecoat
•    Overnight cure
•    Installation of the topcoat
•    Eight to 16 hours of cure before returning to service
•    A persistent odor

In this case, the coating system had to be applied starting after-hours Saturday and finished by Monday morning. To do the job, contractor Seman Flooring utilized coatings technology featuring raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience LLC to refurbish the floors with a bio-based, pigmented self-leveling basecoat (Duochem 3400) applied in two coats to a thickness of 30 mils (0.76mm). The two-component, 100% solids basecoat also provided a solvent-free coating that would not continue to off-gas into the doctors’ office – avoiding a potential issue with their patients.

The still-wet basecoat was enhanced with a heavy partial broadcast of decorative chips, giving the floor a granite, or terrazzo, look at a fraction of the cost. A clear, high-solids, UV-curable topcoat (Duo VFS) was applied to the decorative floor – locking in the decorative finish and providing long-term wear, stain, and slip resistance. The Duo VFS topcoat was chosen to complement the Duochem 3400 basecoat because of its low odor, high durability, and fast cure.

The clear topcoat was modified with non-slip additives to improve abrasion and slip resistance for added patient safety. The coating system was applied over a moisture mitigation system (Ardex SDT) used to combat high moisture present through the slab-on-grade application that also brought the subfloor up to the correct grade.

The facility re-opened to patients early Monday morning with a seamless, proven floor coating that was free of odor while providing a beautiful decorative finish.

Indeed, polyurethane coating solutions have demonstrated long-term performance in a variety of building needs. As green guidelines become more common, sustainable, durable, and attractive high-performance coatings solutions are increasingly enabling contractors in re-tasking old commercial-use buildings and/or revitalizing existing concrete floors. With an advanced self-level coating system this can be accomplished in as little as one day.

Steven Reinstadtler is industrial marketing manager, Construction Coatings, Bayer MaterialScience. He has been with Bayer MaterialScience for 22 years working in a variety of technical and marketing positions in both the Polyurethanes and Coatings divisions. Steven holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry with a Polymer Science option from the University of Pittsburgh and works closely with firms that build infrastructure with durability and sustainability in mind.

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