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COATINGSPRO SEPTEMBER 2015 55 Sucker Bet T he crew next used notched squeegees and trowels to apply a single lif t of Key #580 to approx imately 40 mi ls (1,016.0 microns) DFT. Key #580 is a t wo -par t composition made of f lex ible urethane-mod if ied epox y resin and amines. It does not require an embedded fabr ic membrane, as do some systems. Each batch of 580 t y pica l ly g ives a work ing life of 25 to 30 minutes. T he crew, handpicked by Dobbs, was used to such fast-paced work, but doubts began creeping into their minds. Was their gamble of f inishing before the Kentuck y Derby par t y a sucker bet? Te source of their angst was the distance between the mixing stations and working foors. Typically, mixing takes place no more than 20 feet (6.1 m) from the pour, but with the casino's convoluted layout, the mixing station was, at times, up to 150 feet (45.7 m) away! To prevent a bottleneck, Dobbs assigned his strongest man to run coatings. Sufce it to say that after six weeks of hand carrying heav y buckets, that man is a bit stronger now than when the project began. After waiting an average of 24 hours for the 580 to cure, the crew applied the frst pass of Key #511 to achieve a dry flm thickness of 8–14 mils (203.2–355.6 microns). Key #511 is a 100 percent solids, amine-cured epoxy resin that, in this applica- tion, was infused with metallic pigments. Te exact sky blue hue was arrived at by mocking up dozens of 2-foot by 2-foot (0.6 m x 0.6 m) samples until one met the casino's approval. To ensure the color looked great at full scale, the crew also laid down a 70-square-foot (6.5 m²) sample on an out-of-the-way foor at Indiana Grand. Tat presentation went extraordinarily well, due partly to the fact that Dobbs had perfected a method of adding rolling clouds to the sky-blue feld! "On the frst 8- to 14-mil [203.2–355.6 microns] lift of 511, there's no tinkering involved," Dobbs explained. "You use a 1-inch [0.3 cm] V-notched trowel, and backroll with an 18-inch [45.7 cm] roller with 3-inch [1.0 cm] nap. Tat lift helps estab- lish the base color. To get the second lift [approximately 30 mils, or 762.0 microns DFT] to look like clouds, you have to manipu- late it quite a bit." Dobbs, understandably somewhat reluctant to furnish precise details about his cloud-forming technique, did offer hints for those w illing to experiment on their ow n. "Most of the design is in the timing," he said. "Once the [second 511] lift is trowelled dow n, wait a while, put on your spikes, and walk the f loor w ith an 18 -inch [45.7 cm] roller w ith 3-inch [1.0 cm] nap. Don't apply any dow nward force; just blend in any trowel marks. Wait for a while and spritz the f loor w ith denatured alcohol. Depending upon how long you wait between rolling and spritzing, the f loor may look like clouds, marble, snake- skin, or fish eyes. But if you wait too long, the spritzing does nothing!" Despite the segmented nature of the foor plan, the huge distances between mixing areas and foors to be coated, and casino events that forced last-minute schedule changes, the Desco crew was on track to wrap up before the Kentucky Derby party. Tat is, until disaster struck! Tey say bad luck happens in groups of three, right? The second step to the first two layers of coatings was squeegeeing them out. And throughout all stages of the recoating process, the crew needed to wear security badges — even just to stop by the site. The crew had to finish within six weeks for the casino's annual Kentucky Derby party. Talk about high stakes! To make it happen, they worked 8–10 hours per day on day and night shifts. "This is a flagship job," said Verr y. "Tens of thousands of people come into the casino, and the first thing they see is our floor. They don't know who did it, but we know. There's pride throughout the company." Casino Floor