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JOB AT A GLANCE PROJECT: Re-pitch, repair, and recoat 3,000 sq. ft. (278.71m2 ing in pet food manufacturing facility COATINGS CONTRACTOR: Tom J. Behunin Construction, LLC 6114 Utica Street Arvada, Colorado 80003 (303) 427-2018 SIZE OF CONTRACTOR: A crew of 12 worked this project The Behunin crew used Ingersoll Rand air saws, pneumatic chipping hammers, and scaling hammers to remove delaminated coating and unsound concrete. ABOVE floor, beginning about 35 feet (10.67m) out from the drain under the machines, had to be sloped," he continues. This meant that the project timeframe would be extremely tight. The other consideration was the nature of the new coating to be specified. Since the processing room processed food (albeit pet food), the coating had to meet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety requirements and had to be "green." Klapper and Mars knew that because of the complexity and time constraints of the installation, this was a job for Tom Behunin and Behunin Construction. "Behunin has more than 20 years' experience working with International Coatings and had the exper- tise and experience to handle a demanding job like this," Klapper says. With the contractor on board, the owners decided to use International Coatings' epoxy system, ICO-Guard 51. Klapper explains, "It cures fast enough to be able to get on it the next day. It has excellent thermal shock- and chemical-resistance. It can be applied in virtually any thickness, all in one step, saving valuable downtime." It was the thickness that would come into play and make this job truly unique. A BIG BUILD-UP "The biggest problem was that the floor was absolutely flat," Tom Behunin echoes Klapper. "This was a wash area, and it wasn't sloped to drain. We had to move the drain 10' (3.05m) north of where it was and create a slope—but we had to do it using epoxy. There wasn't enough time to shut down the line and build up the floor with concrete. We were given three days, but we knew we could do it." As it happens, the plant was open, but it would be shutting down the pet food processing line for the Labor Day holiday. Klapper, Behunin, and a 12-man crew hit the floor ready for one of the most intense epoxy jobs they'd undertaken—if not for the work itself, for the sheer amount of epoxy they would apply. "What was initially quoted as a ¼" (0.64cm) topping for an existing sloped floor turned into a one-step, 3" (7.62cm), ¼" (0.64cm) slope extend- PRIME CLIENT: Mars Pet Care Pueblo, Colorado SUBSTRATE: Concrete SUBSTRATE CONDITION: Old coating was delaminated; concrete was porous; floor was flat and having drainage issues SIZE: 3,000 sq. ft. (278.71m2 DURATION: 3 days UNUSUAL FACTORS: ¢ Because the factory produces pet food, the machines could not be shut down for extended periods of time; the Behunin crew had exactly 3 days to complete the floor ¢ Tight time frame meant that concrete was not an option for sloping the floor as it wouldn't cure in time; specs called for the use of epoxy instead MATERIALS/PROCESS: ¢ Use Visqueen to construct a three-sided tent for dust containment to protect the food production machinery from dust during demo ¢ Use diamond grinders, air saws, and scaling hammers to remove old coating, degraded concrete, and create a profile ¢ Clean concrete substrate with Bio-T sanitizer ¢ Etch concrete with hydrochloric acid diluted down to 20% with water ¢ Rinse floor with water ¢ Third-party plumber set new drains ¢ Use screed boxes and trowels, install ICO-Guard 51 epoxy, building up to 3" (7.62cm) high and sloping down to ¼" (0.64cm) at the drains SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: ¢ During surface prep, crew wore respirators with full face shields, gloves, boots, hearing protection, and hard hats ¢ During coating application, crew wore standard PPE including safety glasses, gloves, boots, and hard hats ) ) of concrete floor- July 2012 J www.coatingspromag.com 43