CoatingsPro Magazine

JAN 2009

CoatingsPro offers an in-depth look at coatings based on case studies, successful business operation, new products, industry news, and the safe and profitable use of coatings and equipment.

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Terrazzo or Coatings? Contractor Helps Theme Park Save Time And Money BY JENNIFER KRAMER ost people go to resorts and theme parks for fun and relaxation. But those of us in the coatings industry see a different side of the amusement and resort trade. It's not easy keeping those roller coasters corrosion-free. And the floor coatings crew from PremUS of Orlando, Inc., knows just how difficult it is to keep the hundreds of miles of concrete underneath tourists' feet safely coated — crack-free, slip-resistant, and beautiful. When a popular Florida resort needed to refresh the dining hall floors in two of its busiest hotels, at first, the sky was the limit. The original specifications called for terrazzo floors with laser cut logo icons. And then reality hit — hard. They saw the terrazzo budget. And it was too high. Fortunately, an alternate solution was right under their feet. M BELOW Before the coatings crew from PremUS could begin working on the two floors, they first worked through an intense design and plan- ning phase with the resort's owners. As part of the project's planning, the PremUS team had to submit the designs for all of the icons that would decorate the floors. As president and founder Gary Rader describes, "We made the icons in smaller scale so that the engineers could approve the color schemes, shading, etc." PHOTOS COURTESY OF PREMUS OF ORLANDO, INC. "We've worked for about 18 years with the resort," explains Gary Rader, president of PremUS. "We were working at a differ- ent location in the resort using an epoxy urethane flooring system which provides a terrazzo-like appearance. It got the owners' attention." KEEPING UP APPEARANCES Rader was asked to look at the floors in question — each approxi- mately 6,500 square feet of worn tile. "There were some strict requirements to the job," he says. "First, neither location could be closed to the public. So the areas would have to be blocked off with plywood walls. Second, because there was dry pack mudbed under the thick-set 12-inch floor tile, removing the tile would create too BELOW Rader was in the unique position of being able to help draft the project specifications. He knew how important it was that the coatings be odorless because the resort would remain open throughout the course of the project. "The engineers came out and did a smell test on the Dur- A-Chip system before we specified it," Rader says. "It is a 100% solids system, so there was no odor or fumes." 32 CoatingsPro J January 2009

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