EPOXY FLOOR RESURFACING GIVES NEW LIFE TO BRICK FLOOR

CARL ARVESON, Plant Manager, Mid-America Diary, Mt. Vernon, MO
JOHN MOLNAR, P.E., Editor-East

PROBLEM

One of the major problems encountered in the food industry is the deterioration of floor and wall surfaces. Mid American Dairy is no exception--cleaning solutions wreak havoc with exposed surfaces. Mid America Dairy, Mt. Vernon, MO, had two badly eroded brick floors--one in the clean-in place (C.I.P.) room subjected to nitric and phosphoric acid cleaning solutions, and the other in a whey storage room. Each area contained some 900 square feet.

Mid America Dairy's Mt. Vernon plant makes natural cheese and ships it in 640 lb. blocks to cutting stations.

SOLUTION

One option, tearing out and replacing the brick, was not considered a viable alternative due to cost and shutdown time. The second option, to patch and resurface, was pursued.

Management selected a self-priming epoxy flooring and grouting system that is solvent-free and USDA-approved. It is available as material only or as a complete turnkey installation with single-source responsibility--as performed at Mid America Dairy. The product can be applied by trowel to 1/4" thickness, as a self-leveling floor, or even as a thin-film coating. It is available in standary grey, red, brown, green and beige colors.

The first step at Mid America Dairy was the preparation of the substrate, in this case, badly eroded brick. The floor surface, including eroded joints, was given a thorough acid wash. Loose bricks were removed. This included any brick that was not securely bonded to the sound bedding or where acid attack had begun to occur. These areas were patched and eroded joints were filled with epoxy grouting material. The surface to be coated was primed and lightly sprinkled with aggregate. The red colored epoxy was trowel applied to a 1/4" thickness over the prepared and patched brick floor.

RESULTS

The entire project--including substrate preparation and patching, patching the pump bases, installing the 4" coves where required and applying the epoxy flooring--was completed within a 3-day period.

What previously had been a porous brick floor, difficult to keep clean, was now an impermeable, monolithic floor that could withstand acid attack and caustic steam cleaning.

* The turnkey installation was performed by International Coatings.