Manufacturing and distribution floors are subject to harsh wear-and-tear. The daily pounding from heavy industrial equipment, forklifts and large pallets can damage a concrete floor. Often, the types of products produced at these manufacturing and distribution facilities exacerbates this wear. This was the case for a developer and producer of fruit flavorings used in all facets of the dairy, bakery, beverage, confection, frozen novelty and soy industries. In addition to damage from the industrial equipment necessary for manufacturing, the high acidity of the products produced also caused the concrete to deteriorate.

The owner contacted Structural Preservation Systems (SPS) to repair the floor to a proper working condition and increase its serviceable life. The concrete had become so deteriorated that exposed aggregate was showing. To repair the floor, SPS crews removed and patched the deteriorated concrete. They then continued with cleaning and preparing the existing contaminated concrete. The joints and cracks were treated with a flexible joint membrane. The team then trowelled down the polyurethane composite coating and applied a top coat to the 10,000-square-foot floor.

One of the owner's primary concerns was the schedule of the repairs. Any downtime hinders production at the facility, so it was critical that the repairs were completed as quickly as possible. Although a repair like this typically takes five to seven days, SPS was able to double its production and cut downtime in half. Utilizing the weekend, SPS completed the project in two-and-a-half days. In addition to schedule, the owner was also concerned about cleanliness. The crews used dustless grinders and vacuum systems and wrapped all the items that they could in protective covering to substantially reduce the amount of dust and debris.

Preplanning was critical to the success of this project. SPS ensured that all the logistics were handled properly and that the right size crew was available for the job to be completed on time. The owner was so pleased with SPS' work that they are investigating having SPS perform repairs in other areas of the facility.