4/1

4 Industrial
flooring

J D N Shaw MA

Contents

4.1 Introduction 4/3

4.2 Selection of appropriate flooring material 4/3
4.3 Requirements of concrete substrate 4/3
4.4 Special finishes 4/4
4.4.1 Surface hardeners/sealers 4/4
4.4.2 Floor paints 4/5
4.4.3 Self levelling epoxy, polyester or reactive acrylic
resin systems 4/6
4.4.4 Heavy duty flooring 4/6
4.5 Comparative applied costs 4/9
4.6 Conclusion 4/9

4.1 Introduction
There are a considerable number of special proprietary
floor treatments available for the architect and engineer to
consider and much of the brief technical literature describ-
ing them suggests that many products would appear to
offer the same improved service at vastly differing costs. It
is, therefore, not surprising that many specifiers are totally
confused and tend to stick to the products they know
rather than consider some of the innovative products based
on new technology which often offer distinct improve-
ments over the materials traditionally used as flooring
materials.
(1). Before attempting to classify the various types of
special floorings available it is important to consider the
concrete substrate itself. By proper use of good mix design
and use of admixtures and with careful control of the
water/cement ratio and attention to laying, finishing and
curing techniques, concrete itself can serve as a highly
durable flooring material under many industrial service
conditions without the need for special separately applied
finishes.
(2). Properly laid concrete provides an abrasion resis-
tant floor surface which has good resistance to attack by
alkalis and reasonable resistance to attack by mineral and
vegetable oils, although oils do cause some staining and
impair appearance. However, irrespective of how well it
has been laid, concrete has poor resistance to acids and
many other chemicals far too numerous to mention here.
Where spillage of such materials is envisaged, the con-
crete must be protected by the application of a special
floor topping or coating.
4.2 Selection of appropriate flooring
material
Before selecting a flooring material it is imperative to
consider carefully the precise service conditions to which
the floor will be subjected.
Conditions that must be considered include:-
(i) Nature and concentrations of any materials likely to
come into contact with the floor. (The concentration
is particularly important since more concentrated
acids and alkalis can be very aggressive to some
industrial floor finishes)
(ii) Accuracy of the falls in the concrete sub-floor to
allow spillages to run away reliably to drains.
(iii) Nature of traffic (maximum loads and types of
wheels using floor) and traffic concentration.
(iv) Degree/ease of cleaning required.
(v) Anti-slip characteristics required.
(vi) Service temperature(s).
(vii) Rate of change of temperature, as rapid temperature
changes can cause some heavy duty finishes to
crack and debond due to the high stresses developed
by thermal shock.
(viii) Grade of concrete laid for the subfloor.
Without such precise information and, on occasions,
even with it, inappropriate floorings are all too often used,
Requirements of concrete substrate 4/3
resulting in rapid breakdown of the floor in service. In
some instances, some of the performance requirements are
contradictory (especially (iv) and (v) above) and where
this happens a compromise may have to be accepted.
4.3 Requirements of concrete substrate
If, at the specification stage, it is decided that the service
conditions for the concrete floor do require special floor-
ings to be applied subsequently, it is imperative that the
contractor laying the concrete is fully aware of this fac-
tor and does not use a conventional spray-applied resin
solution curing membrane as this could seriously affect
the adhesion if any special flooring is to be subsequently
applied, this is difficult to remove uniformly and reliably.
In these circumstances and also for industrial buildings
where the eventual use of the floor is not known but may
require a special finish, overlapping polyethylene sheets or
similar curing methods which do not affect the adhesion
of any subsequently applied finishes should be used.
It is important to examine carefully the surface of the
concrete substrate prior to applying the special flooring.
Although the concrete laid by the contractor may indeed
have cube strengths well in excess of that specified, it is
still possible for the concrete slab to have a very weak
surface due to over trowelling, for example. It is the
top few microns of the concrete, which is critical to the
success of the special flooring, will be applied and it is
essential that any weakness in the surface be removed by
a technique, which is appropriate to the type of flooring
to be applied.
Most specialist flooring contractors have sufficient
experience to assess the quality of concrete surface with-
out site testing; however, if there is any doubt, the surface
strength of the concrete should be tested using a simple
“pull-off” test rig or other appropriate means. In general, a
concrete substrate should have a tensile strength (by “pull
off”) of at least 0.8 N/mm2 by BS EN 1542 Pull-off Test
method.
As a general rule, any concrete base, which will be sub-
sequently treated with special flooring, must not be subject
to rising damp and thus any ground-supported slabs must
incorporate an effective damp-proof membrane.
If there is any doubt, the concrete should be tested using
a direct reading concrete moisture meter (maximum 6 per
cent moisture) or an accurately calibrated hygrometer (not
exceeding 75 per cent relative humidity after 24 hours).
It should be stressed that these figures are based on the
practical experience of a number of specialist flooring
contractors and serve only as a guide. Other factors such
as the depth of the slab, time elapsed since placing and
degree of weather protection, all have an influence on the
moisture content within the concrete substrate. A simple
method of checking the moisture content of the substrate
is to place a rubber mat on the concrete overnight. If there
is no wetness when the mat is removed and the area under
the mat does not appear darker – then moisture is unlikely
to be a problem.
(Moisture levels acceptable for plastic sheet flooring
and methods of test in BS8203; 1996 Code of Practice
for Sheet Flooring also gives a good guide).
4/4 Industrial flooring
In some rare cases moisture movement due to osmotic
pressure can be a problem in the long term – this is cov-
ered by FERFA Resin Flooring Industry Handbook 2000.
Another aspect, which is often overlooked, is the tem-
perature of the concrete substrate in an unheated area.
It is generally easy to raise the air temperature imme-
diately above the concrete surface rapidly but to warm
up the concrete, particularly a thick cold ground floor
slab, is a slow process. In some cases the concrete sur-
face may become wet whilst being warmed up due to
dew point condensation with warmer air above the cold
slab. Applying certain finishes to a cold concrete substrate
can extend curing times before the floor can be put into
service.
Finally, before considering flooring materials, mention
should be made of the design and construction of joints
and the selection of the appropriate joint filler. Joints are
a major source of problems in industrial floors. Far too
often, with a carefully laid concrete flooring insufficient
attention is given to joint design and joint sealing.
This results in wrongly designed joints rapidly breaking
up at the edges under heavy loads especially by rigid or
semi-rigid wheeled traffic which can lead to expensive
repairs.
Detailed information on joint design is given in the
Second Edition of Concrete Society Technical Report
No.34 Concrete Ground Floors – A guide to their Design
and Construction 1994.
Apart from helping prevent breaking up at the floor
edges, the right joint filler will help provide a easier to
clean surface, ensure smooth running of forklift trucks and
contribute to safety. However the selection of the right
joint filler is a difficult problem. It is true to say that there
is no one single ideal material for floor joints since it is
impossible to combine all the performance characteristics
ideally required in one product.
Over the past few years British Standards have pre-
pared several Codes of practice for in-situ floorings under
BS 8204. Parts 1 and 2, revised in 1999, cover concrete
substrates for floor finishes and concrete wearing surfaces.
Part 3 1993 covers polymer modified cementitious wear-
ing surfaces. Part 4 1993 Terrazzo wearing surfaces and
Part 5 1994 Mastic asphalt flooring.
Recently CEN TC 303 has been formed to draft Euro-
pean Standards for Floor Finishes for concrete.
There is an active Trade Federation, FERFA to which
many of the specialist formulators and industrial flooring
contractors belong. If specifiers/users carefully list all the
service conditions which the flooring must meet, FERFA
members should be able to recommend the most cost
effective flooring materials to give good service under
the conditions indicated.
FERFA have produced a guide to the specification and
Application of Synthetic Resin Flooring which is updated
in their Handbook 2000.
4.4 Special finishes
In this paper various types of finishes available for con-
crete floors are classified in order of increased cost.
4.4.1 Surface hardeners/sealers
4.4.1.1 Sodium silicate and silico fluoride solutions
as concrete surface hardeners
Both sodium silicate and silico fluoride solutions are
applied to clean, dry, sound concrete floors as dilute aque-
ous solutions (10 to 15 per cent solids) in 2 to 3 appli-
cations, taking care to ensure that the solution penetrates
and is absorbed into the concrete surface. The silicate or
silico fluoride reacts with the small amount of free lime
in the cement to form glassy inert materials in the surface
and the successful application of both materials depends
upon filling the micropores in the surface of good qual-
ity concrete, leaving its surface appearance and non-skid
characteristics virtually unchanged. The main difference
between the two types are that the reaction products of the
silico fluoride types are less soluble in water and are also
harder, which may give better in-service performance, but
at a slightly higher material cost. However, with recent
developments in floor laying techniques, the concrete sub-
strates for industrial floors are laid with much more dense
low porosity surfaces so that neither silicate nor silico flu-
oride treatments are as effective as they used to be – say
twenty years ago – when the concrete used had slightly
more open finish and hence was more receptive to these
treatments.
With modern concrete floors it is imperative to wash off
any silicate/silicofluoride material not absorbed into the
surface within a short period after application. Otherwise
unpleasant white alkaline deposits, which are difficult to
remove, may occur.
It is important to stress that neither sodium silicate or
silico fluoride will improve the performance of poor, low
strength, dusty concrete floors. If the surface is too porous,
there is no way that all the material applied can react with
the relatively small quantity of free lime in the concrete
surface. All that will happen is that the pores will be
filled with unreacted powder, producing a most unpleasant
alkaline dust, which can be very irritating to the skin and
eyes, when the floor is put into service.
Finally, it is important to note that sodium silicate or
silico fluoride treatments, properly applied to clean and
sound concrete floors may improve their performance,
especially resistance to mild aqueous chemicals and oils,
at a relatively low cost. However, they are not the answer
to all industrial concrete floor problems, which many
specifiers still appear to believe. (17).
4.4.1.2 Low viscosity resin based penetrating
in-surface sealers
Liquid resin based systems which, like chemical surface
hardeners penetrate into the surface of a concrete topping
or directly finished slab and protect the acid susceptible
cement matrix from attack, are now being increasingly
used. At the same time, they strengthen the surface of
the concrete and improve abrasion resistance. These in-
surface sealers leave the slip resistance of the concrete
floor virtually unchanged but treated floors are easier to
clean and are more durable. In comparison with concrete

surface hardeners some resin solution penetrating sealers
can achieve at least a five fold increase in performance.
Non-reactive and semi-reactive resin solutions Resin
based penetrating sealers are now available which, for
very large warehouse floors, are comparable in applied
costs with the concrete surface hardeners and are now
being increasingly specified. Experience indicates that
certain acrylic resin solutions are proving more durable
and offer better protection to chemical and oil spillages
than concrete surface hardeners. Acrylic resin based seal-
ers can markedly improve the abrasion resistance of con-
crete floors and have “rescued” a number of poor quality
floors.
Other resin solutions, in white spirit or stronger solvent
blends, used as penetrating floor sealers include:-
Air drying alkyds (similar to the resins in conventional
gloss paints).
Styrene butadiene resins.
Urethane oils.
Styrene acrylates.
All such resin solutions are based on flammable sol-
vents and are becomingly increasingly less acceptable on
health and safety grounds and therefore there is increased
interest in water-based polymer dispersion floor sealers,
but to date none offer the same improvement to flooring
performance that some of the resin solutions can provide.
Reactive resin solutions Solutions of reactive resins in
volatile solvents have proved very effective for improving
the wear and chemical resistance of both good and poor
quality concrete floors. The epoxy resin solutions (approx-
imately 20 per cent solids) are high strength systems, very
similar to those used in heavy chemically resistant trow-
elled epoxy floors and, depending on the concrete, can
penetrate to a significant depth into the surface of the
concrete.
Here the solvent evaporates and the resin cures to form
a tough, chemically resistant polymer, with a compressive
strength of up to 70 N/mm2 , thus reinforcing the concrete
surface. One pack low viscosity resin solutions based on
moisture curing polyurethane systems are available which
perform in a similar manner to epoxy resin solutions.
Some of these polyurethane resin solutions demonstrate a
greater ability to penetrate and bind the surface of concrete
floors measurably better than other sealers.
Polymer dispersions Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), acrylic
and other polymer dispersions have been widely used as
anti-dust treatments for concrete floors for many years. In
general, the polymer dispersions used have been similar
to those used in the manufacture of emulsion paints
which tend to produce an “on-surface” seal and do not
penetrate far into the surface. The chemical and water
resistance of the various polymer dispersions, which are
used, varies considerably from the PVAc types, which are
rapidly softened and eventually washed out by water, to
acrylic and SBR types which exhibit excellent resistance
to a wide range of chemicals. Water based sealers are
Special finishes 4/5
also gaining wider acceptance because of the stricter
safety regulations on the handling of materials based on
hydrocarbon solvents. Some of the newer materials also
provide better penetration into the surface of the concrete.
4.4.2 Floor paints
Floor paints in a wide range of colours and based on a
number of different binder systems are used extensively
for concrete floors in light industrial applications.
4.4.2.1 Chlorinated rubber paints
Chlorinated rubber paints used to be the most common
of the lower cost floor paints on the market. How-
ever, the manufacture and formulation of chlorinated
rubber involves processes which are “environmentally
unfriendly” and they are not now so widely used. The rea-
son for the extensive use of chlorinate rubber floor paints
is that they are tough and chemically resistant coatings but
their adhesion to concrete is not always good. They tend to
wear off in patches and cannot be considered as a durable
floor treatment, except under light traffic conditions. How-
ever, re-coating is a simple job and floors can easily be
re-painted over weekend shutdowns, for example. Similar
solvent containing floor paints based on other resins such
as acrylic, vinyl and styrene butadiene which give a sim-
ilar level of performance are also used but there are now
strong environmental pressures against the use of solvent
based coatings where solvent free or water based coatings
are available which give equivalent performance.
4.4.2.2 Epoxy resin floor paints
Two component Epoxy resin systems are used as “sol-
vent containing”,“solvent free” and water dispersible high
performance floor paints. “Solvent containing” coatings
are similar in performance to penetrating sealers except
that they give a thin slightly glossy chemical and abra-
sion resistant coloured floor finish. Depending upon the
porosity of the concrete substrate, 2–3 coats are generally
required.
“Solvent free” high-build floor paints are also available
which can readily be applied by brush, roller or spray
to a prepared concrete substrate at a thickness of 0.10 to
0.20 mm per coat. Normally, two coats are applied and
the first coat is often lightly dressed with fine sand or
carborundum dust to give a non-slip, chemically- resistant
and durable coloured floor suitable for light industrial
traffic conditions, for example, traffic shod with rubber
wheels. Solvent free epoxy coatings tend to be more
expensive than the “solvent containing” types but are
often preferred because they do not give off unpleasant
solvent vapours during application and give much better
resistance to chemical spillage.
Two component water dispersible epoxy resin coating
are also being used increasingly. With special epoxy resins
and hardeners specifically developed for the formulation
of water dispersible systems their performance in terms of
both chemical resistance and abrasion resistance is much
better than the two pack water dispersible epoxy coatings
which have been available in the past.
4/6 Industrial flooring
4.4.2.3 Polyurethane floor paints and multi-coat
treatments
Solvent containing moisture cured or two-pack polyure-
thane resin paints are also extensively used. They combine
excellent abrasion resistance with good chemical resis-
tance and are normally applied in two coats to give a
coating thickness of 0.10 to 0.15 mm. In addition, mois-
ture cured polyurethane resin solutions are used for quite
thick durable decorative floorings. Several coats of resin
are applied to the prepared substrate at approx. 4 to 6 hour
intervals, with one or more coats being dressed with
coloured paint flakes which are sealed in by the next coat
and then lightly sanded. This type of flooring was widely
marketed in the UK about ten years ago but, in the main,
was considered unsatisfactory due to rapid discolouration
of the floor because of the lack of ultra-violet stability of
the urethane resins, which rapidly turned yellow-brown
and looked dirty. However, ultraviolet stable urethane
resins which do not suffer this discolouration are now
available and this type of durable decorative flooring is
gaining in acceptance, for example, in kitchens, toilets
and reception areas.
At present with the environmental pressures towards
not using solvent based coatings for any application where
there are “greener” solvent free or water dispersible sys-
tems which will give equivalent performance are now
available. Over the next few years high performance water
dispersible two component polyurethane systems will be
used increasingly to replace the solvent based floor coat-
ings which have been widely used over the past two
decades.
4.4.3 Self levelling epoxy, polyester or reactive
acrylic resin systems
Like the high-build epoxy paints, epoxy self levelling fin-
ishes are solvent free low viscosity systems which can
readily be applied onto a prepared level substrate to pro-
vide a jointless thin (approximately 1.5 mm) chemically
resistant floor finish in a single application. The term “self
levelling” by which they are commonly described is some-
what of a misnomer as they require spreading out to a
near level finish with a squeegee or the edge of a steel
trowel in order to flow out and give a smooth finish. A
better description is “self smoothing”. Before the system
is cured, the surface is normally lightly dressed with fine
abrasion resistant grit; without a non-slip dressing, there
is a tendency to produce a slippery, very glossy surface
which shows every scratch mark. This can be overcome
to some extent by careful formulation and also by the
application of a slip inhibiting industrial floor polish on a
regular basis when the floor is in service.
This type of flooring is widely used in laboratories,
pharmaceutical factories and food processing areas where
easily cleaned, chemically resistant durable floors are
required.
Self levelling finishes based on polyester resins more
recently acrylic resins, have also been used. Polyester
resin based systems have a tendency to shrink and appli-
cation is very critical. Acrylic resin systems developed
in Germany are similar to polyester resins, but, by care-
ful formulation, the problems due to shrinkage have been
largely overcome. The acrylic resin based systems are cur-
rently based on highly flammable materials (flash point
10° C) which can present hazards during laying. However,
there are systems available which can take foot traffic
within two hours of application even when applied at very
low temperatures.
4.4.4 Heavy duty flooring
A considerable range of different toppings are available
for heavy duty applications. The correct selection of the
most appropriate topping on a cost/performance basis
can only be made, if service conditions are very clearly
defined. In general, heavy duty toppings require a sound
(preferably 35 N/mm2 strength) concrete substrate.
4.4.4.1 Concrete floor finishes with high abrasion
resistance (Often called granolithic toppings)
In effect, granolithic toppings are just a method of pro-
ducing a high cement content concrete wearing surface
on a concrete substrate. The application of separately laid
granolithic toppings is always fraught with the danger of
debonding and curling and, therefore, generally mono-
lithic grano-toppings only are considered. However, for
many industrial floors, where good resistance to abrasion
under heavy traffic is specified, a suitable floor could be
achieved more economically by direct finishing of a high
cement content, high strength (40–60 N/mm2 ) concrete.
This has been confirmed in research work which demon-
strated that abrasion resistance, measured by a number of
different methods, can be directly related to the compres-
sive strength of the concrete. This work also showed that
the abrasion resistance and compressive strength could be
correlated to the Schmidt hammer test results, which is
of considerable interest for the future non-destructive site
testing of concrete floors.
“Dry shake” finishes Another method of producing
concrete floors with high abrasion resistance is to trowel
a blend of abrasion resistant fine aggregate and cement
(approx 1/1 by weight) into the surface of the concrete
immediately after laying. This technique is often called
“dry shake” A pigment can be included in the blend so
that a coloured finish can be achieved. The concept of this
method is exactly the same as the laying of a monolithic
grano-topping and is favoured by many specialists when
laying large concrete floors where high abrasion resistance
is required.
Where it is considered essential to apply a granolithic
topping separately onto an existing concrete substrate, the
danger of debonding can be significantly reduced by the
use of a polymer based bonding aid. Two type of bonding
aid commonly used are:-
1. Epoxy resin specially formulated for bonding freshly
mixed cementitious materials to well prepared and
cured concrete substrates. The strength of the bond
achieved can be greater than the shear strength of both
the topping and the concrete substrate.

2. A polymer latex (also known as a polymer emulsion or
dispersion) such as styrene butadiene (SBR), polyvinyl
acetate (PVA) acrylic or modified acrylic. These are
applied to the prepared concrete as neat coats of
emulsion or, more commonly, as slurries with cement.
Polymer latex bonding aids are cheaper and simple to
use than epoxy resins and give a good tough bond which
is ‘less structural’ than that achieved by the right epoxy
bonding aid. The so called “universal” PVA bonding aids
are not recommended for external or wet service condi-
tions as there is a danger of the polymer breaking down.
4.4.4.2 Bitumen emulsion modified cementitious
floors
The use of specially formulated bitumen emulsions as the
gauging liquid for graded aggregate/sand/cement screeds
can produce a dustless, self healing, jointless surface for
industrial areas subject to heavy wheeled traffic under
normally dry conditions. This type of topping is normally
laid approximately 12 mm thick and has been used very
successfully for more than thirty years, particularly in
warehouses and exhibition halls such as the Birmingham
Exhibition Centre. The bitumen modified cementitious
floor topping is less hard underfoot than concrete and
has proved popular with warehousemen. However many
warehouses now have high rise racking, heavier forklift
trucks and narrow aisles between racking. Under these
conditions the topping tends to “indent” or “creep” and
as a consequence the truck forks can become misaligned
with the pallets stacked on the higher shelves of the
racks thus preventing access to the goods stored on
the higher levels. Point loads of above about 8 N/mm2
for short term and 4 N/mm2 for an indefinite period
are, therefore, not recommended for bitumen emulsion
modified cementitious floors.
4.4.4.3 Mastic asphalt floors
Hot applied mastic asphalt floors have been used for many
years in industrial environments, where a good degree
of chemical resistance under normally wet conditions is
required. Properly laid mastic floors are totally impervious
to a wide range of chemicals but not solvents. In terms of
mechanical performance, mastic asphalt floors are similar
to the bitumen modified cementitious floors but they are
generally laid at a minimum of 25 mm thickness and tend
to deform and corrugate in service under heavy loads.
Mastic asphalt floors are not very commonly used now,
except where the floor is essentially tanked, such as car
park decks over shopping precincts.
4.4.4.4 Pumped floor toppings
In recent years there has been considerable interest in
heavy duty toppings for the renovation of existing ware-
house floors and similar applications which can be applied
as flowing compositions which can be laid very rapidly
by pumping using specially developed application equip-
ment. Both rapid setting cementitious compositions and
systems based on Anhydrite are used for pumped floor
Special finishes 4/7
toppings. Those based on Anhydrite are recommended
for dry service conditions only but systems based on
specially formulated shrinkage compensated hydraulic
cement blends are now widely used – generally with an
epoxy resin finish coat.
4.4.4.5 Polymer modified cementitious floor
toppings
Polymer modified cementitious floor toppings (PCCs) are
now widely used instead of separately laid granolithic
toppings. The polymers used are normally supplied as
milky white dispersions in water and are used to gauge
a carefully selected and/aggregate/cement mix as a whole
or partial replacement of the gauging water. They must
always be mixed in a forced action mixer.
The polymer latex acts in several ways:-
1. It functions as a water-reducing plasticiser producing
a flooring composition with good workability at low
water/cement ratios.
2. It ensures a good bond between the topping and the
prepared concrete.
3. It produces a topping with good tensile strength and
toughness.
4. It produces (based on the correct choice of polymer
latex) a topping with good water and chemical resis-
tance.
5. It acts to a significant degree as an integral curing aid
much reducing the need for additional curing. (Curing,
for at least the first 24 hours, is essential for large areas
of PCC floor toppings).
Polymer modified cementitious floor toppings are
normally laid 6–12 mm thick. Two polymer latex
types are most commonly used – styrene butadiene and
acrylics – which have been specifically developed for
incorporation in cementitious compositions. The principal
difference between the two types is that acrylic latices
give higher early strengths than can be achieved with
the SBR latices currently available. Toppings based on
acrylic latices are used in food processing industries,
particularly meat processing. Toppings can be laid in a
Friday–Monday shutdown period and are reported to be
capable of withstanding full service conditions 48 hours
after laying, However, longer curing periods are desirable.
When adequately cured, polymer modified cementitious
toppings based on acrylic/SBR latices can be cleaned by
steam cleaning techniques without problems of thermal
shock breakdown, which has been observed with other
heavy duty polymer toppings. They are resistant to many
chemicals encountered in the food and printing industries
but, being based on an acid sensitive cement matrices,
their resistance to organic or mineral acids is limited.
There are now becoming available special polymer pow-
ders derived from these latices which can be preblended
with sand, aggregate, cement and additives (requiring only
mixing with water on site) resulting in factory produced,
quality controlled, flooring compositions of at least sim-
ilar performance to the site mixed mortars which require
the addition of liquid latex.
4/8 Industrial flooring
In recent years BSI have published BS 8204 Parts 1–3
Codes of Practice for the correct laying of in-situ floor
finishes. Parts 1 & 2 cover both the substrates to receive
in-situ floorings and concrete wearing surfaces. Part 3
which was published in 1993 covers polymer modified
cementitious wearing surfaces. The fact that industry
needed such a code of practice indicating how widely
polymer modified cementitious surfaces are now used as
industrial floor finishes.
4.4.4.6 Epoxy resin mortar floors
Trowelled epoxy resin flooring approximately 6 mm thick
is used extensively where a combination of excellent
chemical resistance and good mechanical properties are
required; in particular, abrasion and impact resistance and
resistance to very heavy rolling loads. Epoxy toppings are
available with compressive strengths up to 100 N/mm2
and tensile strengths up to 30 N/mm2 . These are achieved
by careful formulation of the binder and the incorpora-
tion of high strength fillers. When formulating a system
for optimum abrasion resistance, both the epoxy resin
hardener binder system and the filler blends used appear
to have an influence. The simulation of abrasive ser-
vice loads on industrial floor toppings in a laboratory is
not simple and numerous wear test machines have been
devised. Correlation between different wear test machines
is not always good although most laboratory tests on abra-
sion resistance give an indication of the floor’s likely
performance in service in a qualitative rather than quan-
titative manner.
In formulating resins for heavy duty floors, it would
appear that the adhesive properties of the resin binder used
to bond the aggregate particles firmly together is a critical
factor when selecting a resin system. In the selection of
systems for highly abrasive service conditions, costs must
also be considered and, on this basis, bauxite, calcined
under defined temperature conditions, has often been used
as the abrasion resistant aggregate.
Another aspect of epoxy resin mortars, or indeed other
high strength resin mortar toppings is that their coeffi-
cients of thermal expansion are approximately three times
that of concrete. This, coupled with the relative low ther-
mal conductivity of epoxy mortar, can cause stresses to
be induced at the resin mortar/concrete interface under
conditions of thermal shock (e.g. steam cleaning), result-
ing in break up of the flooring due to initial failure in the
concrete.
4.4.4.7 Polyurethane mortar floors
Polyurethane mortar flooring systems based on three
component systems–specially formulated polyol blends,
low viscosity isocyanate prepolymers and specially graded
aggregate blends, incorporating cement or lime are
being used increasingly in food processing areas and
in chemical plants and giving excellent service. In
general polyurethane polymers are more elastomeric
than epoxy resins and can be formulated to have good
temperature performance at over 100° C. This combination
of toughness combined with good performance at elevated
temperatures gives excellent resistance to thermal shock.
Over the past ten years this type of flooring has been
widely used in food processing areas where steam
cleaning lances are often used. The adhesion of the
urethane systems to damp concrete is to some extent
suspect but there are now available bonding primers with
excellent adhesion to damp substrates.
4.4.4.8 Polyester resin mortars
Polyester resin floor toppings, similar in performance to
the epoxy mortar toppings, have been used. However, as
indicated earlier, polyester systems tend to shrink and,
without careful formulation and laying, shrinkage stresses
can develop at the interface between the topping and the
concrete substrate. Coupled with the additional stresses
due to the differences in their coefficient of thermal
expansion, this can cause failure at the surface of the
concrete substrate. With the improvement of polyurethane
screeds, polyester resin mortars are rarely used for large
scale industrial floors. However, because polyester resin
mortars can cure within two hours of placing to give
greater strength than concrete they are are widely used
for the rapid repair of small areas of damaged concrete
floors. With the use of “igloos” to isolate an area of floor
they can be used for rapid repairs in cold stores at normal
operating temperatures. The cured product gives a tough
floor topping which, over the past twenty years, has been
widely used in many industrial applications.
4.4.4.9 Reactive acrylic resins
Reactive acrylic resins similar to polyester resins are also
being used increasingly in heavy duty floors. Acrylic
resins primarily based on methyl methacrylate monomer
are low in viscosity and wet out fillers very effectively
enabling the production of heavily filled flooring composi-
tions which are easily laid. The high filler loadings and the
use of a lower modulus acrylic resin binder much reduce
the danger of problems due to shrinkage. Most acrylic
resin systems in the uncured state are highly flammable
(flash point below 10° C) and special precautions need to
be taken.
4.4.4.10 Industrial tile floorings
There are industrial flooring situations where the ser-
vice requirement or the time allowed for laying do not
permit the use of jointless floor toppings. For such appli-
cations, a wide range of industrial tiles are available
which will meet most requirements, in terms of either
mechanical properties or chemical resistance. When tiles
are used in very aggressive chemical environments, the
potential problem area is the grout between the tiles hav-
ing adequate chemical resistance. Grout systems based
on specially formulated furane resins (which in particular
resist very strong acids) and epoxy resins are available
for this purpose, tiles laid in very fast setting mortar beds
and properly grouted can often be installed and returned
to service in under 48 hours. A typical application for
tiles is in dairies, many of which operate every day. By
using a fast setting fondu based mortar bed bonded to
the underlying substrate with an epoxy adhesive one day
 Conclusion 4/9

and then laying quarry tiles bonded and grouted with Polyurethane, 2 coats 3 to 5
an epoxy resin system the following day, it is possible High Build Epoxy, 1 to 2 coats 3.5 to 7
to repair a completely broken down and impossible to Multicoat Polyurethane Flake, 5 to 12
clean floor to a good standard with no interruptions to 4+ coats
production. Epoxy Self Levelling, 1 to 2 mm 10 to 16
Polyester, 2 to 3 mm 9 to 12
Bitumen Modified Cementitious, 7 to 10
4.5 Comparative applied costs 12 to 16 mm
Mastic Asphalt, 25 mm 9 to 13
It is difficult to give precise costs of floor treatments Polymer Modified Cementitious, 8 to 15
because the total area, areas to be coated at one 12 mm
time, degree of surface preparation required and other Epoxy Trowelled, 6 mm 18 to 24
factors all influence costs. The following is a rough Polyurethane Screeds 16 to 24
guide to comparative costs of floor finishes in the Polyester, 6 to 9 mm 15 to 20
UK:- Industrial Tiles, various 15 to 30
Floor treatment/flooring Comparative
cost index
4.6 Conclusion
Concrete Surface Hardeners, 2 to 1 to 1.8 The range of special flooring materials available is very
3 coats wide and to many extremely confusing. Specifiers, how-
In-surface seals: ever, will find out that, if they carefully list all the service
Resin Solution Non Reactive, 2 1.2 to 3 requirements for the floor, specialist manufacturers should
coats be able advise on a suitable specification and to recom-
Reactive Resin Solutions, 2 coats 2 to 3.5 mend specialist flooring contractors to lay their materials
Paints: Alkyds, 2 coats 2 to 3 to satisfy their requirements.