Retail Store Floor by G-F One Coatings:

Written by Joe Sheehan

G-F One Coatings recently had the chance to update a retail store floor in Minneapolis. The job while being a very exciting opportunity had more than it’s fair share of challenges. What we found when we arrived was a concrete floor that had been covered with a glued down linoleum; that’s not so bad and easily removed with the right equipment, but it was only the start of the challenges. Laid over the top of the glued down linoleum was, you guessed it, a glued down layer of 12” by 12” VCT tiles. That’s a lot of material and black tar like glue to remove prior to ever seeing the condition of the concrete beneath. The concrete below turned out to be made up of 3 separate pieces that appeared to have been poured over the course of years. The color had changed and displaced cracks began to tell the story of why this storefront concrete had to be hidden with coverings in the first place.

While talking with this customer, they explained that they would like a retail store floor and customer service area that had a look and feel of professionalism and class. The specific requests for this floor were:

1). A quick turn around so they could make their scheduled opening date
2). Low maintenance and easy cleaning
3). Slip fall customer safety
4). Company logos and branding imbedded in the floor
5). A warranty to ensure long lasting value and performance like G-F One Coatings 15yr warranty

To solve this customers flooring challenges G-F One Coatings had to first remove all the previous coatings and adhesives to expose the concrete. This was accomplished by chipping the tile and linoleum off. With this process completed, it was time to begin the “perfect prep system”. There is no such thing as a perfect floor; with improper preparation. The concrete first had to be ground to remove any remaining bond breaking adhesives and to open the concrete so that our primer and sealer coat of material, which is applied after all cracks have been filled, can soak into the concrete before curing; this helps our coatings system actually become part of the concrete as opposed to other coatings that are just glued to the surface. The grinding process is also our opportunity to do some leveling of floors that have an uneven finish. With the grinding completed, it was time to vertically fill all cracks. Vertically filling cracks is important because it repairs the entire depth of the crack; a bridge over the top of a crack is not a repair and just won’t do for G-F One Coatings. With the moisture mitigating primer sealer coat of polyurea/polyaspartic applied and cured it was time for the logos to be added to the floor, followed by a chip bed coat, decorative chips and the top coating added slip/fall protection. The result was another floor that exceeded all of our customers’ needs and expectations for timeliness, style and quality of finish.

Please call Joe Sheehan at 651-748-5999 with your list of requests we’d be happy to meet with you to discuss your jobs special needs.