Concrete Floor Maintenance

LOOKING AFTER YOUR CONCRETE FLOOR:

Preventive maintenance for industrial concrete floors, for factory and warehouse owners and managers.

Your concrete floor is usually something that is barely noticed. That is until something goes wrong!   Somebody trips where a slab has gone down, or a forklift hits a bump. Maybe there’s even a nasty accident. 

As with most valuable assets, the best course is preventive maintenance, so that nothing starts to go wrong. It’s a classic situation where ‘a stitch in time saves nine’.  Don’t wait for it to fail and necessitate potentially massively expensive and disruptive concrete replacement!

Floor maintenance is especially important because when things go wrong with factory and warehouse floors, they can go very wrong :

• people can be badly injured,
• stock losses can occur, if forklifts or pallet-jacks lose their loads things and
• the wear and tear on forklifts and their drivers can cause costly down-time and RSI or stress problems. 

There are several aspects to preventive maintenance for concrete floors

• Looking after the way loads are put onto the floor.
• Keeping the surface and joint seals in good condition.
• Ensuring that the slabs are properly supported from underneath.

The way that loads are put onto a concrete floor.

• Frequently stacks of materials are placed against the walls of industrial buildings. In many cases this presents no problem. However, in the case of Tilt-up Wall Construction, it often means loading the floor just where it has the least support from the ground underneath.
• This is because the tilt-up walls have been laid on the central area and the internal perimeter trench which was created to tilt the wall up is rarely filled and compacted as well as the centre. Consequently, the areas around the walls are less able to bear heavy loads and tend to sink after a time.
• In other types of buildings it is wise where possible to spread loads over concrete floors as evenly as possible.

Keeping the surface and joint sealing in good condition.

• Regular inspections can be very worthwhile. The things to look for are:

1. scuffing up of the concrete, producing a lot of dust.
2. joint sealing deterioration.
3. and hairline cracks beginning to appear

• Excessive dust usually indicates that the floor should have a protective surfacing applied.
• A wide range of good surfacings is available these days, ranging from acrylic, clear, water-based concrete sealers to polyurethane sealers, thick, trowel-applied coatings, decorative polyurethane/epoxy coatings flecked with coloured vinyl chips, and right up to immaculate self-levelling epoxy floors that are long lasting, pleasant to walk on and absolutely smooth to run forklifts over. Not only do these coatings stop the problems of dusting-up, they also help prevent further abrasion, make cleaning easier, and they prevent penetration of oils etc.

Manufacturers of floor coatings can offer helpful advice.

• There are four main types of joint sealant failure: 

1. Adhesion loss - where the sealant has pulled away from one of the slabs. This will have been caused by poor surface preparation or incorrect or insufficient primer ... or, if a high modulus sealant was used, its movement capability may have been exceeded.

2. Edge spalling usually means that a lower modulus sealant is required or that the joint should be widened significantly.

3. Sealant splitting may be due to adhesion at three faces, chemical degradation of the sealant or a sealant with insufficient tear strength.

4. Exposed sealant damaged by debris or mechanical wear results from use of mastic material, low recovery or sealant application in very cold weather. 

• As with surfacings, a wide range of joint sealants is available - elastomerics, bituminous types, epoxies, polyurethanes, silicones etc -  for almost every conceivable situation. And there are joint-fillers usually of impregnated foams, fibre-board or cork.
• One major consideration is that any replacement material must be compatible with the existing material, as some jointing compounds will ‘eat’ others. Jointing materials must also work with any surfacing materials. Again it is wise to seek advice from specialist manufacturers like Epirez (ITW), Dow Corning or Fosroc.
•   Ensuring that the slabs are properly supported from underneath.
• Your forklift drivers will soon answer this question for you. There may be areas that are ‘drummy’, or there may be joints where the slabs will go up and down as forklifts go over them, or perhaps steps have developed between one slab and the next. Any of these symptoms indicates a lack of proper support from underneath. It usually indicates a situation that will only get worse: drumminess can lead to cracking, ‘pumping’ usually worsens to a point of being intolerable especially if water can get into the joints, and ‘steps’ get bigger until there’s an accident likely. 
• What do you do if a concrete floor does need to be resupported?
•  If your floor has developed any of these lack-of-support symptoms, it is best to call the Uretek people to establish whether the slabs can be economically re-supported and raised if necessary.
• This is best done before any major cracking occurs. But, even if some cracking has occurred, the situation may still be able to be treated. Uretek technical staff will be able to advise on what should be lifted or re-supported with Uretek and what sections would best be replaced.

The unique Uretek Method of concrete floor maintenance by stabilisation and lifting:

Holes smaller than a one cent coin are drilled through the concrete to a grid pattern tailored to the precise project needs. The multi-component Uretek structural resin is then injected through those holes.

The resins are not injected under any great pressure, but when the components mix under the slab they expand creating pressure. First of all any weak ground is compressed and any voids are filled (although voids are not necessary for the system to work).

If required, injection is continued, creating more pressure and raising the concrete slab. This process is finely controlled using laser levels or other precision devices to suit the particular circumstances.

What are the main advantages of The Uretek Method for factory and warehouse slab work?

• There’s minimal, if any, disruption or downtime.
• Most jobs usually take from only just a few hours to a maximum of two days.
• Forklifts and trucks can run over the corrected areas within 30 minutes of completion.
• If the concrete already has a coating or surface material, The Uretek Method allows this to be retained saving the cost and trouble of re-surfacing and matching up with other areas. The Uretek injection holes are only 16 mm in diameter and they’re barely noticeable, usually matching the rest of the surface.  
• Uretek operators only need access to drill small holes and then bring in an injection hose.
• They will work around machines and stored materials where at all possible.
• There is no mess, no water ... and very little noise.
• Uretek resin will not harm any jointing or surfacing materials.
• The work can be done after hours, at night or in holiday periods.

Questions from industry managers about Uretek concrete floor maintenance

What if there are very heavy machines on the area to be raised or supported ?

• No problem. So long as there is access to drill injection holes, the weight is all to the good, because it provides an increased force against which to compact the sub-grade.
• The Uretek Method actually stops machinery from vibrating the floor slabs.

What if I’m going to install new / heavier machinery ?

• If you’re planning to install new or heavier machines, it is best to resupport the floor with Uretek after the new installation.  That way the heavier weight of the new machinery will allow the Uretek to exert increased pressure, and so better support the new floor load.

How controllable is The Uretek Method ?

• Very! When lifting is required, it can be controlled with millimetric precision in most cases, to whatever degree the project requires. This is done with the aid of digital laser levels or dial gauges.
• When only support is required, the merest beginning of lifting (0.1 mm to 1 mm) is the signal that full support has been achieved.
• Because hydraulic pressure is not involved, Uretek won’t lift a section that’s remote from the injection point.

To what tolerances can Uretek work be carried out?

• Equal to or closer than the original construction tolerances.

Is The Uretek Method technically proven?

• It’s a very modern technology but certainly well established now.
• Invented in Finland some 30 years ago, it has been used widely in Western Europe ever since, in the USA since 1988 and Australia since 1995.
• The Uretek Method is now also available in more than 50 countries.

For specific advice about your concrete floor

phone us on 1800 623 312 from anywhere in Australia

or 0800 873 825 from anywhere in New Zealand.

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