Organizing floor space is a critical goal for the methodical facility or warehouse manager. With so many pallets, forklifts, and moving pieces of equipment, it can be a challenge knowing where every item belongs. And for this reason, facility floor lines can contribute greatly, by creating designated areas for each movable object.
However, as with any industrial coating, it has the increased challenge of adhering to sealed concrete or even potentially contaminated surface, and performing against constant abrasion from forklifts, and pallet jacks. So in order to maximize the benefit of floor lines, and increase the work area’s organization, it’s important to use a coating system that is designed appropriately to match the exposure.
The first step is to prepare the substrate.
Floor lines are typically between 1″ and 4″ wide. The preferred method of preparation is to abrade the substrate with a 4” or 7” angle grinder to create a profile. This can be very difficult and costly because the tool is usually larger than the surface being abraded. The next best method is to clean the floor with a denatured alcohol or a degreaser soup. This is an effective solution for removing most topical contaminants that may impair adhesion.
Although cleaning off the contaminants is a good method to aid adhesion, the coating is at a disadvantage by not being applied to a profiled surface. To negate this minimal surface preparation or lack of profile, we recommend applying a polyamine epoxy paint due to its excellent bonding properties. There are a variety of epoxies, with each one performing differently in varying situations. The polyamine epoxy is created from a Biphenol A resin, and a Polyamide hardener. This combination creates a flexible epoxy that offers the best adhesion out of the epoxy family combined with excellent abrasion resistance.
And although the polyamine epoxy is typically strong enough on its own, it’s advantageous to apply a clear epoxy top coat and encapsulate the entire pigmented line. For best results, this clear wear coat should be installed just beyond or overlapping the pigmented line edge. The edges are the first point of failure, and by sealing the edges, the lines have a greater chance of maintaining adhesion against the relentless forklift and pallet exposure on a minimally prepared floor in a facility or warehouse.
Overall, floor coatings offer a wide range of use and functionality for facilities. Floor lines can do a great job improving organization by providing a home for every item along with providing an aesthetically pleasing, visual workplace. But as is the case with any industrial coating, those floor lines can be rendered useless if the proper preparation isn’t applied. So preparation, combined with the proper industrial coating, can increase the longevity and performance of the epoxy floor coating.