What types of finishes are available for industrial concrete flooring? How can it be maintained as level over such a large expanse during construction? As a professional contractor, are you interested in these questions?
This comprehensive guide will answer all your questions, including:
- What is industrial concrete flooring
- Its various specifications
- The three most common types of finishes
- How to construct industrial concrete flooring
Let’s get started!
What is Industrial Concrete Floor
Industrial concrete floor is a type of large-scale commercial flooring. It features fewer joints and demands more strength, flatness, and wear resistance. It must possess a high load-bearing capacity, making its construction quite challenging. Unlike other commercial floor finishes, aesthetics is not a significant concern. Instead, this style of flooring characterizes a uniform and practical industrial look. Functionally, these floors can either be ground-level or elevated. Floating floors are usually built on metal decking supported by structural steel. Industrial concrete floor is widely used in the construction of various types of factories and warehouses.
Industrial Floor vs Commercial Floor
Industrial concrete floor is a type of commercial floor used in commercial (industrial) environments.
Industrial concrete floors, including seamless concrete flooring, are primarily used in industrial settings to withstand high traffic, loads, and wear. These floors are meticulously designed for durability and strength, ideal for stringent environments like warehouses and manufacturing facilities. Their appearance might not be eye-catching, but they serve a functional purpose.
On the other hand, commercial flooring can also include concrete floors, but they often appear in a broader range of commercial settings. These floors can be found in commercial buildings like retail shops, restaurants, and office spaces. Depending on the setup and design purpose, commercial concrete floors’ surface treatment and aesthetics might vary slightly.
Important Industrial Concrete Flooring Specifications
Thickness: A general industrial concrete floor should be at least 6 inches thick. For larger warehouses and floors under heavy equipment, the thickness of the concrete floor should exceed 8 inches.
Tolerance: Some industrial floors carry high-dimension cargos, which demands certain flatness and levelness requirements. Typical warehouse floors must meet the super-flat floor standards (FF and FL). The specific tolerance range can reference the ACI 117 standard. It is very difficult to achieve a super flat floor, but applying laser screed makes the work easier.
Do you need a laser screed machine?
Hiking machinery is a professional laser screed supplier, providing you with high quality products.
Polished Concrete Floor Finishing
Polished concrete is finely processed with a polishing machine and sprinkled with dry shake hardener after the concrete has been leveled or sprayed with a hardener after solidification to achieve a particular appearance level. These floors also have smooth surfaces but retain their original, natural concrete appearance. You can use concrete dyes for the color of the polished concrete finish, but the color options are somewhat limited. Polished concrete floors are known for their durability, low maintenance, and longer service life. They typically need to be re-polished every ten years.
Polished concrete is also easy to sweep and clean and more environmentally friendly. It doesn’t peel or wrinkle, has higher strength and durability, permeability, and resistance to oil and pollution, and complies with LEED standards.
Epoxy Floor Finishing
Epoxy flooring is created by mixing two parts of resin and a hardener to form a highly durable and customizable adhesive coating. It is renowned for its versatility, glossiness, chemical resistance, and load bearing capacity. This type of flooring can be painted in various colors, enabling easy customization with different colors, patterns, or even logos. Its maintenance costs are slightly higher, and depending on the usage conditions, an epoxy surface generally needs to be resurfaced every three to five years.
Epoxy flooring is easy to sweep and clean, and eliminates surface cracks and crevices, being both anti-static and moisture-resistant. It complies with the standards of OSHA, USDA, FDA, and ADA.
Conclusion
Industrial concrete flooring serves as the backbone of heavy-duty environments such as warehouses and factories. Its design and construction focus on durability and functionality over aesthetics. Key aspects like thickness, tolerance, concrete type, and surface treatment are essential for longevity. The final choice between epoxy and polished concrete depends on specific needs. This guide should aid in understanding and making decisions suited for various industrial settings.
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