Long Term Flooring Solutions for Food Manufacturers and Processors

One of the biggest issues for food processing and manufacturing areas is the painting and sealing of floors already contaminated with oil and grease.  Our highly specialised and professionally formulated OT Primer is able to adhere to oil contaminated substrates and together with our top coat Flortex Professional, this system has been proven beyond any doubt to provide a long-lasting solution in the most heavily used environments.

This is a scenario that has plagued the food industry for years. However, Polycote has three easy answers that will provide a slip resistant surface but one that can still be cleaned.

Polymer Bead: This is an extremely fine flour like aggregate that can be dusted onto the top of a wet paint, and this provides an excellent slip resistant finish but one that can still be mopped.

Our FG60 aggregate: A food grade aggregate that is the same size as that seen on a 60 grit sandpaper. This is a very fine aggregate that can be broadcast on top of a wet paint or indeed mixed in with the paint and applied by roller.

Our fine grade calcined bauxite aggregate: This is one of the toughest minerals available under diamonds and will easily withstand the heaviest traffic.

The amount of slip resistance is not only determined by the size of the aggregate but also the amount applied per square metre along with whether it is added to the paint or broadcast on the surface. Our installation team will discuss your requirements and install the appropriate quantity.

Certainly!  The best way to achieve a super smooth finish is with one of our self-smoothing twin pack floor coatings – Polycote Freeflow.  This is available in either an epoxy (Freeflow EP) or polyurethane formulation (Freeflow PU), depending upon customers’ requirements / final finish required and is generally applied between 1-3mm thick. Alternatively, we also have a polyurethane screed (Flortex PU Screed) that is laid between 6-9mm thick and is ideal for areas of very high foot and wheeled, trolley traffic.

However, if our installation team have advised using a floor paint such as Flortex Professional, they will fill all holes and imperfections first. The reason for this is that no floor paint is designed to fill a hole. On application, you will tend to put almost as much paint on the ‘hill’ as you do the ‘hollow’.  Also, another major factor is cost due to ‘losing’ so much paint in the holes.  The coverage per unit will be drastically reduced. Our applicators fill small imperfections, cracks, and holes first with Polycote Easifil or Cretex EP, depending upon the size/quantity of holes prior to the application of the top coat.  For structural cracks and hairline cracks, we use Polycote Crackfiller EP100. For Expansion Joints, we advise one of our Jointex products, installed after the coating has cured.

Rising damp is a major reason why floor paints and screeds fail. Should you be suffering from this issue, our approved installers will fully prepare the floor to ensure all loose material is removed and the area is fully ‘keyed’ to ensure maximum adhesion and one coat of Polycote DPM Primer, a twin pack epoxy resin primer formulated specifically to adhere surfaces where rising water may be present, will be applied to seal the surface. Whilst one coat is often sufficient, depending upon the roughness and/or porosity of the substrate, they may advise a second coat to help ensure there are no pin holes, and that a complete 100% coverage is achieved.

Please note; DPM Primer is not suitable if water is ‘running’ into the area as the resin will not have time to cure before being affected by the water.

Yes.  If the floor is already tiled and the tiles are solid and sound, just dirty and difficult to clean, our installation team will clean the surface thoroughly and etch with Polycote Etch IT. They will then prime with Polycote WD Primer. This is a highly specialised water dispersed epoxy primer that has been formulated with advanced adhesion promotors and will successfully adhere to ceramic and quarry tiles, terrazzo, and vinyl tiles.

Commercial kitchens and food factories are in almost constant daily use, 7 days a week, and down time is pretty much impossible.  If speed is important, almost all of our products are available with Extra Fast Hardeners, meaning a far quicker cure time.

If things are really serious, we also have our MC Range that cures in only 1 hour. Furthermore, this is also ideal for areas of low temperatures as our Flortex MC CSG 60, will cure down to -60°C!

Many food production, processing and storage facilities run at chilled temperatures down to +1°C. Others have large freezers and cold storage facilities, commonly operating between 0°C down to -60°C.

We have large range of floor paints that will cure in any one of these temperatures. Please see Low Temperature Floor Paints.