Choosing a Floor Coating for a Warehouse or Industrial Unit
Four systems cover almost every industrial floor, and the choice comes down to five questions about your building. Answer those honestly and the specification writes itself.
Where this works
- Distribution warehouses with reach and counterbalance trucks
- Food and drink production with wash down and thermal shock
- Engineering workshops with oil, coolant and dropped tools
- Cold stores and chilled picking areas
- Trade counters and mixed retail plus storage units
How we install it
- 1Question one, what runs on it
Pedestrians and pallet trucks allow a thin coating. Counterbalance trucks turning on the spot with solid tyres need a screed or PU concrete, because point shear is what tears thin systems.
- 2Question two, what lands on it
Oils and coolant point to epoxy. Sugars, fats, acids and organic waste point to polyurethane concrete, which shrugs off what will soften an epoxy over time.
- 3Question three, temperature and wash down
Steam cleaning and chill store cycling both destroy rigid thin systems through thermal shock. Polyurethane concrete is the only one of the four designed for that duty.
- 4Questions four and five, downtime and slab condition
How many hours can you close the area, and what state is the concrete in. A fast polyaspartic on a poor slab is money wasted, and a perfect specification on an unaffordable shutdown never happens.
Common pitfalls we prevent
Frequently asked
Which coating is best for forklift traffic?+
An epoxy screed at 4 to 6 mm or polyurethane concrete at 6 to 9 mm. Thin roller applied coatings can survive light pallet truck use but will tear where a loaded counterbalance truck turns on the spot.
How long will the warehouse be shut?+
It does not have to shut. We work in phased bays and out of hours, handing back completed zones. Per bay, expect twenty four hours to foot traffic and around seventy two hours to loaded truck traffic for most systems.
What if the slab is damp?+
Test first. Above 75 percent relative humidity you need a moisture tolerant primer or a polyurethane concrete system, which can be laid over damp concrete. Ignoring this is the most common cause of large scale delamination.
How long should an industrial floor last?+
Five to eight years for a thin coating in an active warehouse, ten to twenty for a screed or polyurethane concrete. Wear concentrates in turning circles and pick faces, which can be re-topped in isolation.
Is a cheaper coating ever the right answer?+
Yes. A short lease, a light duty stockroom or a unit due for redevelopment are all good reasons to specify a thin epoxy and accept a shorter life. We will say so rather than upsell.
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