When PepsiCo. expanded its Gatorade bottling plant in Tolleson, Arizona, engineers for the project capped off the facility’s new interior floors and walls with protective coating systems from Tnemec. “They wanted coatings that could stand up to the thermal shock from hot water washdowns with aggressive detergents,” recalled Tnemec coating consultant Eric Brackman. “And because the area was attached to the main building that operated 24/7, there couldn’t be any odor from the coatings.”

Approximately 45,000 square feet of poured concrete floor surface was aggressively abraded in accordance with SSPC-SP13/NACE No. 6 Surface Preparation of Concrete. The floor’s joints were filled with fiberglass-imbedded tape and Series 206 Sub-Flex EP, a flexible epoxy underlayment used to provide a protective membrane under aggregate-reinforced flooring systems. Series 245 Ultra-Tread S, a low odor, polyurethane modified concrete floor topping, was slurry-applied to 3/16” thickness with 16-grit quartz added for slip resistance. Ultra-Tread is designed specifically to withstand thermal shock due to hot liquids and aggressive cleaning procedures used in food and beverage facilities. A protective topcoat of Series 280 Tneme-Glaze, a modified polyamine epoxy that is resistant to frequent pressurized hot water and detergent cleanings, was applied with aggregate added for the desired slip resistance. The project also included a 3,200 square foot mixing room where Series 237 Power-Tread, a modified polyamine epoxy, was broadcast at 1/8” thickness on the floor and base cove followed by a finish coat of Tneme-Glaze.

Series 243 Ultra-Tread V, a vertical version of Ultra-Tread, was trowel-applied at 1/8” thickness to build a 4” cove base around the entire bottling room, forming a transition from the floor to the walls. Nearly 5,000 square feet of tilt-up walls were primed with Series 201 Epoxoprime, a high-solids, modified polyamine epoxy, followed by a spray-applied body coat of Series 270 Stranlok, a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy. A protective topcoat of Tneme-Glaze was then spray-applied to the walls and base.

“The facility’s managers could not believe how durable the floor was when they started rolling in equipment on the heavy beams and welding it into place,” Brackman added. “None of the welding sparks did any damage to the floor in any way. The owner was pleasantly surprised at how well it held up.”