When developing the new Samsung facility in Austin, TX, cast-in-place concrete waffle slab was incorporated into the building’s design. The waffle configuration is used to provide access to piping and utilities, as well as serve as an air-return system to keep air clean.

The Samsung project required filling and surfacing over 500,000 square feet of concrete. A high performance epoxy compound capable of filling surface voids up to 1/8”, but only requiring minimum thickness in areas free of imperfections, was desired. Contractors also wanted a product that could be spray applied, and due to the configuration of the waffle they needed a product with a reasonable working time, a relatively forgiving recoat window and that is easy to strike smooth.

After a high-solids, penetrating epoxy primer was first applied to the concrete waffle slab in the facility’s Clean Sub Fab (CSF) level, Series 215 Surfacing Epoxy was spray transferred at 1/32 - 1/8” to fill imperfections and create a smooth surface. An excellent material for surfacing, patching and filling, Series 215 is non-sagging and is typically topcoated with high performance epoxies and urethanes.

Next, a coat of Series 22 Pota-Pox 100, a 100% solids epoxy, was spray applied and followed by a finish coat of Series 114 H.B. Tneme-Tufcoat, a waterborne acrylic epoxy.

After completing the underside of the waffle slab in the CSF area, contractors applied the same coating system to the topside of the holes which form the floor on the Process level where chip production takes place. In addition, Series 215 was also used to fill bugholes in the concrete found in the Process Support areas of the facility.

Tnemec coating consultant Pat Barry reports, “With hundreds of thousands of square feet of concrete to coat, the contractor was pleased we were able to provide them with our Series 215 Surfacing Epoxy in a timely manner.”