System Used
BASF Ucrete MF Polyurethane Floors
The Challenge
Restaurant Kitchen Floor – BASF Ucrete MF
When Exclusive Books CEO Benjamin Trisk, a no-nonsense man who knows exactly what he wants, mandated my company CT floors to do the decorative floors in their flagship bookstore they were building in the Hyde Park Shopping Centre, we didn‘t initially know we would subsequently be awarded the project for installing the restaurant (the decorative front of house) floors as well. The official title of the project was ‘Exclusive Books Social Kitchen Hyde Park Shopping Centre’, and the Project Manager was Griffon Projects.
The Restaurant is located in a part of the shopping Centre’s parking lot which was transferred to become part of the Exclusive Books store. For this we were to remove the old parking lot decking product and grind the concrete to produce a rustic exposed concrete finish. This was to be quite a challenging project; but I’m proud to say we faced it squarely and found what I now call the tough challenge solution that floored Exclusive books!
The kitchen slab was to be the real challenge – in fact the challenges from our point of view were numerous and included:
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- The kitchen was to be state-of-the-art. Chef Russell Armstrong, the internationally acclaimed Chef who has experience in three-Michelin-starred restaurants in France and the UK was contracted to oversee the project
- The kitchen was located above the Deon Wired storeroom and so the drain pipes had to be installed through the slab that acts as the roof of the storeroom. They also had to be totally waterproof to avoid damages from water leaks that could destroy the stored equipment!
- The kitchen slab had to be lifted 85mm above the restaurant floor level and be installed to falls for water rundown into the catchment drains.
- The deadline was extremely tight and gave us just 5 days to complete the project so that the kitchen equipment could be installed for the grand opening!
August 2015
Installation Date
600m²
Surface Area
The Solution
Through our extensive experience in fast-tracking substrate rehabilitation projects where Micro Concrete is used to rebuild levels to receive a specialised floor covering we devised the following solution:
Firstly, because of the time it would take to cure, we could not use normal concrete or even a Self-Compacting concrete, so with the cooperation of BASF we modified their MasterFlow 525 specialised fast-setting grout, in order to be utilised as a bulked-up self-compacting concrete that could receive a final finish within 36 hours of being placed.
Secondly, BASF MasterSeal 588, a specialised cementitious waterproofing product was applied over the entire slab, and MasterSeal Mesh, a Polymer mesh was imbedded into the waterproofing product to give it superior crack-bridging capabilities. We then laid a polymer enhanced sheet over the waterproofing layer. This would act as a “slip layer” to allow for movement between our new slab and the original parking lot slab. It was also to act as an additional waterproofing layer.
The drainage too was important – All drains were embedded into MasterSeal 912, a special expansive paste that would “kick” the drain closed should any water leak between the drain and the slab.
The rapid laying of the slab challenge was solved by our setting up three semi-automated batching and mixing stations directly next to the kitchen area to allow for the quick transport of the mixed material. In all, the casting of the slab took about 5 hours and it was covered in plastic and left to cure for the next 36 hours.
For the first time in 48 hrs we snatched some welcome sleep time! After the 36 hours curing time, the slab was inspected and found to be dry and ready for its coating.
In the next phase we grinded the surface to remove latency (top 1-2mm of the concrete which is usually quite soft) and prepare the slab to receive its Polyurethane coating. Following that we installed BASF Ucrete MF, a HACCP approved, anti-bacterial Polyurethane flooring product, as a final flooring solution on the general kitchen flooring area. Under the ovens and in the freezer rooms we installed BASF Ucrete UD200. This was to deal with large temperature fluctuations, large amounts of water and food by-products. BASF Ucrete is the benchmark product in the industry and is the perfect solution for any food-processing environment where cleanliness, hygiene and consumer safety is of the essence.
Product Features
Restaurant Kitchen Floor – BASF Ucrete MF Polyurethane is a unique High Density Polyurethane resin floor with exceptional resistance to aggressive chemicals and microbial growth.
It provides a smooth protective floor finish suitable for applications in predominantly dry environments.
It is dense and impervious, providing the ideal floor finish for applications in the food, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries including clean room, laboratory, packing hall and warehouse applications and wherever a robust, long lived floor is required.
The Outcome
Now, five years after the installation, we have had absolutely no comeback, which means the mandate was fulfilled to the total satisfaction of the client. Deon-Wired is still dry and the kitchen is still in operation. As testimony to the success of the product CT Floors were subsequently awarded the contract for the installation of the floors for Exclusive Books in Bedford Centre.
Engage with me here, or contact me to lean more and let us find solutions for your flooring challenges. Remember beauty and toughness perfectly combine when the right flooring choices are made!
CT Floors Installation Services
CT Floors is an approved flooring contractor for most of the major local- and international manufacturers of high-performance flooring products.
Established in 2002, our focus is on providing flooring solutions to the industrial and commercial property owner who needs fast turnaround times for their, or their tenants’ specific requirements.
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Concrete Protection Systems.
(011) 568-0333 / info@ctfloors.co.za
CT Floors
CT Floors