What’s happening in this video… Meat processing room receives a trowel applied urethane cement mortar resurfacing system application [Garon’s Mortarthane™ HF] with an optional top coat [Mortarthane™ HF Top Coat] for added longevity and protection from daily hot wash downs and heavy forklift traffic.

Frequently asked questions about coating a concrete floor…

Why do you need to apply a top coat to urethane trowel down mortars?

You don’t always have to apply a top coat to a coated concrete floor but most people do, mainly for added longevity. Any floor coating or mortar serves as a sacrificial barrier to the floor so the more you put on your floor, the longer the floor is going to last.  Top coat flooring solutions are usually applied for this reason.

No matter what your floor coating budget, the time to apply a top coat is at the point of application because that’s when it’s the most cost effective to do so.

A top coat will give you what is called a monolithic system. Monolithic is like the Washington Monument. It’s made out of the same material from top to bottom.

With flooring products such as urethane cement mortars, is an aromatic type resin; the same as the base cement urethane material. The top coat is Portland cement based and has a glossy shine to it.

This final result is a monolithic system. Achieving a monolithic system is important when using urethane cements, especially for when used in heavy production areas.

There are a lot of urethane cement top coat systems available in the marketplace that are aliphatic based and not monolithic. So you’ve got a differential in your system from the get-go. If you wanted shine on that floor, you’re going to have to use an aliphatic type product to get a shine.

This trowel down entry into the marketplace resulted from numerous requests for a gloss finish, one that has far less surface drag and much easier to keep clean.

The difference between the matte finished and the semi-gloss finish is not just in the aesthetic appearance. The matte finished systems have micropores in them.

What do micropores do on a floor? What are they good hiding places for? Bacteria.  So, when you have a matte finished urethane cement, you’re going to have a lot of microporing on that surface, and you’re going to have a lot of area for bacteria to hide and do its thing.

Semi gloss urethane cement flooring systems help reduce bacteria build up

Semi gloss urethane cement systems have much reduced amount of microporing so bacteria can’t hide. The food industry has begun to specify semi gloss urethane cement flooring systems because of its greatly improved properties.

Cleanability requirements has caused leading manufacturers to replace matte finish urethane systems with semi gloss trowel down mortars and top coats. Matte finished systems encounter “clinging” effects when cleaning. Clinging is coming from contaminants on the floor.

These contaminants cling to micropores, making it difficult to remove. Remember, that with semi gloss cement based urethane coatings there is less particle clinging because of the gloss factor and the benefit of easier surface cleanability.

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