The general contractor hired to adapt this existing facility to the new owner’s needs and expectations. They understood that Baker Hughes was not going to be happy maintaining the epoxy overlays that had been in this existing floor for years. The new owner had a different lay out of machines, lift truck aisles, and production areas, so the expectation was that the epoxy floors were not going to last much in this new conditions.
With their LEED expertise, polished concrete was determined to be the best solution in economic and environmental friendly matters, because removing existing layers of epoxy and polishing the old concrete was a permanent solution.
The floor contractor made a trial test to check if this old concrete (around 10 or 12 years old) was a good candidate to grind and polish and the results were great. The aggregates were good, and that was important because in some areas the grinding was more deep than usual when the epoxy overlay was removed. Ee also measured joint efficiency, considering the new lift trucks that Baker Hughes was going to use and also found that the joints were performing great.
It was all a matter of removing all of the 19,828 square meters (3965 sq yds) of epoxy, as well as removing 4095 existing screws in the floor and repairing the holes with a cement-based material to be compatible with the polished concrete system. Also 53 square meters (10 sq yds) of small partial depth repairs removed small steel sheets of the existing floor. Finally 583 lineal meters (1912 feet) of isolation joints in the concrete floor that were going to be susceptible to spalling due to the new lay out of production and forklift traffic areas.
A small test area was first ground and polished to select the grit and gloss that was going to be used. The contractor selected 800-grit, and the owners’ expectations in gloss, dust-proofing and slip resistance were fulfilled.
