By Ken Freestone, Elite Crete Systems
Elite Crete Systems Middle East recently completed a decorative concrete flooring project for Sun and Sand Sports Store in Mirdiff City Centre, Dubai, U.A.E. The total area was 26,000 square feet and was to be laid out as an Olympic Stadium. The architect and designer of this athletic retail store wanted a floor that would set this project apart from the competition. A floor that would be durable enough to take heavy traffic yet easy to clean and maintain. At the same time they envisioned a floor that would look like a track and field.
The decorative floor
The entire area was surface prepped using 800mm HTC Planetary Grinders, then acid washed with an 8:1 ration of water to muriatic acid and neutralized with an 8:1 ratio of water to ammonia. This opens the capillaries of the concrete and changes the pH of the water in the concrete to neutral to allow Elite Crete Systems polymer modified THIN-FINISH product to chemically bond to the concrete instead of simply mechanically bonding.
After prepping and neutralizing, Elite Crete Systems applied one base coat of THIN-FINISH using a Magic Trowel about 1/32 of an inch thick and spread at a rate of 300 square feet per single 55-pound bag.
Areas separating colors were masked off and then the Gray color was splattered down first using a combination of SYPP Black colorant & Charcoal PORTION CONTROL COLORANT blended directly into the THIN-FINISH. To avoid any white from the initial base coat of THIN-FINISH showing through, two coats were applied. A couple of areas where the floor met existing alternative flooring, such as tiles, were a little difficult in ensuring the levels and transition were perfect. Elite Crete was able to use THIN-FINISH to build up and feather the uneven areas to create a smooth transition.
Creating the track
A custom made adhesive 7,000-lineal-foot "running track" stencil was then laid on the surface. Due to the size the stencil was made in pieces. The running track took most of the time as it was very difficult to ensure equal distances were placed between the running lanes.
Once the stencil was down and the surrounding gray areas completely masked off Elite Crete Systems splattered down the SYPP Red colorant in THIN-FINISH, again in two coats.
Once all of this was dry, they applied one coat of E100-PT1 Crystal Clear Epoxy with three coats of a satin finish floor wax.
The "weights" area which was to be finished in an epoxy coating was then installed initially using E100-PT4 Pigmented Epoxy in a light gray color and sealed with E100-PT1 Crystal Clear Epoxy.
The entire project from start to finish took 20 days to complete, much of which was attributed to the time taken to mask off areas and lay the stencil.
