Industrial flooring

Floor coating systems can be found in all branches of industry. Industrial floor coatings are used wherever mineral or ceramic industrial floors reach their limits. Using mineral concrete or reinforced concrete leads to cracks, joints and a dusty surface. Even concrete types denoted as being liquid-tight are not really impermeable to liquids, but only provide temporary protection against the ingress of selected media due to the pore space. And when it comes to colour, the variety is also very limited and the colour finish does not last long. In addition, mineral systems are not sufficiently cleanable for cleanroom or food hygiene requirements.

Resistant to external loads

Chemically resistant and impervious

In addition, chemical stress is becoming increasingly important in view of the stricter national regulations on soil and water protection (German Water Resources Act “WHG”, Ordinance on the Handling of Substances Hazardous to Water “AwSV”). In industrial settings, numerous chemicals are used that exert a heavy stress on the floor structure. These range from oil, grease, fuel and soluble salts to various alkaline solutions, highly corrosive acids and aggressive cleaning agents. The concentration of the chemicals and the temperature conditions serve as the basis for determining the most suitable industrial flooring.

Although the range of applications for industrial floor coatings is very broad, each industry sector has its own focal points, standards and requirements. Accordingly, the industrial floor coverings from Remmers include not only all-rounders with a wide range of applications, but also customised solutions that are optimised for specific areas of application.

Success factors for industrial floor coatings

Compared to purely mineral industrial floors, ceramic coverings already represent an improvement in terms of appearance and chemical and mechanical resistance. However, the joints require more cleaning, care and maintenance. Colour variety, design flexibility, evenness, a joint-free and pore-free finish, chemical and mechanical resistance and, in the case of polyurethane concrete, thermal resistance are some of the key properties that have made industrial floor coatings a success.
Another decisive factor in the success of industrial floor coatings is their resistance. Traffic, impact shocks, abrasion or point loads are the most common mechanical stresses to which a floor covering might be exposed.
In addition, chemical stress is becoming increasingly important in view of the stricter national regulations on soil and water protection (German Water Resources Act “WHG”, Ordinance on the Handling of Substances Hazardous to Water “AwSV”). In industrial settings, numerous chemicals are used that exert a heavy stress on the floor structure. These range from oil, grease, fuel and soluble salts to various alkaline solutions, highly corrosive acids and aggressive cleaning agents. The concentration of the chemicals and the temperature conditions serve as the basis for determining the most suitable industrial flooring.
Although the range of applications for industrial floor coatings is very broad, each industry sector has its own focal points, standards and requirements. Accordingly, the industrial floor coverings from Remmers include not only all-rounders with a wide range of applications, but also customised solutions that are optimised for specific areas of application.

Areas of application for industrial flooring

Automotive/mechanical engineering

The requirements for floor coating systems in the automotive industry, in mechanical engineering and its suppliers are diverse. In these areas, mechanical durability is often the most important quality. The heavy machinery and equipment used here exert point and surface loads on the substrate. Another challenge is production components that distribute their weight unevenly across the floor. Light-coloured industrial floor coatings save energy thanks to their high reflectivity, improve occupational safety and enable clean working conditions.

©
Electronics industry

In the electronics industry, getting the right floor coating that satisfies ESD requirements is essential. People pick up electrical charges via the floor. If a person who had been charged in this way then touched a metal object, for instance, the excess charge would jump to it. This brief electric shock is harmless to humans, but can damage sensitive components (e.g. microchips). Remmers has been offering tested ESD flooring for more than 20 years and guarantees functional safety.

More information

©
Food industry

One of the most demanding industrial sectors for flooring is the food processing industry. In addition to the mechanical stresses of heavy machinery and chemical exposure to aggressive media, the hygiene regulations here are extremely strict. Sensitive goods are produced, stored and packaged here every day to the highest standards of hygiene. Accordingly, floor coverings in the food processing industry must also meet the highest standards of hygiene and cleanability.

More information

©
Chemical industry

In the chemical industry, large amounts of aggressive chemicals may be used depending on the production technology in use. Floor coatings in production halls and laboratories are continuously exposed to substances such as mineral oil, grease or corrosive acids and alkalis. When storing, filling or handling chemicals and hazardous substances, not only chemical and mechanical resistance are often required, but also liquid-tightness and crack-bridging capability (WHG / AwSV). When working with solvents or other flammable media that have a low flash point, the conductivity of the surfaces must be ensured as an additional requirement.

©
Cleanrooms

There is no single definition of a “cleanroom”; rather, different types of cleanrooms exist in a wide variety of sectors (pharmaceuticals, medicine, electronics industry, etc.), often with varying requirements and regulations. What all cleanrooms have in common are the high requirements for air purity. The concentration of particles in the cleanroom air, such as dust, abrasion or chemicals, should ideally be completely eliminated or at least kept very low in order to guarantee the quality of the respective end product. Cleanroom classes are derived from the quantity of particles per cubic metre, whereby the permissible number of particles in the air increases with increasing cleanroom class (ISO 1-9). The respective Remmers industrial floor coatings with corresponding clean room certificates (including Cleanroom Suitable Materials, CSM) can also be used here.

©
Fast floor systems

Classic industrial floors often require several, sometimes time-consuming, work steps. As a rule, it takes at least three working days to complete coating or covering work – regardless of the floor area being coated. With the Remmers Quick Protect systems, the floor is completely coated in just one day, despite its multi-layer structure, and can usually be walked on and used again immediately the following day. Thanks to its innovative technology, this is also possible at low temperatures and, unlike other fast-curing systems, without any unpleasant odours.

©
Surface protection systems

The importance of coatings as protection for concrete and reinforced concrete surfaces or in the context of operational safety is also reflected in the large number of regulations and institutions that deal with special requirements for coatings. More than twenty years ago, the German Committee for Reinforced Concrete (DAfStb) specified requirements for industrial floor coatings and classified the systems by layer thickness (OS 3 “Sealers / Impregnations”, OS 6 “Chemically resistant coatings”, OS 8 “Coating for surfaces subject to traffic” and OS 12 “Reaction resin mortar”). Due to its trafficability, wear resistance and chemical resistance in combination with a wide range of applications in industry and car parks (including underground car parks), the OS 8 coating has established itself as the industrial coating of choice.

More Information

©

Planning is everything!

Whether for new builds or refurbishments, close cooperation between the parties involved in the construction is essential. Building costs and construction times can be reduced through project-specific planning, and special normative requirements and design concepts can be taken into account. For this purpose, it is essential to precisely define the loads occurring on site.

Depending on the sector and area of application, industrial floors are exposed to different loads and stresses. For instance, metalworking businesses often have very different flooring requirements to chemical plants. Floor coatings often have to perform a range of functions simultaneously.

Advantages of Remmers industrial flooring systems

Cleanroom suitability

Cleanrooms are used in special industrial plants, especially in the pharmaceutical, chemical and electronics industries. Here, floor systems must not only be completely free of dust and dirt particles, but must also meet many other requirements.
Sustainability

The easy maintenance, low material consumption and durability contribute significantly to the positive environmental footprint of an industrial floor. Corresponding national and international certifications (e.g. DGNB/LEED certificates) give users and investors planning security.
Crack-bridging ability

In areas where heavy machinery is used and goods are transported, high mechanical forces exert an impact on the basic structure of the floor. This often results in cracks forming in the substrate. The crack-bridging ability prevents aggressive liquids from penetrating into the substrate.
Durability

Traffic, impacts, abrasion or point loads – depending on the industry and area of use, floors are exposed to a wide array of mechanical stresses. This classification ranges from minimal loads due to low foot traffic and light goods that are moved occasionally, to extreme loads due to high traffic frequencies, and heavy goods that need to be moved and set down frequently.
Resistance to chemicals

In industrial settings, numerous chemicals are used that exert a heavy stress on the floor structure. These range from oil, grease, fuel and soluble salts to various alkaline solutions, highly corrosive acids and aggressive cleaning agents.
Slip resistance

To guarantee safety and personal health protection, industrial floors must have particularly slip-resistant properties. Substances that can cause slipping, such as oil, grease, water, food or dust, pose a high risk to the people involved in the work processes.
Physiological safety

Due to the materials used in industrial floor coatings, such as solvents or plasticisers, volatile organic compounds can enter the indoor air. For this reason, the German Committee for Health-related Evaluation of Building Products (AgBB) has defined criteria for checking the VOC emissions. Likewise, no harmful substances may be released from the industrial floor coatings into the environment, even under chemical or mechanical stress.
Minimal production downtime

In industrial and commercial enterprises with continuous production, long downtimes due to maintenance work on the floor represent a high financial risk. For this reason, fast-curing floor coating systems that do not have a disruptive or hazardous effect on production sometimes need to be used in these situations.
Conductivity and dissipative properties

In many areas, industrial floors must have dissipative properties (e.g. solvent storage, potentially explosive environments). The correct use of the floor system, especially in potentially explosive areas, therefore requires thorough analysis and professional technical advice.
Temperature resistance

Heat, water vapour, cold and frost – the list of thermal stresses that a floor can be exposed to is long. Here, the rule of thumb is that industrial floor coatings can generally be used in a temperature range from -20 °C to +40 °C. For thermal loads outside this temperature range, or extreme alternating temperature stresses, special systems (PU concrete) must be used.

Advantages and properties of high-quality floor coating

Wear resistance

Wear and abrasion resistance are particularly important when planning surfaces that are walked and driven on. Remmers industrial flooring systems meet these and other requirements (e.g. slip resistance, thermal resistance).

Chemical resistant

Industrial flooring systems offer a very wide range of resistance to oils, greases, alkalis and acids. In addition, external, tested solutions (e.g. in accordance with WHG / AwSV) offer the security of a durable floor coating.

Customized

Project requirements are diverse and cannot always be defined 100% in advance. Therefore, product compatibility and the individual acceleration of curing is often the optimal solution to react flexibly to unforeseen requirements.

Sustainability

Simple maintenance, low material consumption, durability and, where possible, renewable raw materials as a binder base contribute significantly to the positive ecological balance. Externally accredited institutes confirm the system and product properties.

References

Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (FR)

SuperHub, Groningen, the Netherlands

Spiral staircase, Rapunzel Naturkost, Legau, Germany

go to references archive

Expertise lies in the detail

Base regions, expansion joints or connections to drainage channels – these are often the places where floors start to show the signs of heavy wear. It is therefore essential to plan these details carefully and implement them professionally.
Remmers detailed and special solutions are designed to perfectly meet the requirements of the planned flooring. They are based on high-quality system products and therefore guarantee maximum durability. In order to exclude these risks, Remmers GmbH offers detailed, practical planning and implementation guides.

Safety-relevant detailed solutions

Connections and transitions, e.g. at joint profiles or vertical surfaces, are often a delicate matter when it comes to durability and adhesion. If detachment occurs, e.g. due to the choice of an incorrect primer, dirt, mechanical stress and moisture can cause lasting damage to the area. Read on for some examples of detailed solutions.

Wall base connections in a bond
In industrial environments, there are many areas where the wall and floor meet directly and form a static system. Here, the floor coating system is joined up without any transition. First, a hollow cove of epoxy resin mortar (filled with quartz sand) is formed, and is integrated into the primer coat in a wet-on-wet procedure. From the scratch coat to the pore sealing, all layers are then created using suitable coating materials.
©
Covered wall base connections
Edge regions, especially in lightweight and floating constructions, often have to withstand heavy alternating loads due to works traffic. Here, the base connections are covered so that movements between the building elements do not cause cracks. Therefore, depending on the expected degree of loading, there are different requirements for the hollow cove: under light stresses it must be permanently elastic, while adhesive and edge sealing strips must be used in the case of higher moving loads.
©
Drainage system connection joints
Integrated drainage systems cause stress to the surrounding ground by guiding water onto it. For an optimum bond between the floor and the drain, a groove with a depth of approx. 10.0 – 15.0 mm must be milled in the transition zone and filled with the coating material. The seal coat is then applied all the way up to the drain.
©
Expansion joint profile of floor joints
Depending on their location, floors can be exposed to particularly extreme mechanical stresses. In order to relieve these stresses, expansion joint profiles that can bear wheel loads are installed beneath the building elements. Particular care must be taken here to ensure that the coating system is created flush with the joint profile.
©

Why are proper cleaning and care so important?

Proper and regular maintenance protects the floor system and ensures that its value is maintained for a long time. This preserves the appearance of the floor and significantly extends its useful life. At the same time, minor damage or cracks be detected at an early stage and eliminated with little effort, avoiding major damage and major remedial measures in the future. We will be happy to put you in touch with appropriate specialists and send you our cleaning and maintenance instructions.

Suitable products

Epoxy Primer PF

Article No. 1224

Pigmented primer and base layer

Epoxy Color Top

Article No. 6191

Pigmented roll-on coating or topcoat

Epoxy OS Color

Article No. 6980

Pigmented coating

PUR Uni Color

Article No. 6800

Tough coating

Epoxy WHG Color

Article No. 1428

Chemically resistant, crack-bridging coating

Epoxy TX Color

Article No. 6932

Pigmented textured coating

QP Color

Article No. 6895

Very fast reacting, pigmented synthetic resin coating

PUR Top M Plus 2K

Article No. 6736

Slip-resistant transparent seal coat

Product overview

Segment brochure:
high-performance
industrial flooring

More Information

Here you can find more information about...

Electronics industry

Food industry

Peace of mind guaranteed

Benefit from our expert advice, our promise of optimum safety for our extensive product range, and our express delivery service.

Express delivery

Our express delivery is the ideal service for anyone who needs their order to be delivered fast.

Specialist representatives directly on site

Our specialist representatives are on hand to provide you with personalised support and advice – wherever you are.

Extensive product range

From building and floor protection products through to wood preservatives, we have everything you need!

Systems with Remmers guarantee

You can be sure of a reliable and high-quality solution for every application.

There’s so much we can get done for you. Ask us how!

Of course, our competent field representatives are also available wherever you are to provide additional, system-specific information and help with choosing the perfect system for your industrial flooring.