|
Archives
Fixing The Floors
Those of us who operate and maintain large commercial property know what a
beating our flooring takes from the high volume of tenant and delivery traffic
moving across them all day. With this in mind, imagine the condition the flooring
might be in one of Chicago's busiest police stations.
The Chicago Police Department's Area 1 Headquarters resides at 51st and
Wentworth Street on the city's south side. The home to hundreds of Chicago's
finest, the building also plays host to several specialized police units that
operate throughout the city.
 (L to R) Steve Menconi, Sandy Andrews and Rober Fiascone of QC Enterprises..
The 24-hour-per-day operation at the facility took a large toll on the building's
flooring with scratches and gouges apparent throughout the facilities terrazzo
surface. On first looking at the floor, most Engineers might have considered
it beyond repair, but new flooring technology has made even the most abused
flooring capable of not just repair, but restoration into the pristine condition
it had when first applied.
 All areas in need of repair are first identified as in these photos. The surfaces are then sanded smoth using water to keep dust to a minimum. Once the floor is sanded, it is then prepared for the new coating.
QC Enterprises, located at 2463 S. Archer in Chicago, specializes in the restoration
of marble, terrazzo and other stone work. A woman-owned and operated enterprise,
Sandi Andrews, the President of the firm was gracious enough to meet with Chief
Engineer Staffers at the Area 1 headquarters and explain to us how this project
is done.
Using a large machine that grinds out the flaws within the flooring, the QC
team first embarks on restoring the floor to a smooth even surface. The project
is kept relatively dust free by the application of water during this grinding
surface. Following the floor smoothing and elimination of scratches and gouges,
the QC team than applies an ultra-violet floor coating. This revolutionary new
floor coating is fully dry and completely cured in a fraction of a second with
the use of a Multi-Clean UV-22 curing machine.
 The machine used to remove floor abrasions works with the use of hard metal and diamond grinding ingots.
The coating applied will not yellow and resists discoloration from dirt embedment.
It also has extraordinary wear properties. More amazing is the fact that the
new system actually reduced floor care costs by eliminating the need for stripping,
buffing or burnishing the floors following application.
Using a tough epoxy-acrylic formula, the finished flooring will stand up to
the toughest abuse, even the kind coming from a busy twenty-four-hour-a-day
police facility such as Chicago's Area . With a slip resistance that exceeds
ASTM standards and excellent chemical resistance, the new flooring at this police
headquarters building is guaranteed to retain the same brilliant shine for many
years to come.
To find out more about the Ultra Brite II floor coating system, readers should
contact QC Enterprises at 312-842-0230. And don't forget to tell them you
saw it in The Chief Engineer magazine.
Archives
|
