Anti-Static Epoxy Floors and Why Your Industry May Need Them

ANTI-STATIC EPOXY FLOORS AND WHY YOUR INDUSTRY MAY NEED THEM

The installation of anti-static epoxy flooring can seem complicated and overwhelming, and you are certainly not the only one unsure about which system best suits your needs.

Many people struggle with understanding the necessary steps to ensure that their flooring system functions correctly and the right materials have been used. The good news is that Treadwell’s professionals can help you!

In this guide, we will break down the different types of anti-static flooring, explain which industries need them the most, and walk you through the installation process. Our goal is to make this process clearer so you can make the best decision for your business needs.

Is Epoxy Flooring Anti-Static?
Who Needs Anti-Static Epoxy Flooring and Why?
How Is Anti-Static Epoxy Flooring Installed?
ESD and ESC: What’s the Difference?
Static Control, Decorative, or Seamless Epoxy Flooring: Treadwell’s Got You Covered

Is Epoxy Flooring Anti-Static?

Epoxy floors can be formulated to be anti-static or static-dissipative depending on the specific additives or conductive materials that can be incorporated during the application process.

Normally, epoxy flooring is a non-conductive material that can allow static charges to build up. Adding resins, carbon-based additives, or metallic compounds makes epoxy flooring anti-static because these materials help dissipate static electricity.

This flooring is commonly used in clean rooms, areas where electronics are manufactured, or where static control is essential.

Who Needs Anti-Static Epoxy Flooring and Why?

Anti-static epoxy flooring is essential for industries where static electricity can pose significant risks to both workers and sensitive equipment. Many industries need to have anti-static flooring in their facilities as it helps to safely dissipate static charges and provide a controlled environment.

Industries That Benefit From Anti-Static Epoxy Flooring

Anti-static epoxy flooring is particularly beneficial for industries where static control is crucial for protecting sensitive equipment and ensuring a safe working environment. These are some of the most common and important industries that can benefit from anti-static epoxy flooring:

Electronics manufacturing: This industry requires strict control of static electricity to avoid damaging delicate devices used in the production of microchips, circuit boards, and other electronic components.
Semiconductor industry: Since small electrostatic discharges can cause irreparable damage to chips and circuits manufactured in this industry, anti-static flooring is critical.
Pharmaceuticals: Clean rooms in pharmaceutical manufacturing require static control to prevent contamination and ensure the product’s quality will not be affected, especially for medications and sterile equipment.
Data centers or information technology facilities: These house critical IT infrastructure. Anti-static flooring helps protect servers and other electronic equipment from potential damage due to static electricity and dryness of the air naturally in this type of location.
Medical device manufacturing: Since medical devices often contain delicate electronics, anti-static flooring is used in manufacturing areas to prevent damage and ensure the device’s reliability and safety.
Automotive industry: In automotive electronics manufacturing, anti-static flooring helps protect sensitive components in electrical systems, sensors, and control units.
Research labs: Sensitive equipment used in laboratories, such as microscopes or testing devices, heavily rely on anti-static flooring to maintain a static-free environment that will not affect them and the results they can provide in the research.

How Is Anti-Static Epoxy Flooring Installed?

The installation of anti-static epoxy flooring is extremely important to ensure its effectivity at dissipating static electricity. These are some general steps professionals follow.

For the best results and to guarantee proper installation, reach out to Treadwell’s team of skilled professionals. Our experts can ensure that your flooring is installed correctly, providing you with long-lasting protection and optimal performance.

Floor Preparation

The existing floor must be thoroughly cleaned and prepared to ensure proper adhesion of the epoxy. This includes removing old coatings, dirt, dust, grease, and any other particles that may interfere with the proper application of the products.

In some cases, the surface may need to be ground or shot-blasted to create a rough texture where the epoxy can bond more effectively.

Laying Copper Tape

Copper tape serves as a conductive pathway to direct static electricity away from the floor’s surface and into the grounding system. The copper, as a conductive connection, enhances the overall anti-static performance of the flooring system — especially in grounding systems.

Applying Primer and Body Coats

A primer is applied to the prepared surface to improve the adhesion of the epoxy coating. This can also contain anti-static properties depending on the requirements of the facility.

Primers normally contain several components to facilitate their application, adherence, and resistance to the flooring. Some of these components include:

Epoxy resin: This provides a strong adhesive bond with the anti-static topcoat. The resin makes flooring durable and resistant to wear.
Conductive additives: Additives are incorporated to help control and dissipate static charges. The conductive materials allow the primer to create a path for electrostatic discharge to flow safely to the ground.
Filler materials: Additional components may be aggregated to enhance the texture, help with leveling, and improve the bonding capabilities of the materials.

Grounding

While anti-static epoxy itself helps control static electricity, it relies on a grounding system to complete the discharge process using an electrical outlet.

To effectively neutralize static electricity, the charges need to have a pathway to safely flow to the ground. Without proper grounding, the static charge could remain on the surface, posing a risk to people and sensitive equipment.

Given the critical importance of grounding, it is recommended to reach out to experts to ensure the effectiveness and safety of your flooring installation. Contact Treadwell today. Our skilled professionals with years of experience will ensure the installation of your anti-static epoxy flooring is done properly and securely.

Testing

Testing is the biggest guideline in the installation of anti-static flooring. Our experts can help you assess the correct functioning of the system and its parts to ensure perfect performance. Treadwell uses specific testing equipment that measures the conductivity or resistance in the area.

Testing is extremely important. If not done correctly, it can cost loads of money to fix. Trust our experts and get in touch with us today to begin the process of applying anti-static epoxy flooring. We are here to help every step of the way!

ESD and ESC: What’s the Difference?

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and Electrostatic Control (ESC) are types of flooring designed to protect sensitive electronic equipment from static electricity.

ESD is specially designed to dissipate static electricity by directing it away from sensitive areas where devices are located and the buildup of static charges could damage them.

On the other hand, ESC is designed to control static electricity instead of dissipating it. Because it does not allow an immediate discharge, it ensures a controlled environment where the electrostatic charges are kept within safe limits. Although both are important, they technically serve different purposes based on the level of static control required.

Static Control, Decorative, or Seamless Epoxy Flooring: Treadwell’s Got You Covered

If you are thinking about getting anti-static epoxy flooring in Kansas City, Treadwell is your best option!

Whether your goal is static control, decorative, or seamless epoxy flooring, we want to help you create a safe, static-controlled environment. Our installation process involves precise steps that require the best materials, professionals, and a lot of experience.

Treadwell can install the perfect anti-static epoxy flooring adapting entirely to your needs. Contact us today to get started.

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How To Level a Concrete Floor: Why It’s Necessary and How To Get It Done the Right Way

HOW TO LEVEL A CONCRETE FLOOR: WHY IT’S NECESSARY AND HOW TO GET IT DONE THE RIGHT WAY

Level concrete is essential for the safety, durability, and longevity of your flooring. Whether you’re planning to polish the concrete for a natural look, or apply a coating like epoxy, starting with a level surface is a non-negotiable.

The great news is that leveling a concrete floor is a solvable problem that is not only within our reach, it’s our area of expertise! If you have asked yourself how to self-level a concrete floor, we can spare you the research and the trouble. We’ll help you determine the right approach so that you can achieve a smooth and even surface that is both functional and beautiful.

In this article, we will review important considerations about the necessity of leveling your concrete floor, the materials and equipment that we use, our team’s step-by-step process when providing this service, and more.

Why Is It Important To Level an Uneven Concrete Floor?
Material and Equipment Needed To Properly Level a Concrete Floor
How To Level an Uneven Concrete Floor: The Treadwell Step-by-Step Process
How Much Downtime Is Required When Leveling a Concrete Floor?
How Much Does It Cost To Level a Concrete Floor?
Treadwell: Your #1 Choice for Commercial Concrete Floor Leveling Services in Kansas City

Why Is It Important To Level an Uneven Concrete Floor?

At Treadwell, we believe that even concrete flooring is essential in any setting. On a new build or a remodel, laying new flooring or epoxy requires a flat surface. This is important because even concrete flooring:

Provides durability
Ensures flooring installation is smoother, whether that’s epoxy or other flooring
Provides modern aesthetics
Can affect foot traffic and health
Mitigates safety and efficiency issues, especially for forklifts and other vehicle traffic

If you want to get it right, contact the Treadwell pros!

how to level a concrete floor that slopes

Material and Equipment Needed To Properly Level a Concrete Floor

To properly level a concrete floor, we use a variety of materials that have different but essential roles in guaranteeing that your concrete floor is evenly distributed and sealed:

Grade pins are used to create reference points for the depth of the concrete pour.
Cementitious material (self-leveling compound) is used as the unconfined material poured to create the level surface.
Primer is applied to the flooring to prep it for the leveling compound and to prevent the separation of materials over time.
A level is used to examine to what extent the compound is evenly distributed and to identify problem areas.

To be able to efficiently handle these materials, we use equipment such as:

Grinders to smooth out rough surfaces and prepare existing surfaces before applying materials
Rakes to equitably distribute the compound across the floor
Smoothers to refine the surface after the application of compound

How To Level an Uneven Concrete Floor: The Treadwell Step-by-Step Process

There are a few methods commonly used to level an uneven concrete floor, but the process below is the proven method used by Treadwell. We use this method because of its proven effectiveness, producing quality results. It is also cost-efficient because it is less labor-intensive than other methods. In this section, we will outline what our typical step-by-step process looks like after you contact us.

Step 1: Consultation and Measurement

Our team will come to your facility to assess the area in person to figure out how much material we’ll need for the process. We will measure square footage, determine where the lowest part is, and measure from there to the highest point in a grid. Our installation process follows the same protocols, so the installers subsequently know where the lowest point is.

Step 2: Prepare an Estimate and Proposal

After we have gathered the data we need, our team will make an estimate and send our proposal for your facility flooring. We’ll wait for your confirmation before proceeding with the next step.

Step 3: Schedule the Install

Once you report back to Treadwell that you want to move forward with our proposal, we work tirelessly to exceed your expectations. To help streamline the process, you can contact us for your free consultation!

Step 4: Demolition and Prep Work

Demolition and prep work take up most of the time in the concrete leveling process.

Demolition

Existing flooring might need to be demolished, or your flooring might have glue or tile mortar that needs to be removed with a diamond grinder. If we are working with bare concrete, we shot blast it, which puts a texture on the surface to ensure good bonding of the self-leveling underlayment. This measure effectively ensures that the surface is non-slippery.

Apply Primer

Once we clean the residue after the demolition process, the next step is to apply a primer. There are two categories we choose from for our clients depending on their expectations about the finished product. Typically, we install an acrylic primer and allow for some downtime to dry before moving to the next component.

Set Grade Pins

Once the primer sets, the installer sets multiple grade pins across the area that stick to the floor for metering purposes. He trims them off to the appropriate measures, keeping in mind the desired finish when it comes to the height and slope of your concrete flooring.

Step 5: Install Self-Leveling Material

Our team pumps the cementitious material from outside — the machine mixes it and it is pumped in through a hose. The installation of this material is usually quick.

There will be a handful of members from our crew working at the same time when the material is coming through the pump hose. One uses an adjustable rake to distribute the material on the floor. Then another goes behind him and uses a smoother to break the surface tension and settle out any waves. The concrete will self-level after we stimulate the direction of movement on the surface.

How Much Downtime Is Required When Leveling a Concrete Floor?

Depending on the size of the space you intend to level the floors in, the downtime required when specifically leveling a concrete floor can take up to a few days. Another factor that can influence the downtime is how unlevel the surface was initially.

How Much Does It Cost To Level a Concrete Floor?

We can give you an estimate of the cost breakdown for a project like this when you contact us at Treadwell for a consultation. Since we need to consider many factors, a consultation can allow both you and the team at Treadwell to take a closer look at your flooring expectations and evaluate the best service for you.

Treadwell: Your #1 Choice for Commercial Concrete Floor Leveling Services in Kansas City

The team at Treadwell is looking forward to the possibility of serving you with concrete floor leveling in Kansas City. Working with us ensures a comprehensive analysis of your facility floors from experts, a collaborative approach, and a tailored offering to make your visions a reality! We are confident that you will be more than satisfied after working with Treadwell.

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Treadwell Announces Kyle Loseke As President

Olathe, KS – Treadwell is pleased to announce the promotion of Kyle Loseke to the position of President. Loseke, who joined the company in 2014, has played a key role in the company’s growth over the past several years.

Loseke began his career with Treadwell as a project manager, quickly rising through the ranks to become the company’s operations manager and then COO. During his time with the company, he has consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of the flooring industry and a commitment to delivering exceptional service to Treadwell’s customers.

“Kyle has been an integral part of Treadwell’s success over the years, and we are thrilled to promote him to the position of President,” said Will Buchanan, Founder. “His leadership, industry knowledge, and ability to grow the company make him the perfect fit for this role, and we are excited to see where he takes Treadwell in the years to come.”

As President, Loseke will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Treadwell’s day to day business including operations and sales. He will also work closely with the company’s leadership team to develop and execute on Treadwell’s strategic vision for the future.

“I am honored to be named President of Treadwell,” said Loseke. “I have had the privilege of working with an incredibly talented team of professionals over the past 9 years, and I am excited to continue to build on the momentum we have created.”

For more information about Treadwell and its services, please visit the company’s website at www.wetreadwell.com.