Roosters Brewery’s Urethane Cement Floor Made to Last

Through what Laticrete channel manager Jeff Bonkiewicz labels “connections,” a diverse group of Sparta­cote resinous flooring and Laticrete salesmen, company representatives and contractors teamed up to install a 13,000-square-foot floor using urethane cement for a new craft beer facility in Ogden, Utah.

The project, led by Troy Wicks, Laticrete’s national sales manager for resinous flooring, was an opportunity for newbies to the Spartacote resinous flooring team to learn about products the company sells by seeing, touching and feeling them in a real-life situation.

“One or our initiatives in team selling is for our people to be on the lookout for jobs involving products that they aren’t necessarily responsible for selling,” says Bonkiewicz. For instance, tile and stone reps making sales calls could encounter situations where resinous flooring or urethane cement products may be better suited for the job and could recommend what would best fit their customers’ needs.

And what better way to learn about how these products work than some good old-fashioned hands-on training? That’s where Roosters Brewery enters the picture.

Picking and prepping

Roosters Brewery — “the” place to go in Ogden, Utah — first opened in 1995, far ahead of the flock of craft beer manufacturers that have since settled throughout the United States. Over the ensuing decades, the brewhouse expanded with a second location in nearby Layton. Last fall, Roosters Brewing Co. decided to spread its wings a bit farther and feather its newest nest in a lifestyle-centered industrial park in Ogden’s new “Trackline” development.

Called Roosters B Street, the new brewery occupies 13,000 square feet of production, dining and tap room space, with 9,000 square feet of that earmarked for the beer-making production area.

To meet the rigorous demands of beer making, the production area floor must withstand a wide temperature range and the associated thermal shock when brew masters release water. The owners, Kym and Pete Buttschardt, were also looking for a flooring solution that was long-lasting and had excellent chemical and stain resistance. They knew a normal epoxy coating wouldn’t do the trick.

Finding a solution

The solution the Buttschardts landed on was Spartacote Urethane Cement with Spartacote Flex Pure Clinical Plus with a traction additive for additional protection. Prepping the surface to install this resinous coating was probably the most challenging part of the job and one of the most important steps.

“Jobs like this for urethane cement require a CSP (Concrete Surface Profile) 4, which is achieved by shot blasting or a heavy grind,” Bonkiewicz says. “Proper prepping is really the only way to ensure proper installation. Without it, the whole thing can go sideways.”

After the crew prepped the existing concrete, they then spent about two days fixing cracks and spalls with Spartacote Fast Fix. Fast Fix is a two-part, hybrid-urethane crack repair product. Once the repairs were complete, they vacuumed and swept the floor in preparation for the urethane cement.

A day of hard labor

The four-part coating consisted of resin, a hardener, aggregate and red pigment, the latter to align with the brewery’s branding and logo, Bonkiewicz says. First, the crew mixed the resin and hardener together in 6-gallon pails before adding in the aggregate and then pigment pack. Each hefty batch weighed about 70 pounds. Subsequently, they then wheeled it from one end of the building to the other for the application process.

“Mixing urethane cement is no easy task,” Bonkiewicz says. And installing it requires some heavy physical labor, too, the installers soon discovered. It took them a good six hours to mix and place the urethane cement at 3/16 inch. “We had two guys mixing, one guy pouring and two guys gauge raking,” he says, with another back rolling.

“I think we had seven guys total (working) on the project,” Bonkiewicz says, as some of the 15 attendees were just there to watch.

The work took place over a continuous six-hour period. Installers had to maintain a wet edge when placing the urethane to prevent a flooring failure. Thus, stopping for a break isn’t an option.

After coverage of the floor reached 100%, “We were done for the day,” he says. “That was a big day.”

Positive outcome

After allowing the coating to cure for eight hours, the crew came back the next day to apply the pigmented polyaspartic topcoat. Spartacote Flex Pure Clinical Plus was pigmented bright red with Spartacote Grip traction additive.

“The topcoat goes down really fast,” Bonkiewicz says about the two-part finish. Installers poured a ribbon of the mixture onto the floor and immediately squeegeed onto the surface. Crew members wearing spikes then rolled out the material perpendicularly, followed by another member back rolling perpendicular to those already placed. It took roughly an hour to coat the entire 9,000 square feet.

This finish arms the floor with antimicrobial protection and also makes it resistant to abrasion, stains and chemical intrusion. It only takes two hours to cure, allowing for fast return to service. Combined with the urethane cement coating, the Spartacote system also protects against heavy-duty impact.

The Rooster Brewery project was a win-win for everyone involved, Bonkiewicz says. “We got to train internal guys, as well as some of our contractors new to our urethane cement. And the folks that own the brewery are thrilled with their floor for the new brewing area. It’s going to be a great floor for many years to come.”

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