Initially, the floor of the room, on the main floor of the museum, was going to be polished. But the existing concrete proved to be too inconsistent for polishing. Instead, an overlay was installed for a stenciling workshop. Even more was in store for the surface immediately after the 2010 Show wrapped.
Ray Anger of Arizona-based Decorative Concrete Staining & Scoring Inc. led a team in beautifying the floor with the help of products supplied by W.R. Meadows Inc. The team included W.R. Meadows representative Greg Neundorfer, who spent seven days working on the job. “It’s going to have an effect on the industry,” Anger says. “That’s why we did it.”
The team got to work the Monday following the Show. They abraded the entire floor, patching holes with Meadow- Patch T2. They applied Rezi-Weld LV, a W.R. Meadows epoxy bonding agent, for primer, then hand-scattered 16-grit coarse sand from Borders Construction Specialties in Phoenix for bonding. After cleaning up, they caulked edges and areas around cabinets to prep for placement of W.R. Meadows Floor-Top STG self-leveling overlay, which would flow into any crevice left unprotected.
A Phoenix company, Flo-Tech Inc., pumped the Floor-Top STG into the room on Wednesday. The next day, Anger and his team applied two treatments of Terracotta Clay acid stain from Cohill’s Building Specialties Inc. Friday, the floor was neutralized and scrubbed. During the subsequent dry time, petroglyph designs were installed by Tamryn Doolan, owner of Surface Gel Tek and the Flattoo stencil brand.
On Saturday came two applications of W.R. Meadows Decra-Seal. Two applications of Bellatrix Premium Concrete Enhancer by W.R. Meadows were put down Sunday to complete the project. The Museum staff is very pleased with the results. “We now have a permanent surface that enhances our environment,” says art studio manager John Bornhoff. “The colors blend beautifully with the aged brick walls. The petroglyph images that were etched into the floor are wonderful details that are discovered by the kids and parents as they move throughout the room. Best of all, the floor is impervious to moisture, so cleanup is much easier.”
Director of exhibits Nancy Stice singles out the team for praise. “They worked together so well, under a lot of pressure, and they kept us in the loop and were very considerate of our needs,” she says. “A lot of credit goes to them — they were very professional and accommodating.” Another sweeping community improvement project, similar to the one that transformed the Museum, is planned for Rocketown in Nashville, Tenn., as part of the 2011 Concrete Decor Show & Spring Training, to be held March 15-18.
www.concretedecorshow.com
www.surfacegeltek.com
www.wrmeadows.com
