Lavazza Coffee was established in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza and is still run by the family today. This World-Famous Brand which is known as “Italy’s Favourite Coffee Company” needed to expand the storage and workspace at their London facility; the solution was to construct a Steel Deck.
The steel mezzanine deck was a feat of modern engineering, as it not only had to support the additional stored materials, but also two forklift trucks weighing in at 2-tonnes each. These forklifts operated in all areas of the new decking; therefore, it required a welded support structure to cope with the additional weight.
The steel plate floor was initially coated with a thin resin based Industrial Coating, but even with the heavy reinforcement of the structure, the steel deck still flexed and moved. The strain on the steel deck proved too much; the resin coating initially cracked and then started to break away completely from the substrate. The patches of unprotected steel floor became unsightly, and no longer adhered to the company’s strict health and safety policy.
The steel plate floor was initially coated with a thin resin based Industrial Coating, but even with the heavy reinforcement of the structure, the steel deck still flexed and moved. The strain on the steel deck proved too much; the resin coating initially cracked and then started to break away completely from the substrate. The patches of unprotected steel floor became unsightly, and no longer adhered to the company’s strict health and safety policy.
The challenge was to find a steel coating that would provide un-paralleled protection, flexibility, a long service life and little to no maintenance. Soon it became clear that only one type of product could offer this: PAXCON Polyurea.
Finding a trusted Polyurea application company became a top priority and as luck would have it Revolutionary Coatings was right on their doorstep. Also trading as PAXCON West London, they are one of the UK’s leading applicators of Steel Coatings, Industrial Coatings and Polyurea Applications.
There was one more added complication: The Lavazza Coffee facility operated 24/7 361 days per year.
The brief was this…
- The installation of the polyurea protective floor system had to take place during the companies 4-day maintenance shut down period.
- The new floor protection had to be able to move and flex with the structure.
- The polyurea coating had to withstand the constant traffic of two Forklift trucks 24/7 – therefore It had to be durable and strong enough to prevent distortion from constant changes in vehicle direction.
- Application teams had to create totally sealed environments to prevent any contamination of the food preparation areas, surrounding equipment or allied services.
- Ensure the product was easy to clean and maintain.
- Because the deck covered two sides of the factory, two application teams were required to ensure both locations were completed in the limited time frame.
PAXCON XS350 was the perfect solution for this demanding brief. PAXCON XS350 is a ‘pure polyurea’ and has shown exceptional performance over many years on some of the toughest engineering projects around the world. Due to its molecular structure, it offers high elongation and formidable tear strength which was perfect for this application.
After completely sealing the project areas, the PAXCON West London team removed the old failing resin surface right back to the original steel. Next, they shot blasted the floor to SA 2.5 standard in order to create the perfect profile ensuring maximum adhesion.
The spray equipment and products were palletised to ensure swift and efficient movement across both sides of the large mezzanine floor. With great precision and care, they completed the spraying process to the high specification required.
The teams worked tirelessly over the four-day shutdown period. After spraying they completed the task by applying demarcation lines using a high-adhesion PU topcoat in safety yellow. Lavazza were delighted that the project was completed on time and to an exacting standard.
Application Case Study Slide Deck:
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