Choosing Flooring for Cold Storage Warehouses: What the Environment Changes
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The most brutal environment for concrete flooring systems are cold storage warehouses. Between extreme cold temperatures, the constant effect of moisture (from condensation), very heavy and consistent use of forklifts and the constant effect of thermal changes are more demanding in warehouse flooring systems.
What works great in a regular warehouse can have a premature and miserable end in a climate controlled cold environment.
Having an appropriate floor installation for these conditions are much more demanding than an installation in a typical warehouse. The right industrial flooring solution is more than just a tough floor; a functional flooring system involves more than just the durability of the surface of your floor. It involves building your warehouse’s concrete flooring solutions at the right pace, building it precisely for optimal performance, strength and maximum durability. In Midas Concrete Floor Solutions we offer industrial flooring systems that combine both precision as well as strength to achieve superior results in such challenging warehouse environments, such as Laser Screed FM2 Floors.
Why Cold Storage Floors Challenge Most Flooring Solutions
When it comes to the building of regular industrial structures, they usually do not have the same continuous strains as a cold storage warehouse. The below lists the environmental stresses that cold storage warehouse floors regularly experience:
Freeze-Thaw Stress:
The movement of moisture within concrete, upon being frozen creates pressure and the expansion . Freezing temperatures cause numerous freeze-thaw cycles, weakening any warehouse slab. Every process will create significant distress over the life span of the structure, including cracking and spalling as will diminish all warehouse flooring solutions.
Heavy material handling equipment:
When equipment such as forklifts transport large and heavy loads in facilities like this, a constant pressure is placed upon the floor of the warehouse. Uneven surfaces increase vibration, wear and tear upon the tires and ultimately reduce efficiency of operations.
Condensation and moisture:
The ambient temperatures in cold storage warehouses naturally create much higher degrees of condensation that contribute to slipperiness and create the potential for the damaging impact upon warehouse slabs if they are not completed and ‘densified’ correctly.
How to Build Cold Storage Warehouse Floors to Maximize Longevity and Performance
Here’s what you should know when selecting and building a cold storage warehouse flooring solution:
High Flatness & Precision:
When building new warehouse floors, there are strict flat and level criteria that must be achieved if you want to avoid damaging equipment that operates in your building. Laser Screed FM2 Floors are laser guided and provide for optimal plane and level, as per all applicable regulations (TR34), allowing for safer travels and reducing the vibration experienced when equipment runs. The Midas team uses state-of-the art technology to ensure laser accuracy.
Stronger, Dense Concrete:
Concrete floors that are more ‘dense’ tend to be far more resistant to surface abrasion and surface dusting that can be caused by concrete wear during normal operation in warehouses. In Midas, we utilize consolidation processes during the laser screeding, ensuring no voids within the mix that will create more resistant concrete.
Fewer Joints:
Cold storage concrete warehouse floors must deal with expansion from the movement of the environment so their joints typically have been the weakest points in a warehouse flooring system. Midas uses Jointless FM2 Floors construction methods to greatly minimize the amount of expansion joints a concrete floor will experience.
How the Right Flooring System Enhances Warehouse Performance
Opting for an engineered flooring solution provides more advantages than just durability.
- More smoother operation of forklift due to lesser vibrations
- Reduced maintenance and repairs expenses
- Improved safety for workers thanks to consistent surface finishing
- Increased lifespan of equipment with lesser wheel and tire wear.
- Better support for heavy racking
- Faster project completion using Laser Screed technology
- Midas Laser Screed system is able to install 2,000-3,000 square meters of flooring per day.
Floor Densification Adds Long Term Protection
Even the best concrete needs supplementary protection.
Concrete densification allows concrete to gain density on its surface thanks to chemical reactions resulting to enhanced hardness. Floor densification is also used in cold storage warehouses to avoid dusting and to increase abrasion resistance and extend lifespan of the floor while solving the problem of regular industrial loads. Midas provides concrete densification services as one of the concrete long term operation solutions in operation.
Which Industries Benefit from our Cold Storage Flooring Systems?
Any organization that requires environmentally stable warehouse flooring including:
- Food processing centers
- Distribution of frozen goods
- Distribution and storage of chilled products
- Cold chain logistical hubs
- Storage for perishable dairy and beverage products.
- Distribution centers for e-commerce that may include chilled or frozen storage.
Why Go With Midas Concrete Flooring Solutions?
Cold storage flooring definitely requires more than just regular concrete flooring. It needs to be engineered to perfection.
Midas Concrete Floor Solutions brings together Laser Screed FM2, jointless flooring, floor densification, and industrial flooring knowledge to complete different kinds of warehouses around the country. The ability to stay compliant with TR34 regulations and deliver precise engineering techniques helps Midas be a trustworthy associate in building modern industrial facilities.
Conclusion
Cold storage facilities pose more difficulties than the standard concrete floors are incapable of addressing. Coldness, humidity from condensation, and constant heavy traffic require better and more durable flooring materials.
The use of engineered solutions such as Midas Concrete Floor Solutions' FM2 Floors, jointless construction, and densified flooring would result in construction of warehouse floors that will provide safe operation, low maintenance costs, and prolonged life even in the most difficult conditions.