With so many customers, I rarely get to visit their homes to see our epoxy floor coatings after they are in everyday use. This past weekend, Steve and I had the pleasure of visiting a home in Lancaster County that really captured the benefits of a Metallic Epoxy floor and effectively coupled it with the architectural period of the home.

Elements of a Mid-Century Modern Home

This home’s owner was gracious enough to show us around the home so we could take in all the elements that make Mid-Century Modern homes so unique.  The home, sometimes called a “California Ranch”, features many mid-century modern (MCM) architectural elements including expansive windows, nine foot cedar tongue and groove ceilings throughout, exposed structural laminated beams, a Tennessee sandstone fireplace and exterior accents, and indoor/outdoor living options.    

In Part 1, we discussed 3 of the 5 challenges we faced on this coatings project near BWI airport.  They were:

We talk about our animal projects a LOT! It’s because we love animals. Let me tell you about one of our most unique, challenging projects to date - Stay Pet Resort. Located very near the BWI airport in Hanover, this canine facility challenged us like no other animal facility project so far.

Challenge #1 – Determine the proper coatings

When we first met with Stay Pet Resort’s owner, Jodi, she had a vision. She was going to bring the high end, ultra-modern dog hotel and salon to the Baltimore Area.  She knew she wanted epoxy coatings to seal the concrete and enhance the look.   She knew she wanted floor surfaces that would mop up easily and allow her to use her walk behind, auto-scrubber multiple times a day without issue.  The only thing she didn’t know was what coating would meet all of her needs.

Dave and I really clicked with Jodi. Both of us love dogs.  Our company has a good amount of experience coating animal facilities (boarding kennels, animal hospitals, feline hospices, adoption kennels, etc.).  Talking with Jodi, we realized that we needed to do more than just quote an epoxy system.  We needed to create large sample pads to allow her team to conduct realistic wear and cleaning tests.

Solution #1 – Create large Test Pads of different Epoxy & Urethane Systems

Jason, our Maryland Operations Manager, quickly came in and created 4 samples pads – each approximately 4’ by 4’. The pads varied by chemical composition and also the amount & type of non-skid materials in the topcoat.   Some samples had larger grit to increase wet & dry slip resistance and some had higher amounts of tabular aluminum to create extremely scratch resistant surfaces.

Jodi and her staff put them through the paces. They dumped coffee on the samples. They put different cleaners on the samples. They repeated ran their auto scrubber and vacuum over the samples. We even caught Jodi rubbing a steel screw across the high-wear urethane sample pads to see how they would hold up.

After about 3 days of testing, we had our solution for roughly 16,500 square feet of the Hanover facility and Jodi had chosen Stronghold Floors for her project (we beat out several competitors, including a larger, commercial coatings company – Yay!).

Descriptions of the installed coating systems are available in our Project Portfolio section.

A Project Close to Home

Back in 2012, we were asked if we had any flooring solutions that might work for the new Mechanicsburg Area School District’s Environmental Learning Center building.   We had recently worked with the main contractor, Farinelli Construction, on a polished concrete project and they wanted to know if we could do the same flooring solution in this new facility.

Spring has finally beat-out the Polar Vortex and color is returning to our backyard in Dillsburg. With this change outdoors and the upcoming Easter holiday, color is front and center.  Seems only to appropriate to announce this year’s color of the year.

Drumroll please… This year’s color choice by Sherwin-Williams is Exclusive Plum.   Described as “a balance of cool blue and feisty red with a splash of gray”, it seems very well suited to a variety of rooms.

Thinking “Outside the Box” often leads to interesting, innovative ideal.   Our team recently was together discussing how to use our coating in “Outside the Box” scenarios.   Turns out, we already have.    And, we are always looking for more opportunities.

In the past 10 years, we have successfully used our epoxy coatings in various situations which did not involve a traditional concrete floor.   Everyone seems surprised we can apply our coatings to more than just concrete.

Elastomeric Epoxy Membranes for Wood Floors

Kim and I just returned from a week at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas.   I’m really not trying to “rub it in” that we escaped the horrible cold (polar vortex) for 6 days. I just want to share some impressions and feedback from our trip.

The World of Concrete

This is one of the largest shows hosted in Las Vegas. If it has anything to do with concrete, it’s probably at the World of Concrete.  Attended by about 50,000 people, the show features vendors and demonstrations on forming and pouring concrete, repairing concrete, polishing concrete, staining and dye work, decorative overlays and, of course, concrete coatings.   The show is massive and requires about 3 days to walk through it all.

We got to see some of the truly artistic aspects of products we use, such as metallic epoxy.   To the right is a picture where an artist used the same metallic pigments we use to do basements, offices and garage floors, but utilized them in highly decorative way to create a painting. 

While the show is impressive, I have to admit that every trip to Las Vegas always impresses me because of all the types of decorative concrete finishes that are on permanent display on the Strip and elsewhere.

This is an interesting time of year from the team at Stronghold Floors.   Every year, the garage floor coating side of our business slows down, as most Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia homeowners are concentrating on the approaching holidays.   Every year, we get into November and wonder “What we will be doing around the holidays?”  

Every year, some interesting flooring projects come along.   While some are existing customers calling for an “outage” project, sometimes we get to help others to make their holidays brighter.   Every year, helping those other organizations and individuals makes our holidays brighter too.

Here at Stronghold Floors, we love animals.   And we love when our coatings help make the lives of animals better.   Regardless of whether it’s improving a kennel, animal hospital/hospice or doggy day care, it’s great to see our coatings helping to make it safer and cleaner for our 4 legged friends.   Here is just our latest, completed kennel project…

Epoxy Coatings for Exterior Kennel Runs

We just recently completed a coatings project with the Bark of the Town, where our coatings teams installed our double-broadcast decorative chip coatings in all of the exterior runs.   Tim & Lauren, the owners, built the Millerstown, Pennsylvania facilities back in 2004 and had epoxy coating installed in the interior of the boarding kennels, but had to wait to do the exterior runs.  

Last year, they reached out to solicit bids to upgrade the exterior slabs.   Lauren recalls several companies did not return her call or provide quotes.   She told Steve (one of our PA staff members) that besides responding with quotes, we were the company willing to find a solution that met their needs and their budget.   Plus, knowing we have experience with other kennels (Nittany Greyhound’s kennels, Duffy’s Bed & Biscuit, Stonehill Kennel and more) didn’t hurt either.

We worked with the owners to pick a time of year where business was lighter and would accommodate our coating one-half of the kennels during each deployment of our Mechanicsburg based crews.   Being outside runs, our only concern was potential bad weather, but Mother Nature accommodated during both sets of installations.  

To provide a UV, scratch and chemical resistant solution, we utilized our polyaspartic coatings for the mid and top layers of the coatings.   Polyaspartic coatings are the best in the industry for withstanding years of exposure to the weather and sunlight.   Tim chose a decorative chip blend that creates a warm, inviting look and didn’t hide when a dog goes potty.

Steve was back several weeks after our completion to take the pictures for our project portfolios and Lauren noted that everything was working great.   The Bark of the Town staff loves how easy it is to clean up after the dogs and no more odor or stains.     And the dogs seem to enjoy the texture of the coatings surface (we added aluminum oxide to the final coating to aid with slip resistance).

Kennel Coatings in progress in Baltimore Area

Right now, we have teams working on a new 17,000 square pet facility in Hanover, Maryland.   This project kicked off on Monday with the surface grinding and repairs.   Over the next couple weeks, our Baltimore crews will coat the 5 different sections.   The bulk of the facility will feature our decorative chip floors with a special “High-Wear” surface that creates an EXTREMELY abrasion resistance surface.   The offices will feature our metallic epoxies, but still have the added protection of the High-Wear final coatings.

Jodi, the owner & operator, wanted to ensure the new facilities’ floor would hold up to repeated daily cleaning by her auto-scrubbers.   We installed 8 different test pads to determine which floor finish would work just right!

We will feature an extensive Project Profile on the Stay Pet Resort after its upcoming Grand Opening.   Stay tuned and please support animal rescue by adopting a furry friend into your home.

Mike Mincemoyer, along with his wife Kim, is active in animal adoption.   They work with several greyhound adoption groups and also an all-breed canine rescue in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.   They currently share their life & home with ex-racing greyhounds - Sophie (12 year old), Maggie (13 years old), Tyler (12 years old), Ray (8 years old) and Bea Bea (5 years old).