Poore Brothers - Potato Chip Manufacturer
Background: Poore Brothers has delivered super-scrumptious kettle cooked potato chips to Arizona snackers since 1986. Recently, the company expanded its processing/manufacturing plant in Goodyear, AZ. It partnered with Pro Surfacing to combat a series of flooring failures that hindered production in the past.
Contractor: Founded in 2000, Pro Surfacing specializes in high-performance surface installation for demanding environments, from conventional production flooring to chemical containment areas and the highly specialized needs of food and beverage processing facilities.
The Challenge: The existing floor coatings in the Poore Brothers plant had taken an extreme beating from continuous contact with hot oil and water. Most of the previously applied coatings were spalling and/or delaminating to the point of exposing the concrete. This was causing deterioration, especially in and around the drains. Attempts to patch areas in the main traffic lanes using standard epoxy mortars had failed over and over again.
The production room floors and drains are constantly wet and oily with liquids ranging in temperature from normal tap water to 250° F. While standard epoxy mortar systems can work well in some food and beverage facilities, they often cannot withstand radical temperature changes, damage from steel wheeled carts, extreme high temperature and exposure to hot oils.
The Solution: Pro Surfacing determined a urethane mortar system would stand up to the plant’s extreme conditions. It selected CastorCreteTM RT-B for the general production areas, CastorCreteTM TG to protect the trenching and drains, and CastorCreteTM CM for the coving to create an overall seamless system.
The expansion doubled the size of the production facility to 2,000 square feet. Pro Surfacing had to scarify the existing coatings from the original half of the plant, and install a concrete drain on the new portion with “virgin concrete.” Prior to the installation of the CastorCreteTM System, Poore Brothers brought in a specialized contractor to tend to the drainage area, which was cored out and formed up so the pour back of concrete for the drain would be monolithic.
The drains and trenching had experienced the most severe deterioration to the point the larger aggregate of the concrete mix design was exposed. CastorCreteTM TG was used in these areas because it can be installed up to a half inch, allowing for a greater build to repair and cover the damage.
The installation of CastorCreteTM RT-B involves the broadcast of colored quartz, and it’s then encapsulated with Polyurea 500 to improve aesthetics and also produce a textured surface ideal for wet environments.
CastorCreteTM CM was used in areas requiring a 6-inch vertical cove along the walls. This cove mortar system creates a mechanical bond to the CastorCreteTM RT-B, which produces a seamless integral cove. The base ties the floor to the wall without a seam and facilitates cleaning.
The entire project was completed in two phases. CastorCreteTM Regular Cure Formulation was used in the first phase since more downtime was available. Quick turnaround was important for the second phase, so Pro Surfacing used CastorCreteTM Fast Cure Formulation, which enables facilities to return to service within 12-24 hours of installation.
"Working with CastorCreteTM was a dream. The production schedule for Poore Bros didn't really allow us to take our time. The fact that the system only requires two ‘layers’ shortened our install time significantly. We were able to return the floor to service in a timeframe that is unheard of in the epoxy world. Also, the material is SO easy to work with. The pre-measured kits took the guess work out of a project that required a lot of product to be mixed. We didn’t waste any time measuring and second guessing," said Mike Rideout of Pro Surfacing.