The Other Place Bar/Restaurant: Aliphatic Clearcoat™
MARKET: Decorative & Functional Concrete Coatings
SYSTEM: Aliphatic Clearcoat™, Quick Mender® Repair Polymer
PROJECT: The Other Place (Restaurant), Shawnee, Kansas
OWNER: Private
CONTRACTOR: Integrated Floor Systems, Kansas City
Moving a restaurant into a new space can initially sound like a relatively easy process, but often there are elements that need to be addressed before opening to the public. In this case, “The Other Place”, a restaurant with multiple locations, was ready to expand into a new market in Shawnee, Kansas. However, before the grand opening, many areas needed to be brought up to the standards required by the client. Most notably, the kitchen area needed a durable, easy-to-clean re-finishing, and a “cool” decorative coating was requested around the bar area.
All walls and fixtures were removed from the space before the remodel job began, and this put added pressure on the flooring contractor to ensure a quick return to service was possible in order for other trades (carpenters, electricians, painters, etc.) to be scheduled to complete their subsequent work.
Initial repairs to the 1500 sq. ft. kitchen area were performed using VersaFlex Quick Mender® L.O. (Low Odor) Repair Polymer, used to fill cracks, spalls, and defects in the existing floor. A typical 100% solids epoxy was installed as a basecoat, with a quartz sand broadcast to give it a non-slip surface. Then VersaFlex Aliphatic Clearcoat™ was used as a topcoat, with pigment added to color match with the theme of the restaurant.
The contractor suggested Aliphatic Clearcoat “because its quick cure time allowed other trades to get back on the floor and work, and it has a better abrasion and chemical resistance than typical epoxy.” The quick cure time of the Aliphatic Clearcoat allowed construction time schedules to proceed unimpeded — in this case “the ACC could be put down the final part of the day, and the very next morning it was cured enough to take light construction traffic, saving money and time for all involved.”
For the 2000 sq. ft. area surrounding the bar, a similar approach was taken to achieve the “cool” look the restaurant desired.
Initial concrete repairs were performed using Quick Mender® L.O., with diamond pad grinding as surface prep for the subsequent coatings.
A typical epoxy basecoat (black), followed by a metallic exoxy coat to give some visual interest were applied and allowed to cure. Then a topcoat of VersaFlex Aliphatic Clearcoat™ (un-pigmented) was applied. This allowed the metallic epoxy coating to show through, and “added a ‘depth’ that other sacrificial clear coats such as 2 component water based products don’t have.” It also allowed for the quick return-to-service necessary for other trades to complete their work, and doesn’t have a lingering odor like traditional solvent-based polyurethanes.
An important benefit is that ACC is highly UV-resistant; the restaurant has large windows letting in lots of sunlight, which could make other coatings become chalky or fail in other unappealing ways.
The job was completed on time, and allowed other trades to work efficiently. Upon attending the bar/restaurant open house, the owner spoke to the contractor about doing three other locations with the VersaFlex Aliphatic Clearcoat™ system, because he could already tell that it was far superior than the clear coats installed by another company, which didn’t have the “depth” and were beginning to fail.
About Integrated Floor Systems:
Integrated Floor Systems is located in Kansas City. We have a reputation for quality work. Our employees are trained in not only the repeatable systems that we have developed, but honesty and integrity. We have extensive experience in: polished concrete, floor coatings, concrete floor prep, and concrete floor repair.
