Lifetime Coatings Case Study – Steelworks in Arkansas

In 2018, in the United States, we produced 86.7 million metric tons of crude steel. It’s not that much compared to China, for example, but still, it is a significant amount. Our case study location is a huge steelworks in Arkansas. They decided to upgrade an area of flooring that’s 240,000 square feet. Let’s see why Ecodur became their choice.

What is so unique about steelworks?

It belongs to the heavy industrial category, and it could be tough on the flooring. Plus, it requires a robust, protective coating that is highly resistant to foot and vehicle traffic, as well as to heat and dust. And it has to be waterproof. It seems like there are too many conditions and not that many solutions.

However, there is one solution that fits perfectly into such a heavy category – Ecodur!

What is Ecodur?

First of all, Ecodur is well-known for its long history in commercial and industrial use. Nowadays, it protects numerous oil and production water tanks that, sometimes, contain chemicals (acids). Not only it’s VOC-free and non-toxic, but it’s also pure enough so you can use it with drinking water and food.

Ecodur is an all-natural material, produced right here in the USA. It contains no toxins that could potentially harm yourself, your family, and your workers. Our castor oil and gypsum product is safe for people in its vicinity. Most importantly, it is entirely rid of all those volatile organic compounds so troublesome for everyone who gets to inhale them. We’ve had USDA regulations in mind when we were developing our non-epoxy floor coating, meaning we uphold the highest standards, the same ones that apply to the food that we ingest.

However, in our case, the main reasons why the client chose Ecodur were its phenomenal adhesion and strong sticking to non-stick surfaces, such as Teflon. The simplicity of application that goes along with the fast full cure of time of only 24 hours was also a big plus. Epoxies, on the other hand, could take several days to achieve a complete cure. Even then, they could micro-crack, which is a big-time issue for all steel ship decks that flex and are subject to wide temperature fluctuations.

Most importantly, Ecodur has super high flexibility that lasts for a lifetime. However, even if somehow the repair is required, Ecodur can be molecularly combined back with original and allow the easy replacement.

Results of application

We manually applied 30 mils coatings from five-gallon buckets of Ecodur. Once it’s activated, Ecodur has an average working from the kits of about 40 minutes. Also, if the ambient temperatures are super high, then we use less activator chemicals.

In our case, the preparation work was pretty simple, with cleaning and removing all traces of dust. We readily filled all the cracks during the application process. The natural, self-leveling process of Ecodur guarantees the entirely cured surfaces and fast return to service. In the end, Lifetime Coatings carried out the excellent work!

Commercial floor applications

Lifetime’s Ecodur concrete coating, as well as the metal sealing product that we use for all our commercial floor sealing projects, beat out traditional coatings in every critical aspect – durability, cost, and protection for a wider variety of applications. We help commercial buildings to meet all essential corporate green initiatives relative to sustainability, worker safety, and environmental impact.

On top of that, we have a 25-year proven track record of tough field use. Our commercial floor sealing services protect concrete, metals, and other commercial floor surfaces from decay, acting as water and chemical barrier and beautifying spaces naturally. We use it for numerous facilities – construction in stadiums and arenas, high rise multi-tenant housing, protecting parking garages, restaurant, and kitchen food prep stations, food processing plants, water treatment facilities, wood paper mills, theme parks, coating decks for ocean-going ships, the insides of oil & gas tanks, and many other surfaces.

The opposite of epoxies

Lifetime Coating products are the opposite (much healthier and more durable) of epoxies, polyurethanes, and polyurea coatings, being VOC-free and BPA-free. Our veggie plastics, used in commercial floor sealing services, are based on castor oil and gypsum. As such, they are highly fire retardant since they give off water vapor when heated, providing an A-fire rating. That same molecular structure is giving Ecodur its incredible flexibility. Therefore, it will stretch with the underlying surface, unlike epoxy, which is brittle and snaps. The Lifetime contents are renewable and recyclable, forming a natural, incredibly durable protective layer without the use of toxic solvents.