The good old days; inexpensive gas, no cell phones and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being released into the atmosphere. Ok maybe not so good, minus the cheap gas.

In the past screening and refinishing a floor meant oil based urethane products being applied. Dealing with the odors and other hazards that came along with them was seemingly part of the process. Fast forward to today. Sustainability and being environmentally sensitive are on everyone's mind. States are regulating the amount of VOCs allowed to be released into the atmosphere. Not only was it determined that VOCs are bad for the environment, they are also harmful to anyone that comes into contact with them. Whether it be students in your school after redoing a gym floor or hallway, or the workers applying the chemicals VOCs are bad news.

Enter water based floor coating. These water based products are required to be used in regulated states because of the low amount of VOCs they give off. Even in states with higher allowable VOC levels water based products are something to research. In the video below FlexPAC and our partner Spartan Chemical refinshed a wood gym floor using one such product.

Even if you have experience refinishing floors perhaps its time to schedule a needs analysis with our janitorial team. We can help ensure you are compliant with state regulations and provide some advice on which products best suit your needs. If you have little to no experience redoing a floor, or have hired it out in the past, give us a call. As they say, dont try this at home.

If you can't see the embedded video you can view it on YouTube or read the transcription below the video.

Interviewer: Okay. If you go ahead and introduce yourself.

John: I am John Schauff of Spartan Chemical.

Interviewer: Okay, John. What do we have behind you here today?

John: We're looking at a wood floor in a high school gymnasium.

Interviewer: Okay, and it looks pretty shiny. Why is it so shiny back there?

John: We just got through the process of screening it down and recoating it with a water based urethane.

Interviewer: Okay. And so why are you using a water based solution today?

John: We're using a water based product primarily because the state of Indiana along with several other states have started to control the amount of VOCs that are allowed up into the air, and with that, it takes you from going to utilizing an oil modified to a urethane to a water based product.
Things to keep in mind when you're doing your floors is you want to make sure it's properly prepared, and that's done by properly dust mopping, cleaning the floor first, and then screening the floor with the proper grit of screens. In this particular floor, we started with an 80, went to 100, then went to 120 before we started coating.

Then we put down two coats. We're in the process of getting ready to start our second coat of water based product.

Interviewer: Okay. Anything you'd like to add for people looking into do their own floor or just something to look for if you're looking into gym floor refinishing?

John: If you're looking at doing a gym floor, all I'd tell you is if you have experience, great. If you don't, contact your local distributor and they'll provide the resources to help you.