1100 sqm of epoxy resin coating removed in just three days

Thanks to outstanding grinding machine performance, suitable tools and increasingly perfect dust extraction, it was possible to remove epoxy resin and polyurethane coatings as well as levelling compounds in just three days during ongoing operations.

The end result was the perfect substrate preparation for the application of a new coating. During our work, operations continued as normal in the hall of a logistics centre.

"It was a challenge to remove the coating from a cracked industrial floor on 1100 square metres during ongoing operations," says Ralf Wetzig from the application technology department at Schwamborn, the construction machinery manufacturer in Wangen. The application technicians support Schwamborn cus-tomers with advice, action, expertise and in this case also with a rental machine. "It was clear to us that we could not meet our customer's requirements alone. In order to remove the covering in such a short time without disturbing ongoing operations more than necessary, we were dependent on support," says Björn Weber, owner of Weber Industriefußboden GmbH from Coswig. "We were therefore very happy that Schwamborn Gerätebau, our preferred manufacturer for grinding machines, were able to help us quickly and competently."

"180 sqm per day with perfect results is an outstanding area performance," adds the flooring expert. To achieve this, two Schwamborn DSM 800RC floor grinding machines with remote control were used, working in parallel, enabling successful decoating in a single grinding pass. Schwamborn "Barracuda SC-Splitt" dia-mond tools with a hard bond were used to remove the epoxy resin coating, while EX - Stripp soft from Schwamborn's ETX1 Premium diamond tool line was used for the polyurethane coating. Entirely in line with the basic rule of Schwamborn's application technology: using soft bonds for hard floors and hard bonds for soft floors. "Choosing the right tool," says Ralf Wetzig, "is a science in itself. But it makes great sense for perfect results and area performance to seek advice from us again if in doubt. In this example, the configu-ration of machine and tool was ideal for both coatings to be removed."

However, the dust extraction system within the "Schwamborn system", which has been perfected in the meantime, was also important for the renovation during ongoing operation. Within this system, Schwam-born is able to provide a solution for every problem through the best combination of machine and accesso-ries as well as the application of their expertise. "That is why we have optimised the machine suction con-nections and suction performance with many innovations over the past year," explains Schwamborn Product Manager Tobias Raab. In the current case, the DSM 800RC was combined with the extremely powerful STS 750 industrial vacuum cleaner and the STA 550 dust extractor. "It was astonishing," says Ralf Wetzig, "as these heavy jobs produce a huge amount of dust by nature and there was no dust pollution in the hall."

As this impressive practical example shows, the large-scale removal of floor coatings and substrate prepara-tion has evolved massively, so that in future interruptions to operations during ongoing floor renovation can be avoided.