Reagan Presidential Library

A few years back one of our customers, a decorative flooring contractor, had an opportunity to do some work at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

The library is a magnificent facility with a replica of the Oval Office, the Situation Room and many other educational opportunities. The showcase of the library is the display of Air Force One and Marine One, the airplane and helicopter used by several of our Presidents from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush, 1972 thru 2001.

The room where Air Force One is displayed is a two level, 40,000 square foot room with 20,000 square feet on the balcony level. This is where Air Force One proudly sits with its nose extending over the lower level as if it was going to fly right through the glass wall that looks out upon the hills of Simi Valley.

The Reagan Library is used for high visibility events, like Presidential debates and press conferences. When television crews set up for events, for safety reasons, they tape all of the power cords, etc. to the floor with a product called Gaffers tape, a tape much stronger than duct tape. When the events were over and the Gaffers tape was removed from the floor the original industrial concrete coating would come up with the tape, exposing a bare concrete surface that was unsightly and vulnerable to soiling, and, ultimately, difficult to clean. The challenge was to come up with a coating that would adhere to the concrete even under the stress caused by the removal of the Gaffers tape.

With the help of SURTEC’s on staff chemist, many options were tested. The final solution was that one coat of SURTEC’S two component solvent borne urethane coating would bond tight enough to the concrete to withstand the stress caused by the Gaffers tape removal.

To prolong the life of the urethane coating, we applied FP-575 High Solid Floor Finish as a repairable maintenance wear coat for the urethane coating. One of SURTEC’s more popular finishes FP-575 levels well, offers exceptional wear and restores quickly with simple cleaning and High Speed buffing. This system has been used successfully by The Library with simple routine  cleaning, and only periodic deep scrub and re-coat application.

Problem Encountered … Problem Solved.  Surtec Has the Solutions for Your Maintenance Problems!

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How to Save Ugly Concrete

Our customer, against our recommendations, insisted on using a clear seal over their oil stained concrete floor.

Our Rep advised them that a clear seal would only accentuate the stains, and he was right.

To solve their problem we added an appropriate color to the seal and reapplied. Now their floor looks great.

We can help your floors look their best.

Call Surtec today to learn more about Surtec’s SURPRO 688 (SP-688)   A pigmented high performance, three component urethane/acrylic sealer formulated specifically to protect surfaces that are subject to the heaviest use conditions.

Let Surtec show you how to make the most of your existing floors.

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Original Terrazzo Restored

A chance encounter between Harry Mavrogenes, then Interim Airport Director of Stockton Metropolitan Airport and Bill Fields, floor specialist and President of Surtec, Inc., resulted in a partnership of restoration. They discussed the airports desperate need of a cosmetic overhaul and complete replacement of the Terminal Building carpet was being considered. Upon inspection, a discovery was made, under the stained and worn carpet tiles laid a once gorgeous “real” terrazzo floor. This propelled the prospect of restoration of the terrazzo floor, rather than replacement of the carpet. Stripping and polishing tests were conducted and the decision was made to restore the original terrazzo floor, saving thousands of tax dollars. Surtec, in cooperation with a local contractor began the process of restoration…

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While many may not yet be familiar with the Stockton Metropolitan Airport, it offers what people want most, ease of travel. It’s conveniently located between Interstate 5 and State Highway 99, in the city of Stockton. The open-lot parking facility is located just 50 feet from the terminal offering low cost, automated parking. Inside the terminal is a full service restaurant with both indoor and outdoor dining. Top Flight Grill & Catering features a savory menu and full bar. Their outdoor patio is open year round and allows the opportunity to relax and watch landings on the airstrip. The Sky Room with its awesome view is available for meetings or parties, reservations are via Top Flight Grill, call them at (209) 944-7780. With all this and hassel-free security, it is truly the air travel we seek. Reminiscent of airports past, travelers can enjoy their pre-flight time with family or business associates, right up to their departure. Small enough to achieve “personal” service, and loaded with the modern amenities we’ve come to expect. Avoid bay area or capitol city traffic congestion, expensive parking that’s a long haul from the terminal and leaving your family at the curb. Stockton Metropolitan Airport is by far the friendliest air travel for the Central Valley. Newly renovated, bright and modern, hasselfree, (SCK) flight schedules are planned to grow at a rapid pace to meet the public demand for Central Valley convenient air travel access.

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A Testimonial

Mike Lawlor of Solid Creations Concrete walked us through this project which began with a small area of ceramic tile and an exterior patio. The exterior wall was moved, expanding the project space to 1088 square feet. There was sloping of the old exterior concrete, which was demolished along with the tile. The area was repoured to include tracks for new retractable glass panel doors. Mike applied a two step micro topping and color stain. Before sealing, he cleaned the area with Surtec’s (LF-150) Heavy Duty Cleaner, to remove any excess residue, rinsed and let dry. Next, to ensure good adhesion and protect against harsh alkalinity and minerals in the concrete, Mike chose Surtec’s Stone Seal (CS-676)  and Surtec’s Endure (FP-522) Extra Durable Low Maintenance Floor Finish, for their ease of use, low odor and quick dry time. He applied three coats of Stone Seal, followed by three coats of Endure Floor Finish for this beautiful final product.

“I’ve been using Surtec products for more than 20 years, they offer everything I need. The products are outstanding, never had a fail, but even more valuable is the support I receive from Surtec. No one else offers me the support of expert Technical Reps and Chemists.”  Mike Lawlor of Solid Creations Concrete

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Slurry Management and Water Re-use

Polished Concrete Floors are modern and beautiful. The first step in the wet grinding and polishing process requires a significant amount of water and generates a slurry by-product that can be costly in disposal. Surtec has a two-fold solution that not only reduces the disposable waste, but also provides a re-usable water source. Saving over 80% of the water normally needed to complete the job.

First we’ll note that we prefer the ‘wet’ method of concrete polishing, as it does not create the harmful silica dust generated by dry grinding. Silica dust has been classified a Carcinogen. 

Following is an example of the water and labor savings that was realized on an actual 125,000 sq ft floor.

In this case, the wet concrete grinding and polishing process began with 200 grit diamonds and continued through 1500 grit. That would normally create approximately forty 55 gallon drums (2200 gallons) of slurry waste by-product. This amount of slurry waste would cost a minimum of $5,000 in disposal fees.

The amount of water typically required to wet grind and polish this square footage is calculated to be about 2200 gallons. Utilizing Surtec’s Slurry Management Program, we were able to recycle and re-use 80% of our water, saving nearly 1800 gallons of water on the job site. In today’s drought condition this savings in water is huge.

How did we do that you might ask….

Surtec’s Slurry.Sep is a natural non-hazardous product that when stirred into the slurry waste by-product quickly separates the water from the solids, allowing clear water to be pumped off for re-use. Not only does the process save tremendously on water use, but it also greatly reduces the amount of waste that ultimately ends up in the land fill.

We were able to complete this process right on the job floor, where the work was happening, without having to transport the equipment to a backroom for processing. This may sound trivial, but when you realize we’re talking about 110 trips to the backroom, we saved about 50 hours of labor time.

At the jobs end we used Surtec’s Slurry.Dry to dry the remaining solids preparing them for compliant disposal. By removing most of the water with Slurry.Sep before drying the remaining waste with Slurry.Dry we managed to reduce the final slurry waste by over 80% and quickly prepared it for legal land fill disposal.

How it works…

And here’s a closer look at that flocculation process…

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Award Winning Project

As seen in Concrete Contractor magazine…This is the Fillmore Center, in San Francisco, California
All surfaces were coated with Surtec Waterborne Sealers by our customer, the award winning contractor, Bay Area Concretes, Inc.

Surtec’s BONDCOAT (BC-640) & GRAFFITI BARRIER VOC (SP- 658) were applied to all vertical surfaces and seating areas.  Surtec’s AQUAPRO 100 (CS-670) was applied to all walking surfaces.

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