Flooring is an important component of any residential, industrial, hospitality, or commercial facility. It adds to both the functional capacity and aesthetic appeal of spaces, complementing the effect given by wall and ceiling finishes. The choice of a flooring solution is dictated by factors such as the budget, user function, maintenance, ease-of-installation, durability, among other factors.
While domestic flooring solutions such as stone tile, wood, vinyl, and laminate are more commonly known solutions due to their use in residential spaces, specialized flooring solutions for hospitality, medical, retail, education, and other commercial spaces exist locally.
Sports and Recreation Facilities
Recreational facilities such as gyms need tough and versatile floors to cope with wear and tear from human traffic and punching shear from equipment such as weights. These floors also need to be stylish and elegant and suited to the various activities that take place in such spaces. Vinyl, rubber, linoleum, engineered hardwood, and poured polyurethane are some of the preferred solutions for sports facilities.
One specific polyurethane product that can be found locally is PVC sheeting from Kenbro Industries Limited, marketed as XL PU. This product combines high performance with an elegant aesthetic appeal. Different vivid colors are available, therefore clients can afford to be open-minded and try out different designs. XL PU consists of poured polyurethane that forms a single layer that is resistant to both abrasion and wear, thus providing a long-life surface. At the same time, the finished surface can be easily maintained.
Recycled rubber flooring and vulcanized rubber are other flooring options suitable for sports and recreation areas. These floors are durable against heavy impacts from equipment and athletes. These floors are also easy to maintain, water and stain-resistant, come in an array of colors and patterns, and have a seamless appearance.
Commercial, Retail and Educational Spaces
Commercial and retail spaces are not only prone to high traffic but are also exposed to dust, dirt, bacteria, and other pathogens. These floors should therefore be easy to clean, dirt and moisture-resistant, non-porous, slip-resistant, and visually pleasing.
Stone tiles and engineered hardwood are resilient options for commercial spaces, albeit pricier. Polished concrete is also a great option for clients looking for affordable solutions that are easy to maintain and durable. Concrete can also be further treated with bitumen to reduce the chances of slippage, moisture intrusion, and cracking.
Education institutions need affordable flooring systems that are resistant to tear, functional against slip, and are low maintenance. In addition, flooring acoustics is an important part of large span education spaces such as libraries as the noise function should be reduced to the minimum levels possible. Schools are composed of different areas and spaces, for example, cafeterias, hallways, gyms, offices, classrooms, and libraries. Different flooring solutions may therefore be applied depending on the functional needs. Rubber sheet or rubber tile flooring is a cost-effective and low-maintenance solution for most functional spaces within schools. They can also be obtained in different patterns and colour combinations, making them especially suitable for facilities such as schools with a large number of use cases.
Aviation, Industrial, Healthcare and Manufacturing
Industrial flooring is usually composed of low to medium duty flooring systems and in some cases high duty systems. These protect against several factors including heavy wear and tear, abrasion, corrosion by chemical substances, and staining by greases, oils, and other types of liquid substances.
Epoxy seamless poured flooring is one type of resilient system that gives floor spaces a spotless look that is easy to maintain. Epoxy is a type of self-smoothing solution that is composed of advanced solvent-free epoxy and advanced fillers. The result is a smooth, aesthetically pleasing surface that is impervious to fluid spillages and is highly resistant to abrasion. Due to their versatility and ability to control the substitute components, the strength of the epoxy substrate can be varied depending on the needs of the client. Strengthened epoxy floors are especially suitable for use in aircraft hangars, airport terminals, and distribution facilities.
In industries and spaces where a high level of hygiene is required, for example, food-packing facilities, epoxy flooring is the ideal solution as the epoxy system retards bacterial growth and is resistant to fluid spillages. Kenbro Industries Limited is a leading provider of epoxy flooring in Kenya, going as far as availing the expertise for installation.
Choosing the Best Flooring Solution
Functionality and budget are key to your choice of flooring. While most of these solutions seem costly, some are affordable and rates of installation can also be negotiated by specialist sub-contractors. A combination of flooring solutions such as vinyl floor and stone tile can be meshed together in a single premise to provide an optimum aesthetic effect and reduce costs.
FLOORING SOLUTIONS BY KENBRO INDUSTRIES LIMITED
Epoxy Flooring
EPOXY is a seamless, self-smoothing, flooring system based on advanced solvent-free epoxy system and selected graded fillers. The cured floor exhibits excellent resistance to abrasion and finishes to a smooth, impervious surface that can be easily maintained in a hygienic condition.
Epoxy is recommended for floors where a high level of aesthetics is essential and bacterial growth or chemical spillage raises the risk of an unhygienic environment or floor erosion. It is ideal for floors in:
• Pharmaceutical
• Cosmetic industries
• Food industries
• Hospitals and Laboratories
• Any medical facilities and sterile areas
• Production plants and Warehouses
Correct substrate preparation is critical for optimum performance. Remove oil, grease and wax contaminants by mechanical cleaning. Cement laitance, loose particles, mould release agents, curing membranes and other contaminants must be removed from the surface by shot blasting, grit-blasting followed by vacuum cleaning.
After pre-treatment of the substrate, the bond strength of the substrate must be at least 1.5 N/mm2 (check with an approved pull-off tester at load rate 100 N/s). Fill surface irregularities such as blowholes, cracks, honeycombs, etc., please consult Kenbro Industries sales representative. Protect walls and columns against resin splashes using masking tape and polythene sheeting.
PVC Sheeting
XL PU, with its extensive proven pedigree, combines high performance with optimum style and enables the transformation of any commercial environment through the selection of vivid colours. Featuring a specially formulated polyurethane surface treatment, XL PU is available in a duotone marbleised decoration. XL PU features a polyurethane surface treatment which provides an excellent foundation for an easy, ongoing maintenance regime. Polyflor Homogeneous ranges demonstrate outstanding durability and abrasion resistance. XL PU achieves the excellent abrasion.
XL PU achieves an A+ rating in major sectors such as health, education. XL PU is 100% recyclable and contains 25% recycled material. Ideally suited for heavy traffic areas, XL PU is recommended for public, institutional and commercial buildings where ease of maintenance and long life under heavy traffic are required, eg hospitals, schools, laboratories and offices.
