For over 115 years, the Yakima Humane Society has served both humans and animals alike in Yakima County, Washington. In addition to promoting the humane treatment of animals through animal control services, Yakima Humane Society also offers pet adoption, education, information, referral, and quality animal care (“Who We Are”). With around 30 to 40 animals brought into the facility every day, a clean and safe environment is a must in order to ensure these animals feel secure before they are adopted out.
The previous epoxy coating that covered 76 kennels around the facility was beginning to fail and exhibit signs of de-lamination. Owners decided a re-coat was necessary to protect and extend the life of the structure. With plenty of lives to take care of, the last thing facilitators want to worry about is a failed coating. To remedy this issue, owners sought an easy to clean coating that would wear better than the previous epoxy. Because these kennels are enclosed, the coating needed to offer low odor for installers, animals, and the Humane Society staff. Although there would be no dogs in the bays during installation, there was still a chance of lingering odors spreading to both staff and animals. There was also a need for minimal downtime so the animals could be quickly returned to their kennels. Pecora Corporation was not originally spec’d for the project. Our Northwestern Sales Representative, Steve Swim, met with the contractor on the job, Pride Construction, to discuss options for the kennels. Pride Construction has worked with our products in the past and has always felt we provide reliable products. With so many animals to manage, the team needed a plan that caused the least amount of stress on the animals.
Pecora-Deck HB1000 High Build Traffic Membrane was selected for the project. Pecora-Deck HB1000 is a high build, fast curing, low odor, industrial grade urethane traffic bearing membrane. HB1000 protects traffic and non-traffic bearing substrates from physical abuse, water infiltration, and chemical resistance. The system was applied in two coats: P-808 Epoxy Primer and then HB1000 membrane at 25 mils. Pecora suggests applying the wet film thickness of approximately 15 to 20 mils to achieve satisfactory coverage. The 25 mils thickness was chosen because the coating is intended to handle daily cleanings as well as anything dogs, cats, etc. can throw at the system. This thickness was chosen to withstand the conditions in the kennel, ensuring protection against long-term wear.
Crew size is critical when applying HB1000 due to the product’s short pot life. The tradeoff of course is a quick return to service. For this project, there were four to six crew members. To prepare for application, grinding wheels were used in confined kennels to remove debonded material from the CMU block substrate. Next, contractors combined pails of HB1000 with Part A and Part B activator for four minutes to ensure proper mixing. Each individual was given a gallon worth of material to detail all corners of the kennels with brushes and began working on the vertical lifts (up the walls). In this case, that meant roughly four feet up the wall. Once completed, a second pail was mixed and troweled and/or squeegeed onto the floors of the kennels. One individual was responsible for mixing and placing material, while four others knocked out the floor application with ¼ notch squeegees and tied into the wall sections that were completed earlier. Having chip brushes, roller frames, and squeegees in place, and a specific job for each worker made the coating process move extremely quick and with a minimal amount of wasted material. Getting coatings to hang on a vertical substrate is not easy, especially CMU block. The coating was applied by cross rolling all areas. By applying the coating in this manner, contractors were able to minimize any sag. Kennel walls and floors were completed in 1.5 to 2 hours.
Rotating the dogs to other open kennel locations around the complex was easily done because of the facilities multiple kennel sites. Downtime was limited to two days per wing including grinding, mixing, application, and cure time. To learn more about our Pecora-Deck HB1000, other deck coating systems, and accessory products, please visit our website at https://www.pecora.com/traffic-coatings/.
References
“Who We Are.” Yakima Humane Society, https://yakimahumane.org/who-we-are/. Accessed 23 November 2021.
