High performance is a must when it comes to selecting the proper coating systems for animal care environments. The architects at aTRM Architects in London, Ontario, took note of Tnemec’s presence in the marketplace and performance levels in other animal care facilities throughout North America when they specified the coating systems for the University of Western Ontario’s new Modular Animal Care Facility. Located in London, Ontario, the two-level, 57,500 square foot holding and research facility currently consists of four distinct modules to house mice, pigs, pregnant sheep and primates. The flexibility in the original design will also allow for an additional three floors vertically as the need for expansion arises.
“Tnemec was specified for 36,000 square feet of flooring and more than 100,000 square feet of drywall, CMU and poured concrete wall surfaces,” explained Tnemec coating consultant David Walker. “The depth of Tnemec’s product offering allows the specifier to select specialized primers and pargers as the base for the high performance coatings that are subsequently applied.” Series 130 Envirofill, a cementitious acrylic masonry filler, was first applied to the CMU walls, while Series 216 Quickfill, an aggregate-reinforced surfacer, was applied to the poured concrete areas and Series 27 F.C. Typoxy, an epoxy coating, to the drywall.
The wall coating specification consisted of a fiberglass-reinforced system for the holding rooms and high-risk, animal-exposed areas, as well as a non-reinforced system for all interior overhead drywall and the remaining wall areas. For the critical areas, the coating system consisted of Series 201 Epoxoprime, a modified polyamine epoxy as the primer, followed by Series 273 Stranlok ML, a fiberglass mat-reinforced polyamine epoxy. One coat of Series 280 Tneme-Glaze, a protective polyamine epoxy, sealed the Stranlok system, followed by a topcoat of Series 297 Enviro-Glaze, a waterborne polyurethane that provides enhanced abrasion resistance and color and gloss retention.
The interior overhead and less critical wall areas received a non-reinforced coating system consisting of Series 201 as the primer, followed by two coats of Series 280 and a topcoat of Series 297. All metal doors and window frames were coated with two to three coats of Series 66 Hi-Build Epoxoline, an epoxy known for its benchmark performance, and Series 161 Tneme-Fascure, a fast-cure version of Series 66.
Series 237 Power-Tread, a modified polyamine epoxy, was trowel-applied to the flooring at ¼” thickness, followed by a coat of Series 280. The operating room floors also received a topcoat of Series 291 CRU for additional stain and chemical resistance.