When customers walk into Topgolf, they’re not just entering a driving range. They are participating in a state-of-the-art golf experience. Topgolf has games for kids of all ages, a wide variety of food and beverage choices, and large special event spaces. There are 21 Topgolf locations across the country, as well as more facilities to be opened in 2016 in the United States and overseas.

When the Topgolf team broke ground on their Overland, Kan., location, they wanted only the best when it came to flooring options.

The Right Place and Time

According to Kyle Loseke of Treadwell LLC, Topgolf was looking for a better flooring system for their back-of-house floors, including the kitchen and bar areas. “They were not one hundred percent happy with the floor coating in some of their other locations, so they were open to trying something new for the Overland Park location,” stated Loseke.

Topgolf was seeking a product that was slip-resistant, seamless, and specifically designed to stand up to food and beverage environments. After doing some research, Topgolf reached out to Dur-A-Flex to find out if there were any coatings contractors familiar with installing Dur-A-Flex products in the Overland area. A Dur-A-Flex representative told Topgolf to contact Treadwell, LLC. “As it turns out, we were already on the project installing a coating system on the front steps. We were actually right under their nose,” laughed Loseke. He added that he and the Treadwell team, who are big fans of golf, were thrilled to increase their involvement in the Topgolf job.

Once the connection was made, Overland Park was selected as the first market to receive Dur-A-Flex’s Polycrete floor coating system in their service kitchen and bar areas.

Time Crunch

With new construction, one of the biggest challenges is working around other trades. “In the flooring world, we spend a lot of time in kitchen environments. We need to be aware of kitchen equipment installation, electricians, plumbers, and other trades. Those trades need to be out of the way while we install the flooring system,” stated Loseke. Luckily, the superintendent for Arco National Construction, Inc., the general contractor onsite, understood the importance of letting the floor coatings crew members have the area all to themselves.

The schedule for this job was very tight. Arco National Construction had built several Topgolf facilities previously and had refined the schedule down to the day. It was extremely important for Treadwell to stick to the allotted installation schedule to avoid delaying the project. Fortunately for the crew, the Polycrete material can be applied over “green” concrete.

“Unlike many other coating systems, Polycrete can be applied to freshly cured concrete. With Polycrete, we didn’t have to wait the standard 28 days to apply the coating system to the new concrete. The coating can be applied after seven days. This makes it so much easier to keep to a tight timeline especially on new construction or in areas where new concrete has been poured,” said Loseke. 

To optimize their working time, the six-person Treadwell crew broke the project down into three phases: basement, main floor, and rooftop bar. “There were back-of-the-house areas where the coating needed to be installed on all three stories of the building, so we tackled the project by level,” explained Loseke. In total, Treadwell applied Dur-A-Flex’s Polycrete system to 6,100-square feet (566.7 m²) of new concrete floors in the Topgolf facility.

The Short Game

When Treadwell’s work began, the facility was dried. “All the walls were in and the roof was on, so we had no issues with weather. However, the first phase took place in the winter, and it was definitely cold outside. Since the HVAC [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning] had not yet been installed in the building, we needed to heat the space. We used plastic sheeting to isolate the area where we were working and then put in propane heaters to blow warm air into the space to get the ambient air temperature up to about 60 to 65 degrees [15.6–18.3° C],” said Loseke.

Before the flooring installation began, the crew shot blasted the concrete to an International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) Concrete Surface Profile (CSP) 4 using a BlastPro BP 9. The team also keyed in the edge of the flooring and around drains using saw cutters and grinders. The crew spot-applied an elastomer-modified epoxy coating manufactured by Dur-A-Flex. “After the initial surface prep process, we treated all non-moving joints and any cracks with Elast-O-Coat. If any cracks expand and contract over time, this coating will move with the crack but won’t move the crack through the Polycrete coating system. It’s like a safety net for the coating system,” explained Loseke. The Elast-O-Coat was trowel applied at an average of 20 mils (508.0 microns) wet film thickness. After it cured, the crew lightly sanded the material to bring it flush with the concrete.

It was then time to apply the Polycrete system. Polycrete is a three-part cementitious urethane including a resin, hardener, and aggregate. The first step was to install the self-priming basecoat of Polycrete with a 3/8-inch (9.5 mm) notched squeegee. “We then loop rolled the material to get all the air out of the coating and allow for proper self-leveling. This layer of Polycrete was installed at 3/8-inch [9.5 mm],” said Loseke.

While the coating was still wet, the crew broadcast silica sand to rejection for slip resistance. Once this layer was completely cured, the crew applied Polycrete Color Fast, a urethane topcoat at a thickness of approximately 1/8-inch (3.2 mm) using a 1/8-inch (3.2 mm) notched squeegee. The material was then back-rolled using a 3/8-inch (9.5 mm) nap roller. “Once the coating system had cured in a particular area, we rolled out a thick cardboard material to protect the newly applied cementitious coating system from other trades coming in with heavy equipment and/or dirty shoes,” said Loseke. Using floor protection kept cleaning and spot repairs to a minimum once the other trades were finished.

Throughout the entire project, Loseke and his crew kept safety at the forefront, wearing hard hats, safety glasses, dust masks, high visibility vests or shirts, and hearing protection.

Above Par

After Treadwell’s successful installation, Polycrete became the standard for all future Topgolf locations. Loseke attributed the success of the project to a top-notch crew and a dedication to open communication with the general contractor.

“There was a lot of upfront communication with the general contractor’s project manager and superintendent. Since there were a lot of moving parts on this job, we wanted to make sure that once we got rolling, there weren’t any issues with scheduling or access. I always say that there’s an art to installing flooring systems; however, none of it is possible without good communication and attention to logistical details,” said Loseke.