College basketball fans, especially those who follow the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), may be aware that UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion was recently renovated from top to bottom. “UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion was undergoing a complete overhaul and all the concrete seating areas, aisle ways, and concession areas needed to be coated,” said Ray Gutoski, sales representative for Arizona Polymer Flooring. “The concrete was in good condition with limited cracking.”

For this high profile job, it was imperative that the concrete substrate be properly prepared and that the right coating system be chosen to ensure durability, aesthetics, and cost efficiency. According to Gutoski, the applicator was tasked with applying a coating system on 120,000 square feet (11,148 m²) of concrete substrate in the Pauley Pavilion.

A coating system was chosen, and the crew was ready to get down to business. However, once moisture tests were performed on various areas of the concrete floor and seating areas, everything about the once straightforward project changed. The crew encountered a few game-changing challenges that required a new strategy to be put into place before the final buzzer blew!

New Game Plan

“The concrete tested positive for moisture levels of over three pounds [1,361 g]. Moisture levels this high open up the door for a lot of potential issues if moisture mitigation measures are not undertaken before the application of the coating system,” explained Gutoski. A moisture mitigation system needed to be chosen that would do the job and not break the university’s budget. According to Gutoski, this is where the VaporSolve Ultra system by Arizona Polymer came into the equation.

“VaporSolve Ultra is a coating system with a dry film thickness of 14 mils [356 microns]. It fully remediates any level of moisture present and provides a durable, UV [ultraviolet] stable, chemical- and abrasion-resistant floor. We were able to switch out the original two coats of primer that were specified for the VaporSolve Ultra product and still satisfy the specifications,” said Gutoski. Using VaporSolve Ultra also meant that the impact on the budget was minimal — there were no extra labor costs, and according to Gutoski, the VaporSolve Ultra product added only 40 cents per square foot to the material costs.

With the moisture mitigation system chosen and approved, it was time for the surface preparation to begin. Manuel Taijeron, owner of KTM Coating Technologies, Inc., and his crew arrived on the scene and soon realized that a team huddle was necessary. Yet another unexpected challenge had arisen on the floor of the Pauley Pavilion!

Time Out

As far as Taijeron knew, he and his crew were to be working in a wide open area within the Pauley Pavilion. The seating area is a series of platforms and steps that include risers where each row makes a three-foot (0.9 m) ring around the stadium. This meant that there were both horizontal and vertical surfaces to be prepped.

Although Taijeron knew the vertical surfaces would require the prep work to be done by hand, he wasn’t worried. He had figured out a plan that included using a very large grinder on the horizontal surfaces that would get the job done quickly and with only a three-or four-man crew. However, the plan fouled out when the surface prep team arrived on site. “When we got to the jobsite, we saw that the hand railings had already been installed throughout the pavilion. This changed our entire surface prep strategy. We had to switch from using a large machine to using smaller Metabo hand grinders,” explained Taijeron.

This change in plans also meant that the KTM team more than doubled in size. “We had 10 to 12 guys on site for the duration of the project,” said Taijeron, who stated that although it was a challenge to stay on schedule, he and his crew were able to do so.

Several factors helped the surface prep crew adhere to the project timeline, including the freedom of movement that comes with working the night shift. “With all of our equipment and power requirements, we couldn’t work during the day with the other trades; it would have been too chaotic. We worked off-hours, which helped keep us on schedule,” stated Taijeron.

To keep interruptions during surface prep to a minimum, the crew also used Ermator separators in conjunction with the Diamatic vacuums. “Using the separators allowed us to run three grinders per vacuum. It also meant that we were able to empty bags of dust without shutting down the entire operation,” explained Taijeron. And along the top of the arena, the KTM crew used a Blastrac BG250 single disc grinder as well as a Blastrac shot blaster throughout the main walkways, including the tunnels leading from the locker rooms onto the basketball court.

Ready to Play

According to Gutoski, the Pauley Pavilion job was divided into 8 sections over the course of the approximately 90-day project. Once the surface prep was completed in a section, the coatings crew came in and put down two coats of VaporSolve primer at a thickness of 8 wet mils (203 microns) per layer. The crew then applied VaporSolve Joint Filler to all concrete joints using putty knives. “VaporSolve Joint Filler is a semi-rigid epoxy joint filler and is an important part of the VaporSolve system. Treating every angle of the floor helps ensure that the concrete is completely protected from moisture,” stated Gutoski.

Once all joints were filled, the crew applied the VaporSolve 100 basecoat at a thickness of 4 wet mils (102 microns). The VaporSolve 100 was custom-tinted a gray color as specified in the plans. “The beauty of the VaporSolve 100 is that we can tint it to match the color specified for the Arizona Polymer Flooring 100 VOC [volatile organic compound] polyurethane topcoat,” explained Gutoski. The polyurethane topcoat was then applied at a thickness of 3–5 wet mils (76–1,270 microns).

With the exception of the VaporSolve Joint Filler, all coatings were applied using a squeegee and backroll method. And according to Gutoski, the entire coating system complies with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), the air pollution control agency for all of Orange County and the urban portions of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. He is also quick to point out that during all phases of the Pauley Pavilion project, crewmembers wore hardhats, safety glasses, steel-toed shoes, and, during the surface prep process, respirators when necessary.

All Net

Even with all the game day surprises, both Gutoski and Taijeron consider the Pauley Pavilion job a slam dunk. Quick thinking and the ability to be flexible when it came to equipment and labor requirements ensured that the surface prep challenges didn’t slow down the project. And of course, the right moisture mitigation system and coating products were also a crucial part of the job’s success.

“Arizona Polymer Flooring was able to provide this system as a single manufacturer with a single warranty, which ultimately saved the client a great deal of labor and material costs,” stated Gutoski. As for the court’s new floors, this coatings job was nothing but net!