Food Safe Hygienic Hardwearing Flooring for Bakeries

Choosing the right food safe hygienic floor for a bakery

Key criteria for selecting the best floor finish for a bakery floor:

• Hard wearing - Depending upon the size of your operation any flooring will have to withstand trolleys, forklift trucks, heavy duty cleaning, pallets being moved and foot traffic.
• Hygienic – must be impervious to liquids, non-dusting, not harbour microbes, be easy to wash down and clean. It must be able to resist disinfectants, jet / pressure washing and in some cases steam cleaning.
• Safe – non-toxic and food safe, but also slip-resistant to reduce the likelihood of trips, slips and falls in the workplace.

Most industrial units have concrete floors and if left unsealed are usually unhygienic because they absorb liquids spilt on them and generate dust as the unprotected surface is eroded over time.

Coatings can be used to seal and protect concrete floors but can be damaged by heavy impacts or machinery, such as forklift forks scraping across the ground. For impact resistance, a through-coloured resin screed is far better because even if the surface is scraped or damaged it does not expose the concrete below and remains impervious.

Slip-resistance vs ease-of-cleaning

There is always a conflict between slip-resistance and ease-of-cleaning. The rougher / more textured the floor finish the greater the slip resistance, but the harder it becomes to clean. Our textured polyurethane (PU) floor screeds are impervious and easy to clean, but our smooth matt PU screeds are even easier to clean. Polyurethane resin floor screeds have a high level of chemical resistance, abrasion resistance and, if installed at the specified thickness or thicker (see product specific technical data sheets below), can be steam cleaned. Depending upon your cleaning regime, being able to power wash, steam clean or use more aggressive cleaning chemicals could be an advantage. 

If floors are likely to be wet or have spillages a textured surface created by larger aggregate in the screed might be most appropriate to prevent slips and falls. Otherwise a resin screed with a smooth matt finish might be the preferred choice. The image to the right shows two different PU resin screeds next to one another for comparison. The screed on the top/left has a larger aggregate in it, giving the surface a very noticeable textured finish, which has greater slip-resistance; whereas the screed on the bottom/right has a smooth matt finish that is easier to clean but has less slip-resistance. 

integral coved resin skirtings, coloured joint filler, floor drains

Coved resin skirtings can be formed to create a seamless upstand where the floor meet the walls. If there are movement joints in the concrete slab (often referred to as expansion joints) we can supply a coloured joint filler specifically designed for joints in resin screeds, to maintain a seamless floor finish. Floor drains can be integrated into the flooring system to aid cleaning, but this needs to be considered and prepared very early in the process. 

TEXTURED HYGIENIC RESIN FLOOR SCREEDS 6-9mm

Resuthane TG69 has textured inherently slip-resistant finish and is laid at 6-9mm. It is a through-coloured three part polyurethane (PU) resin floor screed. It gives an impact, abrasion and chemically resistant floor finish, which is impervious and will not harbour microbial growth. Food safe & non taint (Campden BRI approved). Standard colour chart  It can be steam cleaned when laid at 9mm.

Pumadur HF is a three part polyurethane resin floor screed that has an impervious textured finish when cured. It is also highly impact, abrasion and chemically resistant. Standard colour chart. It can be steam cleaned when laid at 9mm.Pumadur HF is water based and non-tainting (Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association test method TES-S-002).

Pumadur RT is a resin-rich version of Pumadur HF, making it slightly more expensive than Pumadur HF, but easier to lay. It still comes in the standard colour range and has the same hard wearing characteristics. It can be steam cleaned when laid at 9mm.Pumadur RT is water based and non-tainting (Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association test method TES-S-002).

SMOOTH HYGIENIC RESIN FLOOR SCREEDS

Resuthane SL23 and Resuthane SL45 a through-coloured three part polyurethane resin that has a smooth matt finish. Suitable for heavy industrial applications, it has excellent chemical, impact and abrasion resistance, and resistance to thermal shock. Food safe & non taint (Campden BRI approved). Standard colour chart Resuthane SL23 can be laid at 2-3mm and Resuthane SL45 can be laid at 4-5mm   

Pumadur MD a heavy duty flow-applied three-part polyurethane (PU) floor screed. It is hygienic and easy to clean with a smooth matt finish. High chemical resistance, extremely durable, non-taint, seamless and easy to clean. standard colour range Laid at 4-6mm.

Pumadur SL a medium duty flow-applied three-part polyurethane floor screed. Laid at 2-3mm it has smooth matt finish. Excellent abrasion and chemical resistance, it is seamless, non-tainting, non-dusting and easy to clean. Standard colour chart

coving skirting & wall resin screed products

Resuthane JT40 a coving grade polyurethane resin designed to form a seamless skirting in conjunction with Resuthane polyurethane screeded floors.  Sealed with Resuthane T100.

Pumadur CG a coving grade polyurethane resin used to create an integral coved skirting when using Pumadur products to create a seamless hygienic floor system throughout your bakery. Max. height 300mm from floor up wall. It has an easy-to-clean matt finish, which is non-tainting and non-dusting with high chemical and abrasion resistance. 

Pumadur WR a polyurethane mortar used to create coved resin skirting and vertical upstands, ideal for skirtings, plinths, drain-linings, machines bases and bunds. Highly durable and hard wearing, excellent chemical and abrasion resistance, non-dusting, non-tainting and easy-to-clean. 

Colour matched Jointing compounds for hygienic resin floor screeds

Epoflex VJ (formerly called Resujoint V) is a jointing compound for vertical and horizontal joints, particularly suited to seal / fill joints in resin floor screeds at movement joint (expansion joint) or day joints in the concrete subfloor. Available in Resuthane Standard Colours to match resin floor screed colours for a seamless looking floor. Resujoint V is a hardwearing, abrasion resistant, robust compound that can withstand forklift truck traffic on industrial floors. 

Pumexpand P a pourable chemically resistant joint filling compound for resin-based flooring systems, colour matched to Pumadur Standard Colour Range. This high modulus two-part resin joint filler for low movement joints, for high movement joints and appropriate joint sealant should be sourced. 

Pumexpand V a thixotropic two-part joint filling compound designed for vertical situations. It is a high modulus, chemically resistant, durable joint filler for low movement joints.

repair materials for bakery floors

Laying new resin floor screeds and coatings will transform your facilities into modern hygienic food processing environments, but before that happens, any damage to concrete floors and joints will need to be to be repaired. Fortunately we can supply a range of hardwearing epoxy resin mortars and fast setting modified cement-based products to make long-lasting repairs quickly and easily.

Tufpatch FS a fast setting epoxy resin mortar that can be laid from 25mm deep to feather-edge, or thicker when built-up in layers. It is several times stronger than concrete and creates very strong bonds to concrete substrates, making ideal for repairing potholes, corners / arrises of slabs and steps, scrapes / grooves and other impact or abrasion damage, patch repairs to concrete floors, levelling industrial floors, creating small ramps between level differences, repairing kerbs, upstands and concrete plinths. It has high chemical resistance and can be used for repairing damage to secondary bund walls. It can withstand heavy traffic in a matter of hours and days.  Tufpatch can be used both inside and outside. Once cured it is highly abrasion resistant. It can also be used as a bedding mortar for kerbs, manholes, drainage channels, machinery, copings and precast concrete units. Tufpatch does not usually require a primer.

Resupatch an epoxy resin repair mortar very similar to Tufpatch FS although not as fast to cure. It has good workabililty and can be used to feathered-edge. Use with Resuprime for an even higher bond strength.  Can be used in very heavy duty environments. Usually supplied in grey, but can be through-coloured a range of standard colours if specifically required.

Pumaintain Floor Repair a polyurethane repair mortar capable of curing at temperatures below 5°C. Suitable for floor repairs in very heavy duty industrial environments. 

Pumaintain Joint Repair a rubber modified polyurethane repair mortar with a degree of flexibility ideal for repairing broken or worn edges and arrises / corners of concrete slab joints, junctions and edges - helping to prevent damage to vehicles / people and the build-up of dirt on exposed damage surfaces. It provides a robust hardwearing repair that is impact and abrasion resistant, capable of withstanding heavy traffic from forklifts and wheeled vehicles. 

Febset 45 a modified rapid-set rapid strength gain cementitious repair mortar that can be used at temperatures down to -20°C and below. It can be used to repair damage, potholes, chips, etc. to concrete in freezers, blast chillers, refrigerated stores and similar, while they are still in operation at normal service temperatures. 

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