27 Oct Univerity of Minnesota Freeman Aquatic Center
Case study
University of Minnesota Freeman Aquatic Center
Collegiate aquatic center with highly durable and slip
resistance epoxy flooring system installed by expert epoxy flooring contractors at Swedebro.
The Jean K. Freeman Aquatic center at the University of
Minnesota is a state-of-the-art aquatic facility. It has hosted dozens of national championships for a variety of aquatic sports, including Big Ten Championships and Division I NCAA Championships. The facility has eight 50-meter lanes, a 25-yard short course pool and a diving well with platforms up to 10 meters. Since 2011, the University has invested more than $2.5 million to upgrade the facilities infrastructure, including new filtration systems, dehumidification systems, skylights, starting blocks, video boards and countless aesthetic improvements well beyond the routine maintenance of existing systems.
The University’s pool deck flooring needs to match the modern amenities of this premiere facility. The pool deck surface is critical in how the pool performs and looks. These surfaces are extremely slippery when wet and the design needs to match the other upgrades that make this such an appealing place to hold world class events.
Using a system with colored quartz sand blends aids the customer in finding an attractive flooring option. The blends are customizable providing many options from which to choose. However, a floor cannot just look good. Wet surfaces are prone to build up of molds and mildew. The function of the pool deck is to keep people safe, clean easily and last for years. The seamless design of epoxy flooring offers the best performance for long term use, slip resistance and ease of maintenance. Nothing matches the long-term durability of epoxy flooring and customizable slip resistance.
Swede Bro installed an 1/8” decorative epoxy quartz flooring system in the spring of 2021 for the University’s 9,400 sq. ft. pool deck. The double broadcast custom colored quartz is embedded with epoxy for a highly durable, decorative and slip resistant flooring system.
Over the past 10 years the University had issues with 2 other floors installed on the pool deck. They were frequently dealing with issues to keep the floors functional, while also spending a lot of time and resources towards maintenance or re-installations. They were looking for a long-term answer to their problems. SwedeBro had previously installed other floors around the University campus as well as the locker rooms in this very facility. That previous performance and having a trusted resin supplier gave the customer peace of mind that the project would be seen through to perfection. We partnered with Ultra Durable Technologies out of Minnesota as a local resin company with a good reputation. Their double broadcast decorative quartz system with Ultraspartic 100 topcoat with greater UV stability was the perfect blend of durability and aesthetics.
SwedeBro began the process by removing the existing flooring down to bare concrete. Epoxy systems can often be applied directly over previous systems. However, with the issues from the existing floor the epoxy flooring contractors and manufacturer thought the best option was to demo the old epoxy down to bare concrete. This allowed for adequate prep of the concrete by mechanically shot blasting and grinding the edges. Properly profiling the concrete (making it rough) ensures adequate adhesion of the new epoxy system. After demo and prep was completed, SwedeBro patched and filled any imperfections in the concrete to bring it level. From there the double broadcast decorative quartz system was installed with an epoxy topcoat. A silica sand is incorporated into the finish coat to prevent slip and falls on the wet pool deck. The whole process took 2.5 weeks – including 1.5 weeks for demo/prep and a week for 5 coats of epoxy.
The University of Minnesota now has a durable, decorative and slip resistant epoxy flooring system that matches the modern standards they’ve established in the last 30 years of a nationally recognized, state of the art aquatic center.
