Located forty-five miles south of Wichita, the city of Winfield, Kansas is home to more than 10,000 residents and continues to boast a notation as #56 in The 100 Best Small Towns in America, a book by author Norman Crampton. As appropriate for any city steeped in tradition, the Winfield Fire Department, which serves an area spanning more than 225 miles, has been housed in the same station since 1886. The city has made some minimal modernizations to the structure throughout the years, but overall, the aesthetics remain similar to those when the station was first constructed.

In 2005, a StrataShield Flooring system from Tnemec was specified to provide additional durability for a deteriorating concrete floor within the fire station. “The existing thick film coating on the floor surface had exceeded its useful life,” said Tnemec coating consultant Rick Penner. “And we noted numerous surface imperfections throughout the concrete surface.”

Tnemec recommended an aggregate reinforced system to provide the additional durability that nearly all fire stations require due to the heavy equipment and high amount of traffic. Following shot blasting and diamond grinding surface preparation of the existing concrete, Series 237 Power-Tread, a modified polyamine epoxy, and fumed silica were squeegee-applied to the 2,200-square foot floor area to repair the surface imperfections in the concrete.

Next, a Series 237 Power-Tread 1/8-inch double broadcast system was installed, followed by a grout coat of Series 280 Tneme-Glaze, a modified polyamine epoxy. Finally, a finish coat of Series 291 CRU, an extremely hard polyurethane with excellent color and gloss retention characteristics as well as resistance to abrasion, wet conditions, corrosive fumes and chemical contact, was brush- and roller-applied to the floor area.

“The fire station has served the city of Winfield for years,” noted Penner. “The Tnemec system has performed well, and we were happy to be able to provide the coatings for a structure that is so deeply rooted in the community.”