Page 67 - CFJ_Jul26

ADVICE & INFORMATION

David Powell

Warm weather product storage done right

Warm weather can ruin flooring products faster than cold, making correct storage
and handling absolutely essential onsite, says David

E spend a lot of time talking about different ways, but none of them react Keep all liquid products out of direct
Wcold weather and the problems well. sunlight wherever you can. If you’re
it causes with flooring products. Cold Epoxy-based products - typically struggling to keep them cool enough
slows everything down – curing, your high-performance surface DPMs on-site, try standing the sealed
drying, tack development – and most - are two-component systems that containers in a bucket of cold water
experienced installers have learned to start curing the moment the parts are before you need them. It’s not a perfect
plan around it. But warm weather can be mixed together. If those components solution, but it’ll bring the temperature
just as detrimental. are already warm when you mix them down enough to buy you back some
The good news is that it’s easy to (25deg C and above), the reaction speeds working time.
manage, and most of the time it comes up significantly. You’ll notice the product Check your adhesives before you start
down to storage. Get that right and you thickening in the bucket much sooner
won’t have any issues. than expected, which cuts your working Here’s one that catches people out.
Acrylic adhesives, even in sealed
Your van is the biggest risk time and makes it much harder to get a buckets, can eject water to the surface
If there’s one thing to take away from consistent, even film on the floor. when they’ve been stored in warm
this article, it’s this: get your products conditions. Open the lid and you’ll find
out of the van. Vehicles act like a layer of liquid sitting on top. It doesn’t
greenhouses. Sunlight comes through mean the product is ruined, but you do
the glass, heats up the interior surfaces, need to give it a thorough stir before
and that heat gets trapped. On a warm
day, the temperature inside a closed van you use it to get that moisture back
can climb well above what it is outside, in and restore a consistent texture. If
and with no airflow, it just sits there. you skip that step, you’re asking for an
People often think leaving products in inconsistent bond.
the van overnight isn’t a problem because Remember what the data sheet
it cools down at night. But in summer, assumes
daylight hours are long, and by the time Every open time, working time and
the temperature drops, those products curing time on a technical data sheet
have already spent most of the day Water-based primers and DPMs go is based on what we call ‘room
soaking up heat. Smoothing compound the other way. They become thinner and temperature’ - typically 20–23deg C.
powders are the worst for this. runnier, which makes it hard to build That’s not a rough guide. It’s the baseline
Because of their bulk density, once up the film thickness you need. And that every stated performance figure
they’re warm, they stay warm — bags film thickness is everything with these is built around. Go significantly above
that have been in a hot van can hold that products. If you’re applying them too thin, it and curing accelerates, open times
elevated temperature for days, even they’re simply not going to do their job. shorten, and working windows shrink.
after you move them somewhere cooler. Adhesives get hit on two fronts. When You can work in smaller areas to
When you come to mix them, that a water-based adhesive is too warm it stay within reduced open times on a
stored heat speeds up the reaction and loses body and won’t fill the V-notch on hot day, and that does help. But it’s a
the compound stiffens up too quickly to your trowel properly, so you end up with workaround, not a fix. The real answer is
work with properly. insufficient adhesive on the floor to form to manage your storage so that products
The fix is simple. Unload your products a reliable bond. On top of that, the water are as close to that 20–23deg C range
into a cool, sheltered spot on-site as in them evaporates much faster in the as possible when you come to use them.
early as you can. It’s not glamorous heat, which dramatically shortens the Look after your products and they’ll look
advice, but it’s the single most effective open time. An adhesive that gives you a
thing you can do. comfortable working window at 20deg after you on-site. 
www.bostik-profloor.co.uk
What heat does to your liquids C can become very difficult to lay into at David Powell is technical consultant,
Different products react to heat in 30deg C. Bostik UK

‘Different products react to heat in different
ways, but none of them react well’

www.contractflooringjournal.co.uk 67
@CFJMagazine CFJ July 2026