Food Processing & Commercial Kitchen Flooring
Urethane cement floors that survive heat, washdown and inspection
Food and beverage floors live the hardest life in commercial flooring: hot grease, steam, sanitizers, standing water and a health inspector who checks the cove. We install urethane cement systems with integral cove base, slope to drain and a texture matched to each zone, supplied and installed from our Corona warehouse.
Why urethane cement is the food floor
Urethane cement, also called cementitious urethane or polyurethane concrete, is a trowel- or slurry-applied mortar made of urethane resin, cement and graded aggregate. It is specified for food plants for reasons a thin coating cannot match:
- Thermal shock. Expands and contracts at close to the rate of concrete, so hot washdowns, steam and fryer spills do not pop it loose.
- Moisture tolerance. Goes down on green or damp slabs that would blister an epoxy, which is most kitchen slabs.
- Chemical resistance. Food acids, fats, caustic cleaners and sanitizers.
- Thickness. 1/8 to 1/4 inch of material fills low spots, builds slope and takes impact from dropped pans and rolling racks.
- Seamless and coved. One monolithic surface up the wall, with no grout lines to harbor bacteria.
We stock the Hermetic 4.8S urethane cement slurry and the full urethane cement system line in Corona, and our crews install it.
Urethane cement placed as a slurry, then broadcast and sealed for a textured, washable surface.
Matching the floor to the room
A restaurant or plant is several floors in one footprint. The cook line and the dining room should not get the same system, and neither should the freezer and the dry storage.
| Area | Conditions | System | Texture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook line, fryers, dish pit | Grease, 180°F water, steam, daily washdown | Urethane cement, 3/16 to 1/4 inch, with 6 inch cove | Aggressive broadcast |
| Prep, walk-in approach, trash room | Water, carts, sanitizer, spills | Urethane cement slurry, 1/8 inch, with cove | Medium broadcast |
| Walk-in coolers & freezers | Cold slab, condensation, no shutdown | Urethane cement or MMA fast-cure for below-freezing installs | Medium |
| Dry storage, offices, server rooms | Foot traffic and shelving | 100% solids epoxy with satin topcoat | Light |
| Dining room, bar, retail front | Appearance, spills, chairs | Epoxy or polyaspartic in solid, flake, quartz or metallic | Light to medium |
| Brewhouse, cellar, bottling, winery crush pad | Hot caustic CIP, acids, hoses, forklifts | Urethane cement with trench drain detailing; exterior pads in UV-stable systems | Medium to aggressive |
| Processing floor, kill floor, packaging | Blood, fats, continuous wet, USDA inspection | Urethane cement, 1/4 inch, full cove, sloped to trench drains | Aggressive |
Systems are specified for use in USDA- and FDA-regulated facilities; the system data sheet is the authority for any compliance statement you put in a file. Ask for the TDS.
Cove, drains, thresholds and texture
Integral cove base
A 4 to 6 inch radius cove troweled in the same material as the floor, so the wall-to-floor joint is sealed with no caulk line to fail. Terminated under the FRP or tile so water cannot get behind it.
Slope to drain
Standing water is an inspection finding and a slip hazard. We rebuild slope with the urethane cement so every zone drains to the floor sinks and trench drains that are already there.
Drain and threshold details
Clean terminations at drain rings, trench grates, door thresholds, equipment curbs and expansion joints, keyed into the slab so edges do not lift.
Texture by zone
Broadcast aggregate sets the slip resistance. We profile each room for its cleaning method, from a light finish in dry areas to a heavy grit at cook lines and wash bays.
How a kitchen floor install runs
Walk & measure
Drains, cove height, equipment that stays, thresholds, and the hours the kitchen can give us. Most restaurants are done over two or three nights.
Demo & prep
Remove failed tile or coating, grind the slab, rebuild spalls and open cracks, clean out drains and saw-cut keys at terminations.
Prime & cove
Primer where the system calls for it, then the cove base is troweled first so the floor runs into it seamlessly.
Place the floor
Urethane cement mixed and placed by trowel or slurry, screeded to slope, aggregate broadcast to refusal for texture.
Seal & release
Topcoat or grout coat, cure per the TDS, equipment back in place. Maintenance sheet for your cleaning crew: what chemicals, what tools, how often.
Who we floor
Restaurants & commissaries
Full-service kitchens, quick service, ghost kitchens and commissaries. Night work between dinner service and prep.
Kitchen flooring guide →Breweries, wineries & distilleries
Brewhouses, cellars, crush pads, barrel rooms and tasting rooms, from Temecula wine country to the craft breweries of the Inland Empire and Orange County.
Winery & brewery floors →Food & beverage plants
Processing, bakeries, bottling, dairies and packaging. Phased by room so production continues, with USDA-ready details.
Request a plant walk →Cold storage & grocery
Walk-ins, freezers, grocery back-of-house and distribution cold rooms, using MMA where the room cannot warm up.
MMA for cold rooms →Schools, hospitals & institutions
Cafeteria kitchens, central kitchens and dietary departments, scheduled into breaks and low-census windows.
School flooring →Cannabis kitchens & extraction
Edibles production and extraction rooms that have to meet food-grade standards and state inspection.
Grow facility floors →Kitchens and food plants across Southern California
Corona is central to the region's food industry: Chino's dairies and food processors, the plants along the 60 in Ontario and Riverside, the Santa Fe Springs and Downey industrial corridor, Orange County's restaurant scene and Temecula's wineries are all within an hour of our warehouse.
Food & kitchen flooring FAQ
What flooring do health inspectors expect in a commercial kitchen?
A smooth, non-absorbent, seamless surface that can be cleaned and sanitized, with a coved transition to the wall and no cracks or open joints where food and water can collect. In California that language comes from the Retail Food Code, and local inspectors apply it. A properly installed urethane cement or epoxy floor with an integral cove base meets it; cracked tile and bare concrete generally do not.
Why urethane cement instead of epoxy in a kitchen?
Thermal shock. A fryer dump, a steam kettle or a 180°F sanitizer washdown onto a thin epoxy coating makes the coating expand faster than the concrete under it, and it eventually disbonds. Urethane cement expands at close to the same rate as concrete, is applied 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, and tolerates moisture, so it survives the daily hot-wash cycle. Epoxy still wins in dry prep areas, dining rooms and dry storage. Our comparison guide covers where each belongs.
How long is the kitchen out of service?
Urethane cement is typically back in foot traffic the day after it is placed and ready for full washdown within about 48 hours, depending on the product and temperature; the data sheet for the specific system is the authority. Most restaurant floors are done over two to three nights or a planned closure. Larger plants are phased by room so production continues elsewhere.
Do you install cove base and work around floor drains?
Yes. Integral cove base, usually 4 to 6 inches, is troweled as part of the floor so there is no seam at the wall. We re-establish slope to existing drains, terminate cleanly at drain rings and trench drains, and detail door thresholds and equipment pads. Where the existing slab does not drain, we build slope with the urethane cement rather than leaving standing water.
Is the floor slip resistant when wet?
It is as slip resistant as you ask for. Urethane cement takes a broadcast of aggregate that sets the texture, from a light profile in dining and dry areas to an aggressive one at cook lines, dish pits and washdown bays. The trade-off is that heavier texture takes more effort to clean, so we match the profile to each zone and your cleaning method.
Which facilities do you floor besides restaurant kitchens?
Food processing plants, commissaries and ghost kitchens, bakeries, bottling and canning lines, breweries, wineries and distilleries, dairies, cold storage and freezers, grocery back-of-house, school and hospital kitchens, and cannabis extraction and edibles rooms. From Corona we cover Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego Counties.
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Before the next inspection, fix the floor.
Send photos of the kitchen, the square footage and the hours you can close. We will come back with a system, a schedule and a quote within 24 hours.
Corona warehouse open weekdays from 7:30 AM · 284 Dupont Street, Suite B #155, Corona, CA 92879 · Serving Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego Counties