Polyurethane FlooringPU ScreedFood & Heavy Industry
Polyurethane and PU screed flooring across Zimbabwe for food production, cold stores, commercial kitchens and heavy industrial areas — where thermal shock and impact would destroy a rigid system.
Service overview
Polyurethane flooring is not simply a premium alternative to epoxy. It is a different material solving a different problem, and specifying the wrong one of the two is the most common and most expensive mistake made in industrial flooring.
The distinction is flexibility. Epoxy is hard and rigid, which makes it excellent against abrasion and chemicals in a stable environment. Polyurethane has far greater elongation, so it moves with the slab instead of debonding from it. That single property is why PU screeds are the standard specification in food and beverage production worldwide.
Pour boiling water or run a steam cleaner over a rigid resin bonded to cool concrete and the two materials expand at different rates. The bond fails. A polyurethane screed absorbs that differential, which is why it survives daily wash-down cycles that would lift an epoxy floor within months.
We install polyurethane flooring in Zimbabwe for commercial kitchens, food processing and packing areas, cold stores, breweries, dairies, wash bays and heavy industrial floors. Where a floor faces abrasion but no thermal or impact loading, we will recommend epoxy instead and say why.
Why Tawaka
A production floor failure does not just cost the floor. It costs the shutdown needed to replace it. These are the controls that prevent that.
Our process
Seven stages, planned around your production schedule rather than ours.
We record wash-down temperatures and chemicals, wheeled and impact loading, drainage positions, operating temperature and shift pattern. The specification follows from these, not from a catalogue.
Moisture, strength and contamination testing, plus removal of any existing tiles or failed coatings. Saturated bedding under old tiles is dealt with before anything new is laid.
Shot blasting or diamond grinding to an open profile, with anchor cuts formed at perimeters, doorways and around drains so the screed is keyed in rather than feathered out.
Damaged slab areas rebuilt, joints detailed, and primer applied where the system requires it — some PU screeds are laid directly onto a damp-tolerant prepared slab.
Material batched and power-mixed, then placed and trowelled to the specified thickness and to designed falls, with coved skirtings formed as a continuous part of the pour.
Surface texture worked to the agreed slip grade, then sealed where the system calls for it, including a UV-stable aliphatic topcoat in areas with strong natural light.
Cure managed to the operating temperature, floor released to foot then full traffic at the correct intervals, and handed over with a cleaning regime you can actually follow.
Applications
PU is a premium system. These are the environments where it is the cheapest option over the life of the floor.
Environments with hot wash-down, organic acids, fats and constant hygiene inspection, where a seamless coved floor is a requirement rather than a preference.
Facilities where impact, point loading and thermal cycling would fracture a rigid system.
Materials & systems
Every system below is seamless. The differences are thickness, texture and how much thermal and mechanical abuse the floor is expected to absorb.
| System | Thickness and application |
|---|---|
| PU coating / seal | Under 1 mm. Light-duty areas and as a UV-stable topcoat over an epoxy body coat where colour stability matters. |
| Self-smoothing PU | 2–4 mm. Packing, assembly and light processing areas needing a smooth, easily cleaned seamless finish. |
| PU screed (medium duty) | 4–6 mm. Commercial kitchens, food preparation and wash-down areas with moderate thermal cycling. |
| PU screed (heavy duty) | 6–9 mm. Trowel-applied for steam cleaning, boiling spillage, impact loading and heavy wheeled traffic. |
| Coved skirting | Formed continuously at the wall junction, typically 100–150 mm high, so the floor can be hosed without water penetrating the joint. |
| Falls to drainage | Screed graded towards gullies and channels, dressed into drain flanges to eliminate the open joint at the drain edge. |
| Aggregate texture | Integral broadcast graded to the environment — heavier for wet processing, lighter for dry packing and circulation. |
| Anti-microbial additive | Available where a specification or audit standard requires additional surface protection in food and healthcare settings. |
| Anchor detailing | Cut-in terminations at doors, drains and perimeters, locking the screed into the slab so edges cannot lift. |
Benefits
Recent related projects
Completed
Industrial · Harare
Heavy-duty seamless floor laid through a racked storage facility, with safety demarcation lines set out to the racking grid and installed within the system so they cannot wear off.
Completed
Industrial · Pomona, Harare
Large-area seamless floor over a mechanically prepared slab, phased across the facility so operations continued in adjacent bays throughout.
Completed
Commercial · Highlands Park, Harare
Full mechanical grinding and surface preparation of an existing slab using water-suppressed and extracted equipment ahead of a seamless resin system.
Questions answered
Practical answers from our team in Harare. Still unsure? Ask us directly.
Epoxy is harder and more rigid. Polyurethane is more flexible and has far greater elongation, so it absorbs impact and thermal movement instead of cracking.
Practically: choose epoxy for abrasion resistance and chemical exposure in a stable environment, and polyurethane where the floor experiences temperature swings, steam cleaning or impact.
Thermal shock is the sudden temperature change a floor experiences when boiling water, steam or hot oil hits a surface that was at ambient temperature — common in commercial kitchens and food plants.
A rigid epoxy expands at a different rate to the concrete beneath and can debond. Polyurethane screeds are formulated to move with the slab, which is why they are the standard for food environments.
PU screed systems are the usual specification for food and beverage production because they are seamless, impervious, resistant to organic acids and fats, and can be steam cleaned.
Coved skirtings and falls to drainage are installed as part of the system so the whole floor can be washed down without water sitting in corners.
Typically 4 to 9 mm depending on duty. Lighter systems suit food preparation and packing areas; heavier trowel-applied screeds are used where there is impact loading or wheeled traffic.
Thickness is driven by the mechanical and thermal loading, not by area — a thin PU screed under steam cleaning will fail.
Yes. Polyurethane systems can be installed and cured at lower ambient temperatures than most epoxies, and they tolerate the constant low temperature and freeze-thaw cycling of cold storage.
The specification and cure schedule are adjusted for the operating temperature of the room.
Aliphatic polyurethane topcoats are UV stable and hold their colour, unlike standard epoxy which chalks and yellows under direct sun.
For areas with strong natural light or external exposure, we specify a UV-stable PU topcoat even over an epoxy body coat.
Falls are formed into the screed towards gullies and channels, and the system is dressed into drain flanges so there is no open joint at the most vulnerable point.
Coved skirtings run continuously around the perimeter so the floor and wall junction is sealed.
Yes. PU screeds are usually finished with an integral aggregate texture, and the grade is chosen for the environment — heavier texture for wet processing areas, lighter for dry packing and circulation.
There is a genuine trade-off: more texture means more grip but slightly harder cleaning. We set that balance with you.
Preparation and laying for a typical kitchen or processing area take a few days. Light traffic is usually possible around 24 hours after laying, with full chemical and thermal service after several days.
Many food clients run the work over a shutdown or weekend, and we plan the programme around that.
Over sound, mechanically prepared concrete, yes. Over existing tiles or a failing resin system, generally no — those must be removed.
Tiles in wash-down areas frequently hide saturated bedding underneath, which has to be dealt with before any new system is laid.
Routine scrubbing with a neutral or mildly alkaline detergent and a rotary scrubber. Avoid strong solvents and undiluted acids.
Because the surface is seamless there is no grout to degrade, so cleaning stays effective for the life of the floor.
Yes. We are based in Greendale and work across Harare, and we take on industrial and food-sector projects elsewhere in Zimbabwe where the scope justifies it.
Tell us the location and the operating environment and we will advise honestly on whether we can deliver our standard there.
Where we work
We work from 33 Western Road, Greendale, and cover Harare and the surrounding suburbs. Travel time matters on a project like this — being local means we can get back to site quickly if something needs attention after handover.
Outside these areas? Tell us where the property is and we will let you know honestly whether we can deliver our standard there.
Related services
Most projects need more than one trade. We run them under a single contract so the sequencing is our problem, not yours — see all services or browse our completed projects.
Tell us the property, the suburb and roughly what needs doing. We will visit, measure properly and send an itemised quotation — no obligation.