When you’re the top supplier for more than 400 McDonald’s restaurants across the Midwest, you demand quality in all things – right down to your warehouse floors.

That was the clear mandate from Golden State Foods, the $5.8-billion, California-based company that also supplies meat, produce and liquids for Chick-Fil-A, Starbucks Corp. and Taco Bell when they announced plans for a new 126,000-square-foot warehouse in McCook, Illinois.

The supply giant chose McShane Construction as general contractor for the job. In early meetings, senior leaders named durable floors as a must-have.

“They’d been burned before when warehouse floors failed,” says McShane Project Executive Tom Beres, “so we knew we had to meet the highest standards.”

Fewer joints, fewer problems

McShane brought in experts from Structural Services, Inc. (SSI) to design surfaces that would remain flat, level and free of major cracks and flaws. Minimizing floor joints was crucial to the outcome.

“Most of the damage we see in concrete floors happens along joint lines,” explains Prairie Regional Sales Manager Rich Shadle, who worked closely with SSI, McShane and concrete contractors M-JTJ on the project.

“In warehouse settings, raveling joints cause damage to robotic lifts and other equipment and create safety hazards for employees,” says Shadle. “When joints are kept to an absolute minimum, dangers are reduced and owners see lower operating costs.”

Unique mix grips metal reinforcement​

Following specs and procedures laid down by SSI, Prairie’s technical support team created a custom floor formula featuring Type K cement.

“The Type K acts as an expansive element during placement, then shrinks back and grips the half-inch, welded steel wire reinforcement, which we place on 4-inch plastic chairs to keep it in the upper 2 inches of the slab,” explains M-JTJ Job Superintendent Jonathon (Jay) Gorogianis.

As the mix adheres to the mesh, it “basically creates a post-tensioning effect, which gives the finished floor tremendous strength,” adds Rich Shadle.

One large joint-free slab each day

Several on-site test pours with different formulations were done. After testing identified the right mix characteristics, M-JTJ crews began placing joint-free sections of up to 15,000 square feet per day.

SSI engineers wanted armored joints in specific spots. This and other building layout issues limited the number of feet that could be laid daily, says Tom Beres. “The mix was creamy and easy to finish,” Gorogianis notes. “Without these restrictions, we could have placed jointless slabs up to twice this size.”

Crews created the 25,000-square-foot frozen-foods section by first placing a concrete mud slab, topped with 6 inches of rigid blue-board insulation and 7 inches of Type K mix.

“The mud slab encases the glycol system that keeps the floor from heaving in response to freezing temperatures,” Gorogianis notes. “This section measured 180 feet by 140 feet, with a single joint running across the shallow side at 120 feet.”

Coordinating for fast completion

Each slab needed at least 3 days to contract before adjoining sections could be placed. Lightweight plastic curing blankets with a felt underside were used to absorb moisture and promote slower, better curing.

“We had to allow two adjacent sides open for expansion,” says Gorogianis, “but thanks to careful planning, we were able to do 12 pours over 14 working days.”

SSI engineers specified flatness and levelness at 55 and 45, respectively. Tests performed after final curing showed much higher numbers, Gorogianis reports.

Thumbs-up from the CEO

This was the first experience with Type K mix for both McShane and M-JTJ and they’re proud of the results. “The finished surfaces look beautiful,” says Gorogianis.

Golden State CEO Mark Wetterau previewed the floors on a visit to the new warehouse, which is set for completion this April.

“Throughout the tour he had a huge smile on his face,” Beres says, “and that’s when we knew we’d hit the mark.”