National Institute of Health

Bethesda, MD

The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) MLP #8 parking garage was in need of repair and recoating.  The 92,000 square feet on the top deck and ramp leading to the sixth floor of the seven-story garage needed shot blasting, cleaning and recoating, including 10,000 lineal feet of curb detail.  The garage was nearly at capacity every day, so work had to be completed over a weekend to avoid disrupting NIH employees parking in the structure.  

Standard deck coatings on the market today would require up to 72 hours to cure to a point where they would be able to withstand vehicular traffic. With shot blasting and cleaning required on this job as well as several coats, there just wasn’t time.  Tremco’s high-performance Vulkem 360NF/950NF/951NF Deck Coating System was the only system capable of meeting the challenge.

The low-VOC, low-odor Vulkem 360NF basecoat, which can be applied to any thickness desired, was used to fill in surface imperfections and deeper, pitted areas, eliminating the need for concrete mortar repairs. It was also used to detail 4” up the vertical walls and on all the joints. Within four hours of the basecoat application, Vulkem 950NF Polyurethane Topcoat was used as an intermediate coat.  Six to eight hours later, Vulkem 951NF Topcoat was applied.  Only 11 hours after the last area was coated, cars were driving on it. 

With 12-man crews on 12-hour shifts and this incredibly fast-curing system, the job took only 47 hours – less than half the time possible with other products.