Sterile Surgical Systems in Tacoma had polished, patched and tile-scarred concrete. Now its rooms share one solid Medium Grey polyurea floor with a cove base.
Sterile Surgical Systems runs a processing facility in Tacoma that handles reusable surgical textiles for healthcare customers. The building is all clean lines: white wall panels, drop ceilings with bright panel lights, stainless equipment and long corridors. The floors didn't match. Some rooms had old polished aggregate concrete, some had bare patched slab, and others still showed the outline of tile that had been pulled up years ago.
In August 2025 our crew coated those rooms and hallways with Certified Penntek polyurea in solid Medium Grey, with a cove base running up the walls. The work was scheduled around the business over several days, and the finished floors now look as clean as the rest of the building.
We walked the facility at the end of May 2025. The concrete varied from room to room:
Moisture read 2.6% where we tested, and a scratch test checked surface hardness. Polished aggregate is one of the hardest surfaces to coat well, because it's so dense and smooth that nothing grips it until it has been ground properly.
A working facility can't shut down for a week, so the crew coated it in sections over four days at the end of August 2025:
Rooms were taped off and returned to use as each section was finished.
A solid color is the simplest look for a clean commercial space. Medium Grey sits well with white wall panels and stainless equipment, and it shows dirt clearly, which in a processing room is a feature. Staff can see what needs cleaning.
The cove base matters as much as the color. Where floor meets wall, the coating curves up instead of stopping at a sharp corner. There's no gap for water or debris to collect in, and a mop reaches everything. Explore other solid colors and flake systems on our styles and colors page.
Commercial floors take carts, chemicals and constant cleaning. Typical epoxy can scratch, stain and yellow under that kind of use, and repairs mean shutting rooms down again.
The Penntek system bonds to the concrete at over 1,300 PSI. Before the coating comes up, the concrete will come up. The polyaspartic topcoat is non-porous, so cleaning products and spills sit on the surface and wipe off. You can watch the Penntek Stain Test to see how it handles common chemicals. Our post on commercial vs. residential coatings explains what changes on a business floor.
Tacoma has a long history as an industrial and port city, and many of its commercial buildings have older slabs with layers of past flooring on them. Stripping those back to sound concrete is the first job. If you're planning a remodel, the City of Tacoma site has information for business owners.
Our closest service page is for concrete floor coatings near Kent. You can also browse our commercial floor coating projects. New to Penntek? Read what Penntek polyurea is.
Yes. Larger jobs are scheduled around the business and done in sections. On this Tacoma facility the crew worked room by room over several days so operations could continue.
Yes, once it has been diamond ground. Polished concrete is too smooth for a coating to grip, so grinding opens the surface and lets the polyurea form a chemical bond with the slab.
A cove base carries the coating a few inches up the wall in a smooth curve. It closes the gap between wall and floor, keeps water away from wall panels and makes the perimeter easy to clean.
Planning floor work for your business? Book a free on-site quote or call 425-226-6085. Nicole and Sheldon will walk the space with you and lay out a schedule that fits around your operations.
Here's just a few of our previous projects.
