Just how durable is a floor graphic?

[gabagoo]

I have a customer that sent me a pic of what is being used in a sister plant...all I can tell from the pic is that it looks like yellow vinyl with a black print, but you can see heavy wear on them. I don't think it has a floor laminate on them.

I was wondering if floor laminate is strong enough to deal with forklifts crossing over them constantly and also how much torque the decal could take if the forklift turns it's wheels while on top of the decal?

What sort of vinyl would you recommend?

 

[Biker Scout]

Yes, anything that's polycarbonate 10mil and higher can handle significant traffic. Some have a pebbly texture to help with slippage and traction. The vinyl you print on should be the HT (High Tack Cast) variety. And possibly heated to the surface.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Check out AlumiGraphics... I have a sample down in my driveway for the past 9 months and I purposely drive over and wiggle my steering wheel to test the durability, so far its holding up and a little soap and water and it looks brand new.

 

[MikePro]

I don't think it would hurt to trust any of the "Floor Graphic/Laminate" suggestions from suppliers.
I've got tons of misc. chunks of vehicle wrap vinyl on my shop floor from the past few months that I haven't gotten around to scraping-up and our forklift has been driving all-over them without anything curling/tearing/twisting... and that's just regular 180cv3/8519 & 6500dpf/3220 vehicle wrap vinyls, applied recklessly to the concrete with a "foot squeegee". (stepped-on)

I'd imagine the thicker stuff intended for floor graphics, and proper application, will hold-up even better.
Also, never hurts to inform your client that they will last that much longer if you treat them with a slight "step on a crack, break your momma's back" mentality.

 

[gabagoo]

Thanks guys

 

[paul luszcz]

Saw a news photo of a local shop applying the graphic for the Boston Marathon starting line. For some reason they use vinyl for the start and paint the finish line. I think the finish line stays up all year and the starting line is removed after 40,000 runners cross it.

 

[NotADesigner]

Saw a news photo of a local shop applying the graphic for the Boston Marathon starting line. For some reason they use vinyl for the start and paint the finish line. I think the finish line stays up all year and the starting line is removed after 40,000 runners cross it.

I THINK it may be the other way around. I believe the finish line is permanent BUT a new graphic is put up every year. There is a painted finish line below the graphic, obviously. The starting line, I think is repainted by hand every year.

I don't have sound right now, so I can't confirm:

Finish line:
http://www.necn.com/04/14/14/Prepar...nding_mobile.html?blockID=865052&feedID=11106

Start line:
http://www.cantondailyledger.com/article/20140415/NEWS/140419524/-1/news

I would love to have the job of applying the finish... what a great honor to be involved in it. Instead I just have to settle for crossing it next Monday

Also to help with the OP: I used SportWalk from AsphaltArt for a recent 5k. Great product, easy install, held up fine to 1000+ people going across it. Once the race was done, we rolled it up, brought it back to the shop, and put it back down on the floor. The biggest wear on it is from having debris stuck to the adhesive when it was reapplied in the shop. Other than that, it's holding up great!

SportWalk won't work for your needs, but might be worth looking into their AsphaltArt product maybe?

 

[Rachel Bigelow]

what printer did you use the sportwalk on? Did you find any printer media profiles for it?

I THINK it may be the other way around. I believe the finish line is permanent BUT a new graphic is put up every year. There is a painted finish line below the graphic, obviously. The starting line, I think is repainted by hand every year.

I don't have sound right now, so I can't confirm:

Finish line:
http://www.necn.com/04/14/14/Prepar...nding_mobile.html?blockID=865052&feedID=11106

Start line:
http://www.cantondailyledger.com/article/20140415/NEWS/140419524/-1/news

I would love to have the job of applying the finish... what a great honor to be involved in it. Instead I just have to settle for crossing it next Monday

Also to help with the OP: I used SportWalk from AsphaltArt for a recent 5k. Great product, easy install, held up fine to 1000+ people going across it. Once the race was done, we rolled it up, brought it back to the shop, and put it back down on the floor. The biggest wear on it is from having debris stuck to the adhesive when it was reapplied in the shop. Other than that, it's holding up great!

SportWalk won't work for your needs, but might be worth looking into their AsphaltArt product maybe?

 

[OhioSigns]

I don't think you are going to find anything that will hold up to a forklift turning it's wheels on top of the floor graphics. I do quite a bit for a local factory and they replace them somewhat regularly because of this. They hold up fine when they drive right over them but the turning on them kills them. I use 3M 40C-10R with 3M 3645. They love them because they are easy to replace once they get destroyed.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Depends what you need it for. We have about 4 different combinations when it comes to floor graphics.

We have basic stuff, that’s used for hard floors, this is the cheapest, doesn’t need laminated and still has an R12 slip rating. Lasts ~6 months with moderate traffic and we’ve had a few forklifts run over our sample and it still looks fine. I personally love this stuff because I don’t need to laminate it. I’ve run about 100 rolls of this, in the last month!

We have the “good” stuff. We buy this from canon and it’s specifically for the Colorado, doesn’t need laminated, works on carpet and hard floor. R13 rating and we’ve had one down in the shop for a year and it looks brand new. (Kudos to our cleaner, she’s a hero).

Then we have specific carpet vinyl, and sometimes use regular vinyl but laminate both with a textured laminate. This is the first option we started with and have two of these in the shop (at the entrances). Both of which have been down for 4+ years, are mostly white and still look great aside from some missing vinyl at the corners.

we probably have about 6 forklifts pass over all the vinyls once a day so they get a decent amount of traffic, not much turning at the entrance though but I’d bet that a vinyl/lam combo will always win hands down when you have vehicles turning on it.

 

[rjssigns]

Industrial applications with constant forklift traffic: Sandblast mask, blast floor about 0.070" deep, fill with epoxy. Or you can grind the floor, put down a paint mask and use epoxy. If you can get by with black graphics use coal tar epoxy. You remove that stuff with a chisel. Any of the options can be made as non slip as you like with grit additives.

Truly bulletproof would be a Terrazzo inlay.

My options may seem a little weird, but I have experience with the first two and they work. Also have experience with coal tar epoxy but not for graphics.