Easy Cold Room Floor Connection to Conventional Floors

2021-03-10

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These are the biggest hygiene risks in commercial kitchens: joints, crevices, and other small corners where dirt, water, and bacteria can collect. On the inside of our Viessmann cold rooms, these risks are reduced by an excellent hygiene package. Standard underlapping floor elements, as well as overlapping wall elements, make it easier to clean the interior of the cold room. Thus, dirt and bacteria do not get a chance to accumulate. The long-lasting antimicrobial powder coating SmartProtec® reduces the number of bacteria and fungi in hard-to-reach areas and between cleaning cycles. But what about the outside of the cold room?

Avoid hygiene risks with a precise connection of the cold room to the surrounding floor area

The correct attachment to kitchen floors is particularly critical. Incorrect connection and sealing as well as neglected maintenance quickly create gaps and joints which water, cleaning agents or other liquids can penetrate and permanently damage the cold room walls. Standing moisture offers the perfect breeding ground for the growth of bacteria and fungi. A correctly executed installation of cold rooms in commercial kitchens is absolutely necessary in order to minimize hygiene risks and to increase the life-cycle of the product. Together with our colleagues from Sopro Bauchemie GmbH, we have created competent, easy-to-understand instructions for you.

What should you watch out for when installing a cold room in the kitchen area?

A detailed plan of the sealing and connection process ensures that no or fewer problems arise at a later point in time. The space around the cold room must be well prepared for the connection work.

At the base, the lower part of the TectoCell cold room, the screed must be cut at an angle towards the cell. A smooth-edged section creates enough room for a proper, tight seal. After the screed edge has been primed, half of the sealing tape is then glued to the beveled edge of the screed, the other half is glued to the cleaned cold room wall.

It is important to overlap at least 5 cm of the sealing tape so that liquids cannot reach the cold room elements.

Correct and final sealing of the floor and cold room area

The screed surfaces and the cold room base must then be completely covered with the sealing material, ideally reaction resin. Only then can insulation strips be inserted between the floor and the cold room in order to compensate for differences in load. The open area is then filled up again, ideally with a high-quality building material that does not absorb moisture even over a long period.

In order to securely seal the connection between the cold room and the floor, we recommend the use of a filler cord. This filler cord prevents cracks from forming in the seal later due to the expansion joint. Finally, the expansion joint is sealed with high-quality silicone and must be checked at regular intervals and replaced if necessary.

Special focus on the door area and on skirting tiles

The floor structure in front of the cold room must be absolutely level, otherwise, water may flow towards the cold room over time and provoke the accumulation of liquids. During the tiling process, the last 1-2 rows of tiles in front of the entrance may be installed at a slight angle to help fluids flow away from the cold room.

If skirting tiles are supposed to be attached to the cold room itself, Viessmann recommends using wall elements with a tile adapter. Tile adapter means, that the TectoCell walls are tapered at the relevant points so that a level connection of the base tiles is possible. For this purpose, the lowest part of the cold room wall is narrower than the upper part.

Proper connection for a long life-cycle and product satisfaction

In conclusion: To guarantee a long and incident-free use of TectoCell cold rooms in commercial kitchens, the correct, hygienic connection to the surrounding floor area is essential. A proper and well-sealed attachment ensures easy cleaning and protects cold room elements from standing moisture and the accumulation of bacteria and fungi. Once properly connected, the expansion joint only needs to be regularly serviced and replaced if necessary, otherwise, nothing stands in the way of a long product life of this refrigeration solution!