When the Las Vegas arena that is home to Las Vegas’ National Hockey League franchise needed a resolution to a long-time issue, they reached out to JES Supply Company.

The problem that they were looking to solve was at a transition point when hockey players would come from and go back into the locker room. As players make their way to the locker room from the ice, they walk a short distance on a concrete floored passage, then shift to a rubberized floor.

The average blade on a skate is 3mm wide, and the players tend to walk on the forward part of their skates, creating a very small surface area in contact with the ground. With the average player weighing in at around 200 lbs. and the additional force created by their forward motion, as much as 5,000 PSI or more of force is being transferred through the skate onto the surface. The maintenance department of the arena has tried several different materials to form this transition. However, finding a suitable material that can stand up to the force while also providing a high level of friction to keep the skaters from slipping has been unsuccessful, until now.

In addition to handling the force and providing friction, the material also had to be easy to place and cure on a concrete floor with temperatures close to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The material that meets these required demands is FLEXKIT 5.

FLEXKIT 5 is a Vinyl Polymer, thermally cured liquid, that when cured, can reach a compressive strength as high as 12,000 PSI. JES Supply Company, a local Las Vegas Company, is the sole supplier of FlexKit 5 to the world.

JES Supply Company suggested to the arena folks to enlist the help of Terra Contracting Inc., a N. Las Vegas contractor and the leading installer of FLEXKIT 5, to help with the installation. After a site visit, JES Supply and Terra Contracting designed a system that would remedy the issue.

Terra went to work removing the existing failed materials with hand grinders and dust collectors. At the request of the arena, a small thin metal strip was placed against the edge of the rubber. The Terra crew profiled the floor and applied the JES Prime. JES Prime is a two-part primer that is designed to penetrate the pores of the concrete and as it cures it expands to create an extremely strong mechanical bond. The FlexKit 5 material was mixed at a 3:1 ratio with blast sand and applied to the primer starting from a feather’s edge, moving 18” and finishing ¾” deep at the rubber creating a slight ramp to assure a trip free transition. Once this cured an additional layer of FLEXKIT 5 was applied and a dark grey quartz was broadcasted to refusal. The grey color was chosen to differentiate the colors of the light grey concrete and the black rubber and generate a subtle visual contrast to alert the skaters to the transition. After the overlay was cured, an Aliphatic Polyaspartic was applied to seal and help with the absorption of the force.

The project was a success. This is just one of the unique problems FLEXKIT 5 has solved since coming onto the market.

Contact JES Supply for your unique problem or even just a simple concrete repair.