Maintaining a walk-in freezer isn’t just about the temperature; it starts at the ground level. The walk-in freezer floor supports your entire cold storage systems operation, safety and durability. If it begins to fail, everything else might too. From increasing energy bills to injuries and food safety violations, the stakes are high. So, how do you know when it’s time to act?
Let’s explore the most critical walk-in freezer floor replacement signs, the consequences of ignoring them and the best approaches to solving the problem.
How Usage Effects Walk-In Lifespan
From the minute walk-in floors are installed, they endure consistent wear from use. This is especially true in high-traffic environments where pallet jacks, hand trucks, carts and foot traffic are part of daily operations. Choosing the right floor finish to meet each unit’s demand is critical. KPS Global® engineers floor panels fully customized to application-specific load requirements and durability standards.
Walk-In Flooring Warning Signs
Taking care of flooring issues early can help prevent larger, more costly problems later. The following signs often signal that walk-in floor panels need attention or repair:
- Buckling or lifting sections
- Condensation or icing issues
- Mounding or heaving in the middle
- Rusting or corrosion
- Dents or scratches
If you start to notice signs of wear or damage, it’s worth exploring a long-term fix. We offer specialized walk-in floor panels designed to meet the demands of high-traffic, commercial environments.
Buckling
One of the earliest signs of a failing freezer floor is buckling, with raised sections that warp under pressure. This happens when vapor barriers fail, or water enters seams and freezes.
Mounding or Heaving
Unlike buckling, mounding creates dome-like rises in the middle of the floor, often due to slab flooring below.
Dents and Scratches
As panels age, they become susceptible to damage. Dents, scratches and spills from everyday use are common. Large dents and damage occur when the floors were used beyond their engineered load requirements.
Rust
Cosmetic issues can breach protective coatings, letting in moisture. Rust, in particular, violates NSF standards and risks contaminating food.
Condensation and Icing Issues
Excess moisture inside the walk-in can cause condensation, which may accumulate on the cooler floor and create puddling. In freezers, moisture turns into ice. Once ice gets in the panel seams and frames, this can cause the panels to separate and bend over time.
Continuous ice buildup can be due to several factors with issues from refrigeration, panels or the walk-in door being left open for extended periods of time.
Impacts From Damaged Walk-In Floors
Safety is a major concern and reason enough to replace a damaged floor. Any damage should be taken care immediately for safety reasons as this can lead to slips and falls.
Additional safety concerns include food safety risks from rusted floors. Trip hazards such as dented floors, spills and icing can lead to employee injuries.
Insulated Slab Flooring
Walk-in freezers are often installed on insulated slab floors, which help maintain thermal integrity and include thermal breaks around the perimeter of the unit. While they can replace traditional walk-in floor panels, insulated slabs must be incorporated during the initial construction phase.
This solution eliminates many of the potential issues mentioned with walk-in flooring. As insulated slabs are built to withstand heavy equipment and high foot traffic, there is no concern about damage from pallet jacks, carts or forklifts, making them ideal for demanding commercial environments.
An added benefit? Ramps are not needed. This ensures ease of access with all traffic and compliance with ADA accessibly standards.
Structural Integrity
Although a damaged walk-in floor may not immediately affect the temperature of the walk-in unit, it is crucial to the structural integrity of the envelope. It is important to have an insulated slab floor on freezers to avoid long-term problems.
If freezers are set on non-insulated slabs, moisture trapped in the slab will freeze and form ice within the slab that would cause the floor to heave, crack and crumble. Heaving can lead to uneven or raised floors which have potential to cause safety hazards like falling from unlevel shelves, carts moving and doors becoming stuck.
Replacing Ramps
Walk-in ramps experience heavy wear because they serve as the primary entry and exit point, making them one of the most high-impact areas of the freezer floor system. Just like replacing other floor panels, ramps will be replaced in the same manner. KPS Global manufactures both interior and exterior ramps that integrate seamlessly for walk-ins.
Integrated Design and Replacement
KPS Global uses an integrated floor design that makes the box more stable and efficient. In this design, the floor panels are installed first, with the wall panels set directly on top of them. This presents a unique consideration. To replace floor panels, the entire unit must be disassembled.
End users such as grocery stores, restaurants and convenience store operators will have to plan carefully when thinking about a floor replacement. Since the floor requires the entire box to be deconstructed, it may be more cost-effective to assess and upgrade any aged wall or ceiling panels simultaneously. During panel replacement, store operations will be disrupted as the walk-in will not be operational during a floor replacement.
Replacement Floor Panel Solutions
With more than 75 years of experience, our design and engineering teams at KPS Global will work with you to design the ideal custom replacement floor for your walk-in freezer or cooler. Whether you’re facing a walk-in floor replacement or planning a new walk-in unit, our team is here to help. Contact us with your questions.
