Combining Substance and Style, Black Bear Transforms Boston Harley-Davidson Dealership

The Process

STEP 1 – Find the right diamond for the PSI (switching them out as needed to achieve desired look)
STEP 2 – Use scarifer to demolish about ¼ inch of the concrete slated for overlay installation
STEP 3 – Use diamond blade to cut joint at section’s edges where overlay would meet existing concrete substrate
STEP 4 – Diamond grind and polish countertops with 50 grit metal-bond diamonds followed by resin-bond diamonds at 100, 200 and 400 grit.
STEP 5 – Concrete mix pressed over a brass nameplate was used for personalize
STEP 6 – Install multicomponent epoxy flooring system and a vapor reduction sealer in service areas

Project Overview

The owners of Boston Harley-Davidson knew that Black Bear Coatings & Concrete’s commercial flooring solutions combine functionality with design. They were looking to collaborate to define the look and feel of the space, and find out how our decorative concrete products could enhance the store’s overall appearance.

The owners of the new Revere, MA dealership wanted something unconventional, edgy and stylistic, as well as functional and durable. And they wanted furnishings to match. Black Bear was tasked with assessing the dated flooring, and value engineering a visually appealing concrete floor and matching countertops in the new showroom. A new durable and water-resistant flooring solution was also needed for the service and storage areas to control moisture in those parts of the building.

Harley

Project Details

  • Project Name – Boston Harley-Davidson
  • Type of Business – Retail
  • Location – Revere, Massachusetts
  • Size – 16,000 sqft of polished floors in showroom; 34 cast-in-place concrete countertops; 12,580 sqft in service area; 9,000 sqft in storage area
  • Timeframe – Approximately 3 months with the breakdown as follows: 5 days for epoxy flooring, 6 days for concrete sealer application, 21 days for polished concrete, 4 days for polished overlay and 7 days for concrete countertops Materials and Tools – Hippo potable mixers; Terrco 3100-3p and 2000 grinder/polishers and Husqvarna PG820 grinder/polisher; Pulse-Bac 2150 vacuums Ruvac; Edco Scarifer; Fusion Pucks from Dynamic Diamond Tooling; ReDiToo demo blades
  • Products – CTS Cement/Rapid Set TRU PC self-leveling cementitious polished-concrete overlay; Vexcon Certi-Shine potassium silicate concrete-polishing system; Buddy Rhodes Counter Mix with glass fiber reinforcement; Dur-A-Flex Shop Floor epoxy flooring system (MVP Primer, Shop Floor epoxy with sand broadcast, Armor Coat aliphatic urethane top coat); Synthetics International Synthetic30 vapor control system

Challenges

One of the bigger challenges Black Bear faced was working in an older building that had undergone multiple surface repairs over 40+ years. The existing concrete flooring represented a number of different occupants, and showed signs of abuse and decay. Trenches in the floor, residual mastic and gypcrete underlayments, and patchworks of concrete slab needed to either be removed or repaired in order to create a modern, clean and uniform base. A 3,000 sqft area deemed unsalvageable needed an alternative overlay to be developed. Secondary challenges included creating the industrial chic look and feel of the floors and complementing countertops, as the client had also requested that the engineered polish preserve the legacy of the building. And an evaluation of the property exposed a vulnerability to moisture that needed to be addressed.

Black Bear’s Solution

Black Bear collaborated with the owners of Harley-Davidson to produce an authentic concrete look with gray colorant and aggregate, as opposed to using a metallic colored epoxy. The engineered concrete provided the desired color scheme and solid surface appearance that balanced the historic preservation of the property, while providing modern design elements to complement the showroom. An epoxy flooring system was applied to the dealership’s service facility, and a vapor-mitigation sealer was implemented in storage areas to manage moisture.

The Client – Harley Davidson

Boston Harley-Davidson is one of the largest full service dealerships in New England. Occupying over 86,000 sqft., the facility offers a vast selection of new and pre-owned motorcycles, and a huge selection of merchandise, licensed Harley-Davidson® products, parts and accessories. The service department offers 12 state-of-the-art bays and winter storage for customers.

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