Cometeer Inc.

A Seamless, Safe & Sanitary Production Facility

Project Overview

Cometeer Inc. is an innovator in the extraction and cryogenic processing of coffee for retail sale. They bought the former Gloucester Seafood Processing building located in Blackburn Industrial Park, Gloucester, MA. Cometeer uses a cryogenic extraction process to produce a frozen coffee concentrate packaged in individual recyclable pods that consumers can store in their freezers. When it’s time to produce a cup of coffee, they simply insert the pod into a single-serve coffee dispensing machines, such as Keurig, or directly pour into a cup of boiling water.

Project Details

The Challenge

This facility was formerly used as a Seafood processing plant, which had been shut down many years ago. The large facility was abandoned, neglected, and in need of a total fit out. The concrete slabs contained a myriad Epoxy Floor systems installed by previous owners. Aged and abused, the floors possessed large failed areas replete with holes and cracks. The substrate and floor systems had deteriorated so much that Cometeer was prevented from setting up production areas. Contamination of the substrate was a chief concern and the smell of old salty seafood permeated throughout the facility. In addition, the floors were of different heights and needed to be leveled before Cometeer could install sensitive manufacturing equipment. The second floor, which is used for office personnel, was outdated and in need of a new and professional look. The lavatories required a complete makeover and the old and stained carpet needed to be removed. Finally, the stairwells were dank and soiled and would need to be redone with Safe, Non-slip, and Colorful Epoxy to augment their appearance.

The Solution

Pristine Surfaces met with Cometeer’s executive team to discuss options to turn an outdated facility to a building that they could be proud of and in which they could conduct customer tours. Together, we would design an aggressive Project Plan to meet the different floor requirements. The plan would take advantage of Pristine’s full service menu that would be carefully implemented in the right order to maximize productivity. The Project plan involved installing Seamless, Safe and Sanitary floors in Production areas, stripping off old painted floors in lavatories and stairwells and upgrading second floor executive office space.

After several discussions, Pristine and Cometeer agreed upon a solution to meet their different needs. Pristine would completely remove the existing Epoxy floor systems with the use of our Husqvarna Remote Grinders and dustless Vacuums down to the original substrate. Pristine would level areas where large undulations existed. After patching spalled concrete and treating control joints, Pristine would install our Industrial Poly-Crete monolithic Floor system with a Poly-spartic topcoat to add longevity and a non-slip surface. This would allow Cometeer to place their large production equipment directly on the new floor systems without having to pour new concrete. Poly-Crete floor systems can handle heavy loads and the day-to-day forklift traffic, which was essential to daily production. Passing food inspections by local food inspectors would require the installation of Epoxy Cove base and Coat Knee Walls to ensure a monolithic environment. Production floors require the perfect mixture of texture to allow daily cleaning while ensuring a non-slip safe floor for employees to work on.

Second floor executive office space was set to be completed during Phase 2. Pristine would remove and dispose of the existing carpet. Old carpet glue needed to be removed and the concrete repaired where areas were spalled. Finally, the substrate would be polished to an 800 Polish spec and Colored Stain applied in certain areas to provide a fresh look for tours and office personnel. Stairwells were to be coated with a non-slip Epoxy with colors to match corporate colors. Bathrooms were to be Polished and stained with colorful patterns to add to the aesthetics.

The Result

Pristine Surfaces mobilized two full time crews to aggressively undertake numerous challenges in a timely manner. Experienced Project Managers were assigned fulltime to overcome obstacles presented by refurbishing outdated deteriorated facilities. Experience floor technicians worked long days to maximize productivity and meet the aggressive timeline set by Cometeer. After several weeks of Leveling, Polishing, Floor Removal and Poly-Crete Floor installation, Pristine, with the assistance of Cometeer’s Executive team, managed to transform an old, outdated, contaminated building into a Refulgent, Seamless, Safe, Sanitary fully operable Production Facility. Pristine continues to address the needs of Cometeer and will undertake additional projects to increase space for cold storage and production.