Can a freezer stay cold while an MMA floor is installed in Ottawa?

One MMA (methyl methacrylate) brochure from 2010 says the system cures in about one hour and cures at temperatures down to about -29 degrees C, which is why MMA comes up for cold-storage work. Whether the freezer can stay cold during installation, however, depends on several factors that the contractor must confirm before you sign anything.

The cure-time figure comes from one brochure and the product data sheet for your specific MMA product governs. Ask the contractor to show you the data sheet for the exact product they plan to use, confirm the temperatures it allows for application and cure, and confirm whether the slab temperature inside a running freezer meets that threshold. A freezer floor that is at or near -29 degrees C is at the edge of what that one brochure describes; a colder slab or a product with a different limit changes the answer entirely.

There are other practical matters worth raising before the work starts:

• Read Section 2 of the SDS for each MMA product for hazards such as sensitisers. If the freezer shares air handling with food storage or food prep areas, ask the contractor how they will contain fumes and ventilate the space, and check with whoever licenses or inspects your facility about working near stored food.
• Ontario Fire Code s.4.1.5.2 prohibits open flames, sparks or heat near flammable or combustible liquids unless controlled in a manner that will not create a fire or explosion hazard. Ask for the SDS Section 9 flash point for the MMA primer and resin; some MMA resins and primers may be flammable liquids.
• R.R.O. 1990 Reg. 851 (Industrial Establishments) s.11 requires that a floor used by any worker shall not have a finish that is likely to make the surface slippery. Ask the contractor what anti-slip aggregate, if any, is broadcast into the MMA system for a freezer floor where condensation or ice can form.

Before you sign the contract, ask the contractor to show you the data sheet for the specific MMA product and walk you through the temperatures it allows, so you know whether the freezer can stay at its operating temperature during the work.