When industries innovate and improve their processes, it’s an example of evolution in action. Blackwell’s, Inc.’s new abrasive media blasting facility, housed in a building that once served as a cotton oil seed house in the early 1900s, is a prime example of this evolutionary process. Like most things, blasting has evolved over time. Abrasive…
Looks can be deceiving: One photo is of nature’s design. The other is a man-made mess. Leonardo da Vinci studied the anatomy and flight of birds in his quest to design a “flying machine”. He had hundreds of drawings and sketches of flying machines based on his studies of bird flight. This was long before…
Even if you’ve never seen the word “intumescence”, there’s no doubt you’ve seen an intumescent material firsthand. When you toast a marshmallow over a campfire, the marshmallow swells in the heat. That makes it an “intumescent” material. It means “to swell” The first known use of the word “intumescence” was in the 17th century. It…
You’ve got excavation work to do on your industrial facility’s grounds. You know there are underground utilities nearby. Underground utilities are supposed to be at a certain buried depth, but different utilities have different depths, or the depth could have changed due to backfilling of the area. You know, a mistake in digging could be…
They’re the typical hard hat you see regularly on construction sites. They’ve been around since the early 1960’s. They’re still made of a polycarbonate material. And they still won’t stay on your head. Evolution hasn’t changed them much in 60 years. The old hard hat technology —designed for impact and penetration, very likely saved my…
When we take on jobs that other industrial cleaning companies turn down, our “can do anything mindset” takes over because of the confidence we have in our associates, our resourcefulness, and our equipment. An estimated 30,000 lb. solid mass Such was the case when a tank full of a heated polymer mixture suddenly and unexpectedly…
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” —George S. Patton It started out as an industrial cleaning job inside the confined space of a 6000-gallon fiberglass storage tank. The tank was one of two identical tanks connected by fill piping at the…
One of the techniques hospitals use to prevent the spread of illness is a technique we often use in industrial cleaning work inside industrial facilities. It’s based on a concept of physics taught to school age kids. Hospitals use ventilation techniques to create isolation rooms to keep infectious patients separate from other people to contain…
What industrial facilities refer to as “summer shutdowns” may have started when Henry Ford created his first assembly line in 1913. With his automobile workers, daydreaming about summer and the beautiful weather outside, began skipping work, being as clever as he was, Henry Ford scheduled summer downtime. Time to schedule maintenance It not only was…
Cook enough fried foods in hot oil on a home kitchen stove, and you’ll experience it . . . that greasy, dust laden buildup on the kitchen backsplash and on the hood above the stove. Let it build up enough and you’ve got a mess on your hands to clean. Grease on an industrial scale…
An epoxy coating is not limited to just flooring applications. One use is in preventing something we call corrosion. The rusting of iron, when exposed to oxygen and water, is a good example. It’s a gradual destruction of materials (usually metals) into chemically, a different material. Depending on what iron or steel is exposed to,…
Once sewer systems went underground, the need for the manhole evolved. Now, many of these manholes need manhole rehabilitation to restore their structural stability. Sewer systems, even though they are thought of as a modern invention, had their beginnings thousands of years ago. Around 600 BC, the Romans built their eleven-foot-high stone vault, called the…
Most of our flooring work, whether polished concrete or resinous (epoxy) flooring, is routine for us. Depending on the type of floor, the plan of work for each floor is typically the same. Solving problems is common. But on occasion, we are not free to complete the job the way we always have and need…
Some ancient construction techniques have stood the test of time. The feature photo above shows a section of an ancient walkway in Ephesus, Turkey. When compared to a photo of new construction shown below, the photo is striking in its contrast. Slip-Resistant Floors – Don’t let the photos fool you. Both photos appear to show…
That cute little turtle, the one you gave your kids, even while looking clean and healthy, can carry the Salmonella bacteria on their skin and shell. These bacteria can cause gastrointestinal illness and fever called salmonellosis. Turtles are not the lone culprit either. Many different animals, as well as birds, can carry these germs that…
If you are claustrophobic, maybe you should do something besides industrial cleaning. The reason? There will be a time that confined space work will be required. It can be dangerous work being in a confined space. When we send one of our guys in there, we send a guy that’s trained to work in tight,…
Being called a “Jack of all trades and master of none” can be a little insulting—unless it’s followed up with the rest of the phrase, which is “but oftentimes better than a master of one”. In the specialized industrial services work we do in industrial facilities, there is nothing wrong with being “Jack”. It is…
Concrete flooring is remarkably hard and strong. But concrete is a porous material—much like a sponge. That makes it susceptible to staining from acidic or caustic liquids unless it’s protected in some way. Resinous (epoxy) floor coating products Coating the concrete floor with a resinous (epoxy) floor coating, is an ideal way to protect the…
Flour, fat, salt, baking powder, sugar, and water—all ingredients used in baking. That is also what is found in the wastewater from an industrial bakery. EQ tanks provide constant discharge flow Bakeries use massive amounts of water, half of which is discharged as wastewater. Pretreatment of the wastewater is necessary before discharging it to a…
A Floor for the Long Haul When industrial flooring is installed in a high traffic area, you count on it being there for the long haul. In a food processing facility that has been in business for ages, that floor could still be a ceramic tile floor. At one time, they were the only floors…
In the nick of time A lot of what we do in industrial cleaning work could be considered high-risk work. Our associates are trained and have experience with this type of work. But this particular job took us by surprise. We were able to stay safe but we got out “just in the nick of…
In motorsports racing, a pit stop is a pause made by a car during the race at a designated area (the pit). As quickly as possible, the pit crew refuels the car, changes tires, and makes any needed repairs and mechanical adjustments to the car. Then it’s back to the race. Planned well in advance…
The answer is a stretch of the imagination, but here goes. Concrete is a mix of cement, sand, aggregate, and . . . water. As freshly poured concrete dries, it gives off moisture vapor emissions into the drier air around the concrete until a relatively stable balance is maintained between the concrete and the air.…
Hurricane Season is Upon Us We may see more hurricanes than we normally do this hurricane season. That’s the recent prediction from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And we are at the beginning of the season now. The peak months for hurricanes in the Atlantic are August through October. NOAA says to be…
It’s most likely an undeniable fact — a storage tank will one day need cleaning. And when that storage tank holds mixed acids, the crew called to do the cleaning better have the skills and equipment to do the job. So “who ya gonna call”? Originally an episode title from a comedy-drama tv series, “Who…
Galvanized steel has become one of the most important construction materials used everywhere today because of its durability. It’s history dates back over 150 years. In short, galvanized steel is made by coating steel with molten zinc to make a coating that is metallurgically bonded to the steel itself. The zinc coating makes a barrier…
Small mistakes, big consequences The electrician that installed the lighting didn’t mean to leave wire nuts on the bar joists. The HVAC installer forgot about the pile of screws he left on top of the ductwork. The welder has always left hot electrode remnants on purlins—he didn’t want them to be a hazard on the…
Municipal water supplies treated by public and private water facilities make water safe to drink and pleasant to taste. To produce water that is pure enough for human consumption, raw (untreated) water withdrawn from either surface or underground water supplies go through several processes. The removal of fine solids and contaminants in sedimentation basins is…
It is a series of steps to get our food, produced on the farm, to our kitchen table. At about any step along the way, contamination can occur—at the farm, the processing facility, during distribution, and even in the kitchen. We all want our food to be safe but sometimes there are mistakes made. Good…
High humidity in the southeast can be rough during the heat of the summer. Not only is it a challenge to keep yourself cool and dry but it can be a challenge for industrial facilities to store dry materials in outdoor silos. How does humidity cause problems in silos? Silos are never completely full. There…
Think back to great grandma’s homemade lye soap. The lye, made from soaking wood ashes left over from cooking and heating, is a very alkaline chemical compound. Mixed with some type of fat, the chemical compound in the lye made soap. Great grandma’s soap production was dependent on chemicals. Modern life depends on chemical industry…
Similarities aside, iron and steel are two very different materials. Iron is the most abundant of all metals and is found throughout the universe, including the sun. Steel, on the other hand, is an alloy of iron and carbon. Both are two very common materials used in construction and manufacturing. Both can be damaged by…
Confined spaces are aptly named for a good reason . . . there is no room for error. Most of us will never know what it’s like to clean in the confined space of an industrial silo or storage tank. For that matter, most of us will never even be in a confined space. To…
Go in any manufacturing facility, big box store, or even a grocery store, and you will most likely see a polished concrete floor. There are many benefits of polished concrete, but durability and minimal maintenance cost are two that are high on the list. Take this 80-year-old concrete floor for example. At one time in…
A food product manufacturer began discovering abnormal “tailings” or food materials that failed to pass through the first sieve screen of their flour sifter. Unsure whether the “tailings” occurred before or after a flour delivery, Blackwell’s, Inc. was called to inspect the silo containing the flour. The visual inspection revealed the “tailings” in the flour…
It is estimated that the largest manufacturers lose about $1 trillion dollars a year because of equipment failures. That is several hundred thousand dollars for each hour of unexpected downtime. When a machine is supposed to be running and equipment being used and it is not, that is downtime. When machines, and equipment are down,…
Concrete seems like it can last forever. There is a good reason for thinking that because concrete construction has been around since about 1200-1400 B.C. The Romans used it in their construction projects and many of their structures, such as the concrete dome of the Pantheon in Rome still exists today. It remains one of…
Since concrete is one of the most durable manufactured building materials we have, it is used around the world. But concrete is not immune to damage. Impacts, abrasion, harsh chemicals, and thermal shock can all take a toll on concrete. And it is a given that a neglected concrete floor is likely to be covered…
You know you must do excavation work on your industrial facility’s grounds. You know there are underground utilities nearby and a mistake digging could be costly and even dangerous. You are almost sure you know where it is safe to dig because you have done these things first: You have walked around the site looking…
Whether you prefer to call it dry ice blasting or CO2 blasting, choosing this industrial cleaning method will prove its worth immediately. Blackwell’s Inc. is located in LaGrange, Georgia, and uses super cold, dry ice propelled at supersonic speeds that are a superior industrial cleaning method for equipment and machinery. Our CO2 blasting is faster,…
We all know what it feels like when driving our car, to hit the raised edge of a steel road plate covering a temporary road repair job. And we know the feeling all too well when we unexpectedly hit a speedbump in the road. We know that our car tires, suspension, and steering, is taking…
Silos work on the principle of the material placed in the silo first is the first material out of the silo. Most of the time this works well. Changes in weather can cause problems Materials, like the by-product collected in the filter sock housing pictured here, are often ill-suited to changes in humidity and temperature.…
Firefighters were called to a production facility this week to ventilate the facility after a chemical spill occurred. The spill was considered a HAZMAT situation and several neighboring businesses were evacuated. HAZMAT is an abbreviation for “hazardous materials” and the term is used when substances or materials pose a risk to health, property, or the…
Everyone should know that water flows downhill (that’s not entirely true but that’s another story). So, for the moment, let’s just agree that water flows downhill until it does not flow downhill anymore. And at that point it stops. It’s the same for the wastewater from our homes, businesses, and industries as it travels through…
One of the techniques hospitals use to prevent spread of illness is a technique we often use in industrial facilities where we are working. Hospitals use ventilation techniques to create isolation rooms to keep an infectious patient separate from other people to prevent the spread of the infectious illness. These isolation rooms work because of…
Old Jed Clampett (“The Beverly Hillbillies” TV sitcom airing from 1962-1971), knew he had something when he discovered oil on his property. If you have a car and a concrete drive, you may have discovered oil too – as an ugly oil stain on the concrete. …
We all call it dry ice (that’s the more common name of the solid form of carbon dioxide). It’s found in abundance on several celestial bodies in our solar system including Mars, and the moons of Uranus and Neptune. So, it’s been around for eons. But the use of dry ice has a much shorter…
When our concrete floor polishers leave your jobsite, you have a beautiful, marble-like, and durable floor. But one of the most beautiful advantages of polishing, other than the striking sheen, is that maintenance is minimal. Minimal, but essential! Dirt is terrible for a polished concrete floor and gives it a dull appearance. We recommend that you remove…
There’s a very simple reason why modern kitchens have exhaust fans above the stove. It’s to vent away cooking odors and filter out heat, smoke, grease, and moisture. It’s the same for industrial kitchens too, but on a much larger scale. Cooking oils, at high cooking temperatures, can produce tiny droplets of the oil. These…
Checking Out Those Dark Corners Finding a problem in the darker corners of your industrial facility before it becomes an even bigger problem, may not the easiest thing to do. Over years of use, brine water, created as a waste product in the production of a food supplement, caused this metal drain to rust and…
“Lest we forget—lest we forget!” – Rudyard Kipling, Recessional 1897 “Liberty Mourns” by Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept.12, 2001
While modern construction techniques allow structures to be built faster, some ancient construction techniques have stood the test of time. These two photos show the contrast between old and new. On the left is a photo of an ancient alleyway in The Old City of Jerusalem. Adjacent to the steps is a walkway of paving…
“The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed “. −William Gibson─ To most people, this newly polished concrete floor looks like just about any other Blackwell’s, Inc. polished concrete floor. Yes, it’s got a brilliant shine brought about by the 1500 grit finish, but there’s a significant difference. Following the removal…
The fire was quickly put out and the firetrucks have all returned to the station. Thankfully, the fire was contained in one area, and the building interior suffered mostly smoke damage. You may be thinking the smoke stains are nothing to worry about, but the smoke stains will continue to cause damage and can be…
Covid-19 Risk to Workers Covid-19 is a respiratory virus, largely spread through breathing in infected respiratory droplets.The risk of exposure to it in industrial facilities may depend on the type of industry and the need for workers to be within 6 feet of each other. The CDC says that even though COVID-19 spreads primarily from…
While many businesses across our country are closed due to the coronavirus shutdown, Blackwell’s, Inc. is still open and servicing the industrial cleaning and flooring needs at large manufacturing industries. Thankfully, many manufacturing industries are still producing goods vital to our country. For those manufacturers that are forced to close due to the coronavirus, hopefully…
Blackwell’s Inc has a contingency plan in place designed to prevent any service disruptions due to coronavirus impacts. Blackwell’s will continue to monitor CDC and EPA guide lines, product recommendations and implementation processes, required to maintain a front-line position in the battle against COVID-19. Much of Blackwell’s day to day work involves the cleaning and…
So why do roofing contractors put rock on a flat roof? There are several reasons. The ballast (rock or gravel ) protects the waterproof membrane underneath from the blistering and cracking damage from the sun. The ballast helps weigh down the membrane to keep it in place. And, it makes the roof more energy-efficient. Some…
Emergencies can happen anytime. And when they do, a quick response is critical. Blackwell’s Inc. received a 5:05 PM call yesterday to respond to an immediate need at a large industrial site . The facility had accidently filled the oil fire suppression and effluent tank to capacity with runoff water, leaving no room for any…
A hazardous material is any thing which has the potential to cause harm to humans, animals, or the environment. It could be in the garage, the bathroom, even the kitchen, but without a doubt, most homes, if not all homes in America have some type of hazardous material stored . . . somewhere. And it’s…
Using a Vacuum Truck to Clean Silos How do you dry 80,000 lbs. of wheat flour, contained in a silo and wet from rain from a hurricane ? You don’t. You use a vacuum truck to remove it from the silo and then you dump it. By all accounts, Hurricane Irma was a deadly and…
Industrial Cleaning of Aspiration System Ductwork It’s well known that indoor air is often more contaminated than outdoor air. This can be especially true in an industry that creates a lot of dust in the process of making a product. Industrial cleaning of a facility’s aspiration system’s ductwork can increase the efficiency of the system…
Why do some floor coatings fail? There can be many reasons but the reason the vast majority of floor coatings fail is not the coating . . . it’s the concrete floor itself! Some reasons are:[spacer] • The concrete was a bad mix when it was delivered • Poor finishing of the concrete after it…
Polishing a Granite Rock Using Concrete Floor Polishing Techniques Concrete floor polishing has a short history in the U.S. Some say it was introduced here in 1999. But concrete itself has been around for thousands of years. Without a doubt, concrete is the most widely used, man-made material used in construction. Archaeologist can date its…
Electric motors are an essential part of industries around the world. Most have a long service life and are trouble free. But let an industrial electric motor fail somewhere in a production line or a piece of equipment and the industrial facility could be shut down until the motor is replaced. Dry ice blasting can…
Chemical Resistant Concrete Coatings Are Ideal For Secondary Spill Containment Industries rely on many different materials in the production of the goods we use daily. Many of these materials are highly concentrated and can be hazardous even in small amounts. An accidental spill or leakage of a concentrated acid, for example, could be hazardous to people…
New Opportunities in Industrial Cleaning What started as a chimney sweeping business in 1982 quickly took a new direction when we added pressure washing to make up for the slack time when we were not cleaning chimneys. Over the years since, we’ve evolved into the specialized industrial cleaning company we are today. Staying competitive in the industrial cleaning business requires…
When we say “We specialize in industrial cleaning”, this is what we mean! This is a 26 ft. diameter split ring gear that is used to turn a cement tumbler. The gear teeth were cleaned using dry ice (CO2) blasting. Removing the grease from the gear’s teeth will allow engineers to inspect the teeth for…
<meta http-equiv=”refresh” content=”0; URL=/pages/Blackwells-Inc/277957678921824?_fb_noscript=1″ /> CO2 gas can play a triple role in coffee production. It affects the flavor (both good and bad) and cleaning (if CO2 blasting is used). Coffee is made from a bean (actually a seed). When it’s dried, roasted and ground, it’s used to make . . . coffee. Roasting the coffee beans gives coffee…
If you owned a car in the early 1900’s, and it broke down, you either fixed it yourself, or you had a bicycle mechanic, a blacksmith, or even the local plumber to take a look at it. Where there was a car repair garage, there’s a good chance it had a dirt floor. Eventually, the dirt floors evolved…
While most of us will never know what it’s like to clean in the confined space of an industrial oven or a latex storage tank, there are people who do just that. We’ve got many of those on our crews here at Blackwell’s. Yes, it can be very dirty work . . . the kind…
Forklifts have become an almost indispensable piece of equipment used in warehouses and industries. Their first reported use was about 1906. If you’ve ever been in a warehouse, then you’ve most likely seen forklifts being used to move heavy objects and pallets of materials short distances. Most forklifts are rubber tired, which works well on the concrete floors…
Just in case you’ve never heard of a gas turbine engine, without doubt you’ve seen them in use. Drive by a gas fired power plant or watch commercial jets and some helicopters streak across the sky, and you’ve seen a gas turbine engine in use. Even the M-1 Abrams tank has one. In a gas turbine engine, a…
To some people, standing in and cleaning a silo of melted chocolate and crushing grapes in a wooden barrel with your bare feet might sound like a fun job. For about five minutes, maybe! I can’t vouch for the grape crushing. I’ve never done it. But some of our associates here at Blackwell’s, Inc. can tell you…
What does a toddler’s high chair and an industrial facility have in common? The answer is . . . secondary containment. Now, if you haven’t been around toddlers in a very long time (or if it’s been so long since you sat in a high chair yourself, that you’ve forgotten), the tray on a high chair has a rounded…
Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Co., knew something back in his day besides how to build cars. He knew how important it was to learn. He said . . . “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” And research is proving him right. We are…
Most car manufacturers and automotive service shops recommend flushing the cooling system, i.e. radiator, of cars after a period of time to get rid of deposits that accumulated over the years. And the same recommendation can be made for the industrial cleaning of storage tanks, too. Over time, and depending on whether the storage tank…
“What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?” (Author Unknown) The Plymouth colonists in 1621, had good reason to be thankful. Of the 102 passengers on board the Mayflower when it left England in September 1620, only about half of them survived to see the first spring. Were it…
A piece of equipment we use regularly in the industrial cleaning business had its beginning in 1926 as a moonshine still. During Prohibition, when moonshining, or the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol, was illegal, many citizens in defiance of the law, continued to moonshine. The story goes that a young inventor named Frank W.…
What may look like a Halloween costume of a character from a horror film, is actually part of the protective gear one of our associates donned before entering the confined space of an emptied sulfuric acid tank. For those of you who may have forgotten your chemistry, sulfuric acid is colorless, odorless, and extremely corrosive.…
The quote “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression” is often attributed to Oscar Wilde, the 19 century playwright. The problem is . . . it’s also said to have come from George Bernard Shaw, Will Rogers, and a few others who just might have lifted the quote from .…
Do sheep and concrete floors have anything in common? Well, probably not on face value. But think about sheep for a moment. They are covered in wool. Wool is a porous and bulky material that provides a physical avenue to draw moisture (known as moisture transmission) away from the sheep’s body and for whoever might…
Staging Materials for a Job Sometimes we forget about the amount of work that goes on just to get ready for a job we have contracted to do. The job could be an industrial flooring installation, concrete floor repair, or it could be a specialized industrial cleaning job. But regardless of the job, it starts…
Most people probably have an innate belief that concrete, being the hard, stone-like material that they see, is free from all problems. Concrete is an excellent building material, but it’s not perfect. The good news is that problems with concrete are avoidable, or at least can usually be fixed. Dusting, that fine, powdery, material that…
You may have seen the recent headline news where Legionnaires’ disease has killed 12 and sickened more than 120 people in New York City. The news reported that more than 15% of the cooling towers tested there were found to be contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Cooling towers are a part of large cooling systems for facilities…
For many manufacturers, as much as 35 % of the energy used to make a product, goes to heating, cooling, and ventilation. Making smart decisions about heating and cooling can have a big effect on manufacturing utility bills. A heating and cooling system is made up of many parts. Pictured here is the centrifugal fan inside…
Concrete construction has been around since about 1200-1400 B.C. It is one of the most durable man-made building materials used around the world. The Romans used it and even today, the concrete dome of the Pantheon in Rome still exists. Concrete seems like it can last almost forever. To get rid of it requires concrete saws, demolition hammers,…
Polished concrete is a wonderful alternative for industrial flooring with many great benefits. And one of the benefits is that it’s a beautiful “low maintenance floor”. But don’t make the mistake and assume that means “no maintenance” or that the floor can be cleaned just any old way. Both assumptions are wrong. There are two ways…
Research is now showing that there is a direct link between achievement and behavior in school, and the overall condition and appearance of the school. Okay. I’ll be the first to admit that I was not the best student in high school. There were just too many distractions for me while I was in school.…
“You Make Me Feel Brand New” was a 1974 hit by the Stylistics. Even though I haven’t heard that song in forever, just reading the lyrics got me to whistling the tune. But being brand new and feeling brand new are not the same. And being brand new is entirely different than looking brand new. Looking…
Have you ever thought that you were created to work? According to the Bible, work is God’s gift to man. If we look at work that way, then our work is a blessing to us. For several years now, we’ve been blessed with our fair share of work and then some. Our associates put in…
In most industries, there will come a day when the facility will shut down for repairs and cleaning. The question of whether or not to shut down just doesn’t come up. Most likely it will shut down. It’s very hard for some industries to sacrifice their production to shut down for repairs and cleaning. The…
According to national statistics, nearly two million people receive disabling injuries at work. One-forth of these injuries involve the head, eyes, hands, and feet. Hazards of every type exist in just about every workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that employers must protect their employees from these hazards. When the hazard can…
$300 billion. That’s an estimate of the annual cost of corrosion in the U.S. And that includes just about every industry sector in the U.S. Corrosion is a term used to describe the deterioration of a material as it reacts with its environment. If you are talking about iron, then you and I know it as “rusting”.…
OK, this may be something you already know. And then again, it might not be. But contrary to what some people think, cement and concrete are not the same thing. Cement is a material used to make concrete. In a broader sense, cement is a general name for something that binds things together. So is glue. But the…
“My daughter believes in preventive medicine” the mother said to the doctor. “Oh, really” replied the doctor. “Yes. She tries to prevent me from making her take it!” When it comes to our health, most of us probably understand how important it is to eat the right foods, exercise regularly, have a yearly physical, and…
When our concrete floor polishers leave your job-site, you have a beautiful, light reflecting, and durable floor. And one of the most beautiful advantages of a concrete floor polishing, other than the marble-like look, is that floor maintenance is minimal. Minimal, but essential! Dirt is terrible for concrete floor polishing because it grinds down the polished surface of…
There is a very good reason you find polished concrete floors everywhere. It’s a choice flooring material. Polished floors can be shiny and marble-like, or they can be low sheen floors. Even old concrete floors can take on a high-gloss, almost marble-like appearance that never needs waxes or coatings. But a polished concrete floor is more than…
If you travel any of the highways in the southeastern United States, you are very likely to see one (or more) of our 15 red Ford trucks. Since 1983, Blackwell’s, Inc. has provided service to industries in the southeast. We specialize in Industrial Cleaning, Concrete Polishing, Concrete Floor Coatings, Concrete Repair, and Dry Ice Blasting.…
Cleaning is pretty much a fact of life, and unless you do the cleaning yourself, somebody else does it. That’s where we come in. We’ve been in the industrial cleaning business since 1983 and we work in some of the most well-known industries in the southeastern United States. These industries have all kinds of equipment, storage tanks,…
Sooner or later, and at a most inopportune time, most of us will have to use a public restroom. It’s one of those things we can’t necessarily avoid (unless we just decide to stay home). And a public restroom, it seems, is either maintained well, or not at all! And if not maintained, the end…
Yesterday, my 2 year old grandson was sliding down the plastic slide at the playground. He discovered that he could slow himself down if he kept his arm rubbing against the side of the slide. That little bit of extra friction was all it took to keep his speed down. The same thing holds true for…
Think about our food for a moment. We enjoy a diverse abundance of low-cost food, and because we live here in the United States, we only spend about 6-7 percent of our disposable income on it. That’s less than any of the other 83 other countries for which the USDA tracks data. Now, that doesn’t…
Concrete is one of the most durable man-made building materials used around the world. Archeological evidence dates its use as far back as 1200-1400 B.C. Something that’s been around that long is pretty darn durable. But . . . concrete can deteriorate. Freezing of trapped water, the effects of sea water, even certain bacteria and…
Regardless of what an industry produces, the floor has one thing in common with all the other industrial floors . . . they are made of concrete. The strength and durability of concrete makes it a great floor. However, concrete is porous, and that allows it to absorb water and other fluids. A solution is…
Some time ago, my wife complained that our new vacuum cleaner would work for a few minutes and then shut off. After a few minutes it would work again . . . and then shut off again. I knew it must be overheating for some reason, but after checking and clearing the hose and roller…
Have you ever had a bottle of cooking oil with a tiny crack in the bottle? If you have, then you know what a mess it can be to clean up the cabinet that it’s stored in! We have. And that’s why we store the bottle of oil in a old cake pan in the cabinet.…
No one here at Blackwell’s, Inc. likes to be called “The Boss” especially the boss. But the company officers and salesmen here (including “The Boss”) understand the difficulties our guys in the trenches face and these men are willing to roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty, and dive into any challenge. Just last…
It may sound like a good idea, but just using water to clean a polished concrete floor doesn’t really clean it very well. Water leaves much of the dirt on the floor, which will eventually abrade and discolor the surface. Using a polished concrete floor cleaner is important. So how does a cleaner work that…
It’s a messy job. And without precautions it can be somewhat of a dangerous job. But if done properly, sandblasting is a very effective way to remove rust from steel and cast iron. Sandblasting has been around since about 1870. Media blasting, as it’s generally called now, has changed over the years, but the process…
Let’s imagine you are the manager of a large industrial facility and discover, in an area you know has various lines and pipes buried, an obvious leak in one of the lines deep underground. After running a few tests, you determine it just a water leak. Now your thoughts turn to digging up the ground…
To answer this question, lets establish that rust is a product of combustion. Really? Isn’t combustion what happens when something burns? Well, yes. But more specifically it’s what happens when something reacts with oxygen to produce heat and light, as in fire. So what’s fire got to do with rust? They are both a combustion…
Call it CO2 blasting or dry ice blasting, cleaning with frozen carbon dioxide pellets is one powerful way to clean a surface when you want to make sure it is absolutely clean, without harming it or polluting the surface with chemical residue. This specialized cleaning process uses tiny pellets of dry ice, blasted at supersonic…
Think about it. In any room (that is, if it is a normal room), the walls and the floor meet at a 90 degree angle. That angle can make cleaning the floor a difficult job. Mops, brooms and brushes just don’t reach into that wall-floor junction very well, allowing dirt and water to collect, which…
The beautiful shine of the floor alone makes polished concrete one of our most requested floors. Even old concrete floors can take on a high-gloss, almost marble-like appearance that never needs waxes or coatings. But a polished concrete floor is more than a beautiful shine. It’s a low maintenance and a very durable floor, too.…
It sounds like it could be a storm on an alien world somewhere, but imagine tiny, rice grain sized ice pellets, at a temperature of minus 109 degrees, being blown at supersonic speeds. A storm like that could do major damage, except it’s not a storm. It’s a gentle cleaning method. Dry ice blasting uses…
The challenges we face from day to day aren’t common in the average work place and it takes a level of commitment to accept these challenges. We perform unusual and challenging acts in our line of work, and we take on the unforeseen challenges of aerial work high above the ground almost daily. We were…
Because you do nothing. That’s right. The number one cause is neglect. To many people, a concrete floor appears to be dry, solid, and impermeable. But concrete more closely resembles a very hard, almost dry sponge. All concrete starts out wet (if it wasn’t wet, you couldn’t pour it). It can take years to dry…
It’s almost a given. If renovations or cleaning is going on, there’s bound to be some type of particulate (dusts) released into the air. To renovate, you have to tear down, and this creates dust. Dusts that are not contained make a bigger mess and a bigger area to clean up after the work is…
You may have heard the term ‘confined space’, but do you know exactly what it means? And if you are unsure what a confined space looks like, then take a look at this photo: In short, a confined space is: large enough for a person to occupy is difficult to get in and out of…
The month of August has some rather interesting trivia associated with it. Did you know that August is the month that birds begin flying south for the winter? Insects are nosier, weeds grow faster, and August is one of the months associated with “The Dog Days of Summer”. August is said to be the busiest…
One of the most beautiful advantages of concrete floor polishing, other than the marble-like sheen, is that the maintenance of the floor is minimal. But minimal DOES NOT mean NO MAINTENANCE. The durability of a newly polished floor and the length of time between re-polishing is directly affected by how well you follow an established…
When asked about his pitching, Walter Johnson, the legendary Major League Baseball pitcher for the Washington Senators is credited with the saying . . . “You can’t hit what you can’t see”. And I’m sure you’ve heard the more profound . . . “Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there”. Whether you’re…
How many of us give absolutely no thought to the system that makes it possible for us to have food on the table, clothes on our back, and a place to live? The answer would most likely be . . . most of us. Yet America’s food and fiber system, which includes farms, food and…
Polished concrete and coated concrete floors are both great floors in industrial environments. Depending on the industry, one floor might be a better choice than the other. Or, as in the photos below, a combination of polished and coated concrete might make the best floor choice. Regardless of which floor you choose, for the floor to look…
Go look around your yard and you’ll probably find something made of iron. If what you find is not protected in some way, there is a pretty good chance it’s rusting. Rust is a chemical reaction that happens when oxygen in the air or water reacts with iron in metal. It causes a loss of untold millions…
This is the second post written by Zach Cato, one of our CO2LD TECH dry ice blasting supervisors. This particular job was to use up the remaining dry ice left over from an ice blasting job at the same mill earlier that day. The before and after photos of the job are not as dramatic…
CO2 cleaning is seeing more and more use for a large variety of purposes. Also known as dry ice cleaning or dry ice blasting, CO2 cleaning is one of the most powerful ways to clean a surface when you want to make sure it is absolutely scoured, without harming it or polluting it with…
There’s always more than one way to do something. But . . . there may be only one way to do it best. Take loading a dishwasher. Yeah, you can turn all the spoons the same way, but invariably when the dishwasher starts, some of those spoons are going to lock together and not get cleaned.…
Flooring that has undergone industrial concrete polishing needs to be handled with care; it can no longer be subjected to the kind of treatments that you would use on the standard concrete of, say, your garage floor. Knowing the proper cleaners to use on your polished concrete is integral to the prolonged life of…
Epoxy coated floors are highly durable and can last for years, even decades with proper maintenance. But the durability also depends on the way the coating was applied. Coatings require the concrete to be cleaned and either mechanically or acid-etched to roughen the concrete surface for good bonding. A failure in the preparation of the…
Does a concrete slab and the cruise control on a car have anything in common? Well, . . . sort of both are influenced by homeostatic principles. Homeostasis simply means that things are regulated so that internal conditions remain the same or stable. Take the cruise control on a car. It’s set by the driver to maintain a…
A confined space, according to labor-safety regulations, is an enclosed area with limited access. They are not designed for people, but people do enter them to perform certain jobs, such as cleaning the interiors or repairing machinery that might be housed inside the confined space area. Just by the nature of our industrial cleaning work,…
Running a business is much more than deciding on which products to sell, it also requires an eye for layout and design. While the most commonly considered features may include shelving or decoration for walls, it would be a serious mistake to overlook how your floors are presented. Without the proper treatment, concrete floors may…
Dry ice blasting is well known for being an efficient method for cleaning. One of the big advantages of cleaning with dry ice is the cleanup after the actual cleaning. Because dry ice sublimates back into the atmosphere (turns back into CO2 gas without becoming a liquid first), the cleanup is much simpler. There is…
It’s not an easy job cleaning a silo. These structures can be up to 200 feet tall and 90 feet in diameter. Cleaning the interior of these silos are a challenge and require special training and techniques to enter these confined spaces. Zach Cato, one of our Blackwell’s supervisors wrote a description of the work…
As time progresses, the popularity of dry ice blasting continues to grow along with the number of people who have experienced the wonders of this alternative cleaning solution. Yet, there are still a staggeringly high number of people in industrial occupations that have yet to hear about what CO2 Blasting can do to help their…
12 foot logo in epoxy with urethane topcoat on concrete. There is no denying that an attention getting floor graphic does just that . . . it gets your attention. Especially when it is as beautiful as the floor graphic we recently installed at Pratt & Whitney. Successful companies invest a lot of long, hard work to build…
If you’re in need of a method of cleaning the surface of equipment and machinery, your first thought might be to use sand blasting, plastic bead blasting, or soda blasting. Unfortunately, for as popular as these mediums are, they are also damaging to your equipment. There is, however, a faster, more cost effective, and entirely…
You can’t count on just luck to keep you safe. Confined space safety training for new associates at Blackwell’s, Inc. It takes planning, effort, consistency . . .and a little prayer every now and then. We do all these here at Blackwell’s, Inc. and CO2ld Tech. 1000 days. That’s the number of safe work days we’ve gone…
If you are a DIY (Do It Yourself) type of person, then you probably know a lot of stuff the average guy doesn’t know. Take painting for instance. A DIY knows that an already painted surface, lets say . . . kitchen cabinets, needs some preparation work before repainting. You might be tempted to NOT do any preparation work,…
Walk through the checkout lane at just about any discount or grocery store and you’ll find tabloid magazines with some rather bizarre story headlines on the cover page. 80 year old warehouse floor before renovation. At a quick glance, the photo to the right might appear to be something worthy of a tabloid story. Intersecting, parallel rails on…
The big news this week in Georgia has to be the little bit of snow that caused big problems in Atlanta. What’s a couple of inches of snow going to do? A lot! It may not look like much, but that little bit of snow caused huge problems for some of us here in the south. Just…
Dry ice has been around for . . . well, since God created everything. No one invented it, rather it was discovered back about 1834. It’s not found naturally occurring in nature. Not on Earth, anyway. But on Mars, yes. Dry ice pellets used in dry ice blasting Since it is now used to clean…
Sometimes, pieces of equipment can get so “gummed up” with contaminant and residue that they stop working efficiently, and may even jam up. Dry ice blasting is perfect to help solve that problem. Even different materials on the same piece of equipment can sometimes be a problem to clean for risk of damaging the equipment.…
We’re proud to say that we’ve got some of the most experienced, highly qualified dry ice blasting crews in the dry ice blasting business. Our crews hold the following licenses and certifications: Confined Space Certification Hazardous Materials Training LLP Safety Training Program Lock-out/Tag-out Certification Respirator Protection Certification Bloodborne Pathogens Certifications First Aid/CPR Certification PFP/FPP Training…
We all want our food to be safe to eat. Thankfully, our food industry products are made to high standards of quality and safety. Cleanliness in the industry, if not paramount, is close to the top of importance in food safety. Every process has to start someplace. In the food industry, it starts with a…
Well, the answer can be . . . YES. Smoke from a fire can contain all kinds of different chemicals. Not only does smoke cause stains when it comes in contact with surfaces, but the chemicals in the smoke are deposited on the surfaces, too. The smoke stains are bad enough to have to deal…
Our unsung workers make their living cleaning equipment used in some of the most well known and vital industries in the southeastern United States. These hardworking men can often be found inside this equipment and in some of the most confined spaces imaginable. Keeping this equipment in production means periodically stopping production for maintenance. Cleaning…
It hurts to lose a floor coating job when one company bids a job according to the construction specifications and the company winning the bid doesn’t. It’s like the idiom “comparing apples to oranges”. The specifications provide a number of lists and instructions for the installation, including the materials to be used, how and where…
We’ve just launched our new CO2LD TECH dry ice blasting website. Actually, it’s the same site, just with a new look. It ‘s not finished yet, but we are updating the information. Check it out at www.co2ldtech.com . Blackwell’s Inc. LaGrange, GA 706-883-6239 www.blackwells-inc.com
You’ve seen the effects of rust. It causes a loss of untold millions of dollars each year. Rust is in general, the oxidation of a metal surface. It’s a chemical reaction that happens when oxygen in the air or water reacts with iron in metal. The problem with iron (as well as other metals) is that the oxide formed…
“Safety first” is a slogan that we as adults should teach our children even though they may never fully appreciate it until they themselves become adults. But it’s a slogan that we emphasize almost constantly in our line of work. Our work requires us to be in many industrial environments throughout the southeastern United States. …
When living creatures exhale, they give off carbon dioxide(CO2) gas. In simple terms, under high pressure and low temperature, CO2 gas becomes a liquid. Take this liquid CO2, release the pressure, and the expansion of the liquid and the high speed evaporation of the CO2 cools the remainder of the liquid CO2 down to its freezing…
You recognize rust when you see it, but do you know how it got there? The red dust on iron or steel forms when the oxygen in the air reacts with the free iron in the metal to make iron oxide, or rust. Water speeds the whole process up by mixing with carbon dioxide in the air to form…
Quick! Think of an oven. You probably thought about your kitchen oven. I would have too. But ovens encompass a whole lot more than just a kitchen. For everything that requires heat processing, there’s an oven. From cooking our food to curing the paint on a new car, an oven is used.
Because of the nature of our work, we will find ourselves in many industrial environments, many of which have confined work spaces which require special trainings and skills to enter. While most industries have guidelines which follow OSHA’s rules, we require all our associates to not only receive and meet the individual industrial plants’ specific safety requirements,…
We all know that energy costs are going up. Yes, it is steadily increasing, and so is our energy consumption. According to a report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), wholesale electric prices have increased by double digits since the first half of 2013 when compared to the same period in 2012. Wow! That takes…
It’s believed to have first been observed in 1834 when a French chemist opened a container of liquid carbon dioxide. By opening the container, the pressure inside was reduced and some of the liquid carbon dioxide vaporized. This caused a very rapid lowering of the temperature of the liquid carbon dioxide remaining in the container. It…
Sometimes it’s really hard for me to see a floor before we coat it, and the same floor after we coat it, and believe it’s the same floor. The smaller photo shows the gray epoxy coating on a floor in the workroom of an office building. It’s been there for years.
Yesterday, my youngest sister asked if she could have the old wooden flour bowl our mother used when she made biscuits. All three of us siblings knew where she always kept it . . . in the lower kitchen cabinet of our beloved homeplace. Old flour still clings to the inside of the cabinet walls where the flour…
By now it should be pretty obvious that we are in the industrial flooring business. We can tell you that your floor is a huge investment, so choosing an industrial floor is a most important consideration for you. Which is best? Polished industrial floor with an epoxy coated pedestrian aisle. Both floors look good and…
Kids see it firsthand by looking at the clouds in the sky and feel it firsthand when they touch a glass of cold water. They may not understand it just yet, but one day they will learn that water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into a liquid, forming clouds and water on the outside…
Rusty interior of a latex storage tank before cleaning. I’ve said on this blog before that confined work spaces can be dangerous places. But in the industrial cleaning work that we do, we routinely find ourselves in confined spaces. We’ve found that industries in general lack the training and equipment to safely clean the storage tanks, ovens, pits,…
Smoke and soot damage to floor joists after a furnace fire in the crawlspace. Even though it was a relatively small fire confined to the crawlspace of the house, the smell of smoke was extremely invasive and unpleasant throughout the house, long after the fire was out. The fire occurred in a heating unit in…
It wasn’t a life or death emergency. But if you are an industrial manufacturer and your supply line shuts down, and you can’t make your product, then you have an emergency. Such was the case with a food manufacturer. Moisture buildup in a tall grain silo caused the wheat bran it was housing to clump together. The…
You may be standing there, scratching your head, trying to figure out what could have damaged your concrete floor. After all, isn’t concrete known for its strength and durability? True, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be damaged. And damaged concrete can create damaged equipment. Concrete floors are not immune to damage by impact, abrasion, harsh chemicals,…
It probably wasn’t the best idea, but who of us has not acted before we thought something through . . . completely? Floor tugger as it was delivered to us. Molten plastic was emptied into the plastic lined box, which ran through the box, encasing the tugger in hardened plastic. Perhaps there was no time to…
The concept of “shot blasting” has expanded and is now usually called “media blasting” because it uses different types of “shot” or “media” to do different types of jobs. Media blasting is an important tool for us in our industrial coating work. Shot blasting to remove rust and peeling paint from the top of…
To enter the silo, our associates are equipped with supplied air, safety harness, ear and eye protection, tyvek suit, and a communication device. When we send one of our guys into a confined space, such as this 100 foot tall silo entry hatch, we send a guy that’s trained to work in tight, dangerous places. Not…
Imagine for a moment, your industrial concrete floor turning into a food additive. That is a wild thought! But the possibility is there. You see, acetic acid (think vinegar), used in car manufacturing and other industries, if allowed to react with concrete, forms calcium acetate. Calcium acetate is used as a food additive. Acetic acid, even though it’s considered a…
Put a little water on the floor and just about any restaurant kitchen floor and bathroom floor, and just about any building entrance on a rainy day, can become slippery. Slippery floors can mean nasty falls. A slip-resistant decorative quartz epoxy floor. Enlarge the picture and you can see the texture of the floor. One solution is…
Ductwork before cleaning. Exhaust fan before cleaning. Take a look at these top two photos. You’re looking at almost an inch of debris accumulation inside the ductwork and exhaust fan from an industrial oven. Not only does the accumulation reduce air flow, which translates into higher energy costs, but it can cause the electric fan motor…
There is a lot in a name. And you’ve invested a lot of time and hard work to make your name recognizable. Epoxy floor system with a urethane topcoat. Why not imbed your name permanently in your floor? We have the ability to install just about any image you can imagine onto the many different types…
We’ve all probably wished for a chance to get a new look. But the older I get, I’ve come to realize it’s just not going to happen. But with an old concrete floor, some dramatic changes can happen. 80 year old concrete floor cut into 8 in tile and polished. The light, irregular areas on the…
It was used extensively during the Roman Empire and freed the Romans from having to use stone and brick material in their construction projects. Concrete, as the Romans knew it, was a great advancement in construction engineering. It was so advanced that, even today, the concrete dome of the Pantheon in Rome still exists. Concrete…
After you’ve been in the floor coating business as long as we have, there’s very little that surprises us. But one floor in particular became a journey into unexplored territory. And one that caused our project manager a few sleepless nights! These pads were constructed so that they were within 3 mm of level on…
There are many cleaning applications where using dry ice to clean with has a clear advantage over using water, sand, and solvents. Think about heavy, outdoor equipment. If it’s outside, then that’s probably a good application for cleaning with sand or water. Delicate equipment after cleaning with dry ice. Cleaning with dry ice can be…
Go in just about any industrial facility in the United States, or anyplace else in the world, and you’ll see tanks, vats, and barrels of all sizes and descriptions, inside and outside the facility. What do they contain? ANYTHING. They can contain anything that is needed to process the materials produced by the facility. Liquid hazardous materials…
With the exception of Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel’s tv program “Dirty Jobs” most people would go out of their way to avoid some of the dirty, oily, dangerous jobs we do, but that’s what makes us successful. It all started back in 1982. Back then we were known as Blackwell’s Chimney Sweep Service. We…
Safety first. That’s a slogan that we grow up with as children and often never fully appreciate. But here at Blackwell’s Inc. it is something we take very seriously. We work in many industrial environments throughout the southeast. Our goal is to provide our associates with current accurate information regarding safety and how to apply…
The specialized equipment used in today’s industries require specialized cleaning techniques. Plant managers, engineers, and maintenance personnel are seeing the advantages of using dry ice blasting to clean this equipment. In case you don’t know anything at all about dry ice blasting, I’ll tell you 4 things about it: “Dry Ice Blasting” uses frozen CO2…
Well, for starters, it’s a type of cleaning. The “blasting” part of the name evokes an explosion. And that’s sort of correct (at least on a minuscule level). As you can tell by the name, it uses dry ice, or frozen CO2 if you prefer to call it that. Dry ice pellets being added to dry…
30 years ago, we were known as Blackwell’s Chimney Sweep Service. But a lot has changed for us since then. Blackwell’s has deep roots in confined space cleanings. Back then, when the chimney sweeping period slowed, we needed something to do to stay busy, so we started doing pressure washing to supplement our work.…
Indoor air quality is generally much more polluted than the air outside. But when indoor building renovations or indoor cleanings take place, the air quality indoors can get much worse. This often is a major issue for industrial facilities. 10 X 30 containment room constructed to prevent dusts and residues from contaminating nearby equipment during this concrete floor…
Everyone will agree that technology is growing at an unprecedented pace in the 21st Century, and along with this growth, certain previously unknown problems have arisen. Partial and catastrophic failures in micro and nano circuitry due to electrostatic discharge on the production line are a relatively recent phenomenon. Electrostatic discharges can create severe issues with…
Multi-color epoxy system with a chemical resistant urethane topcoat. We pride ourselves on installing a coated floor system that you will be proud of and will last for a long time. Newly installed coated flooring systems should be cured a minimum of 72 hours at 70° F. before any wash downs. Only warm water…
It’s nice to have all the time in the world to get things done. But you can bet a construction contractor does not have that luxury. For construction work to remain on schedule, a contractor has to have all the work completed on time . . . one sub-contractor has to have his work…
Let’s say you are a Plant Manager of a company that uses electronic circuits and technology to make a product. Now let’s say you are having problems caused by failures in the circuitry. What’s a possible cause of this? It could be static electricity. Most elementary school kids know about static electricity. They’ve seen their…
Sulfuric acid damage to a concrete floor. While coated flooring often requires less maintenance than other type finishes, cleaning and removal of any chemical spills must be performed. Chemical spills should be neutralized, washed down with water, and removed as soon as possible. This is typically achieved by using a squeegee to remove the excess…
There are 3 primary causes that result in premature shine deterioration of a polished concrete floor: Using harsh chemicals Using harsh brushes and pads Doing nothing But the number one cause is . . . DOING NOTHING! That’s right. The number 1 cause is neglect (or just using water). The final sheen of a polished floor…
Clint Greathouse, Safety Coordinator at Blackwell’s Inc., recently completed the OSHA Course Occupational Safety and Health Standards for Occupational Industry at the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta. This training is one of two OSHA courses that, once completed, will authorize Clint to train employees from the construction industry…
“Freckles Frozen Off With Dry Ice” That was a headline from an article printed in 1933 about an Italian doctor using dry ice to remove freckles. Keep in mind now that dry ice is minus 109 degrees F. That’s COLD. The article went on to say that the dry ice was in contact with the freckle for…
Polished concrete floor in an Army base warehouse We would like to think that your polished concrete floor looks as good today as the day it was installed, but unless you’ve done a good job cleaning, it probably doesn’t. Dirt is the enemy of a polished concrete floor. Here are some…
What you should do daily to care for your polished concrete: Blackwell’s Inc. recommends the regular removal of dirt and debris using a gritless sweeping compound daily. Using sweeping compounds that contain emollient-laden granules will attract and remove dust while leaving a reflection enhancer. In high traffic or heavy soiled areas, using an auto scrubber…