If you’ve stopped by the lab recently you may have noticed our fantastic new flooring!

Like most things in the lab, there is a bit of a story behind it. When we first got the keys to the lab space back in 2017, we had to remove an old wood dance floor. The space used to be a dance studio (hence the awesome wall of mirrors).

We realized that in order to convert the space into a lab, we needed a safe, durable and nonporous floor, so the dance floor was quickly dismantled and removed. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that the floor underneath was a strange, soft kind of concrete, one that did not etch well with acid, or hold our new epoxy treatment. The chipping and peeling issue got worse quickly, so after several failed attempts to patch the floor, we decided to cover it up and start anew. Not an easy feat given the lab is full of benches, equipment and supplies!

Thanks to many wonderful volunteers, we were able to install the new waterproof, vinyl plank flooring over the course of 3 days, from Feb 23 – 25th, 2018. The biggest challenge was moving all of the lab equipment back and forth to free up floor space for the install. We managed to get the job done, however, and are thrilled with the results! We hope you are too. If we get a chance, we may post a cool time lapse video of the install process. Stay tuned!