Stonhard Delivers Bold Flooring Design for General Motors Showcase Area
Project Overview
At its automotive manufacturing facility in Ohio, General Motors wanted to create a highly decorative showcase space at the center of its facility. The project required a complete transformation, and GM selected Stonhard to meet the challenge.
Custom four-color Liquid Elements Reflect flooring creates a bold, brand-inspired centerpiece in General Motors’ automotive showcase area.
The finished floor features four GM-inspired colors and a satin finish, transforming the showcase area with a distinctive decorative design.
Extensive substrate preparation created the flat, level surface required for the 2 mm Liquid Elements Reflect flooring system.
Challenges & Requirements
In this area, the 75-year-old facility had a mix of steel shake concrete, aging concrete caps, newer concrete pourback, wood block, and poly block.These mixed substrates created an inconsistent surface with peaks, valleys, loose wood block, and failing concrete. Extensive preparation was required to address these issues and to create the extremely flat, level substrate needed to support the flooring system.
In addition, the selected four-color fusion design required careful coordination so that colors remained distinct with minimal blending across 8,000 sq. ft.
Crews installed Stonclad GS epoxy mortar following successful concrete crack treatment.
The GM facility’s flooring transformation, from prepared concrete to a finished Reflect floor.
Solution
Stonhard presented multiple mockups of Reflect, a liquid-rich, free-flowing seamless floor from its luxury brand Liquid Elements. Once the desired color separation was refined using pigments matched to GM's brand colors and decision makers approved the final look, preparation began for installation of the decorative 2 mm flooring system.
Existing wood block and failing floor patches were removed and backfilled with Stonset TG6, a high-strength grout. Using planetary grinders and shot blasters, crews reduced high spots across the substrate. Low areas were prefilled with Stonclad GS epoxy mortar to help level and flatten the floor. Following extensive crack treatment, Stonclad GS was troweled across the entire space to further improve the the concrete surface.
To aid in leveling and flattening the floor, a urethane waterproofing membrane was applied. For the final preparation step, Stonkote GS4, an epoxy coating, was applied, creating a clean, consistent canvas for the Reflect flooring installation.
Translating the approved Reflect mockup across the full space required a modified installation approach. Rather than using the typical technique to blend colors and soften rake lines, installers worked the colors separately to preserve their definition. Maintaining a wet edge to control where colors flowed and terminated to create a varied design throughout, required careful coordination. The result is the one-of-a-kind statement piece that reflects GM's vision.
This project shows that methodical preparation and the right flooring partner can turn a 75-year-old patchwork of substrates into a durable, brand-defining centerpiece.
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