American Services AR installs secondary containment coatings across Arkansas: novolac epoxy, spray polyurea and hybrid linings for tank dikes, containment curbs, sumps, trenches, drum and tote containment cells, and loading pads. Bare concrete makes a weak containment surface: it is porous, it cracks, and its joints leak. We clean and profile the concrete, repair the cracks and joints, and build a chemical-resistant lining to a measured thickness, matched to what you store. Novolac linings start at $12.00 per sq ft of coated surface at 2,000+ sq ft, and we schedule around production with 24/7 scheduling. Since 2010: 3,500+ jobs, HAZWOPER-trained crews and $2M in general liability coverage.
What Our Secondary Containment Coatings Cover
Fuel & Oil Tank Dikes
Containment Curbs & Berm Walls
Drum & Tote Containment Cells
Sumps, Pits & Trenches
Loading & Transfer Pads
Generator & Transformer Pads
Secondary containment is the second wall: the dike, curb, pit or pad that holds a release when a tank, drum or line fails. Spill pallets and portable berms are products you buy. We coat the permanent concrete structures, and the containment coating is what makes them hold.
Spill Containment Requirements: SPCC and Arkansas Rule 23
Oil: the federal SPCC rule. EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule (40 CFR 112) covers facilities that are not transportation-related, have more than 1,320 gallons of aboveground oil storage capacity (counting only containers of 55 gallons or more), and could reasonably spill into navigable waters. Bulk storage containment must hold the largest single container plus freeboard for rain, and diked areas must be “sufficiently impervious to contain discharged oil” (§ 112.8(c)(2)). The same language covers animal fats and vegetable oils (§ 112.12), which matters at Arkansas food and poultry plants.
Hazardous waste: Arkansas Rule 23. At permitted hazardous waste storage facilities, container storage areas need a base free of cracks or gaps, a way to drain liquids, and room for 10% of the container volume or the largest container, whichever is greater. Arkansas then adds § 264.175(b)(2), the impermeable coating on every surface. These areas must also be inspected weekly for deterioration of the containers and containment (§ 264.174). A plant that only accumulates its own waste before shipping it is usually a generator, not a permitted storage facility, so this section may not bind it.
Where we fit. We do not write or certify SPCC plans or calculate containment capacity; your plan’s engineer or environmental consultant does. We are a coatings contractor: we build and repair the secondary containment coating your plan or permit calls for and leave you the records: prep, products, thickness readings, photos and test results.
Novolac Epoxy, Polyurea or Hybrid: Choosing the Chemical Containment Coating
The right chemical containment coating starts with your Safety Data Sheets: what the containment could hold, at what concentration and temperature, how long a spill might sit, whether rainwater or vehicles are on it, and whether the concrete is still moving.
Novolac epoxy (40–60 mil). Novolac resins crosslink more densely than the standard epoxies used on most floors, so they resist acids, solvents, fuels and heat far better. It is our standard system for fuel and oil dikes, chemical curbs, and drum and tote containment cells. The tradeoff is rigidity: it will not stretch across a crack that keeps moving, so cracks and joints are repaired first.
Spray polyurea (about 80 mil). Sprayed hot through a plural-component rig, polyurea sets in seconds, builds full thickness on vertical walls, and stretches with the concrete instead of cracking with it. Crack-bridging fabric goes in at cracks and joints. It handles petroleum products and many chemicals well but is not a universal barrier, so we check the manufacturer’s chemical-resistance data for your exact chemical.
Hybrid (100+ mil). A flexible polyurea base topped with novolac epoxy: crack bridging and chemical resistance together, for old, cracked dikes holding aggressive chemicals.
Polyurea and hybrid systems need dedicated spray equipment, so a qualified spray subcontractor applies the polyurea and your quote names that partner. Our crew still handles prep, concrete repair, supervision and documentation.
How We Prep and Line a Containment Area
Walk, measure, match
We measure floors, wall faces and tops, note tank supports, penetrations and drains, and match the system to your SDS and plan.
Pump out and degrease
Water and residue come out, then hot water degreasing with the wash water recovered. Coatings do not bond to oil.
Remove and profile
Failed coating comes off, and the concrete is ground, shot-blasted or abrasive-blasted to the profile the product requires, typically ICRI CSP 3–5.
Test and repair
Moisture testing, then crack and joint repair, rebuilt edges, a coved wall-to-floor joint and sealed penetrations, all on the same schedule as the lining.
Build the lining
Primer, then the lining to specified thickness, checked with a wet-film gauge, carried up the walls and over the tops so no edge is left for a spill to get under.
Test and document
Where your spec calls for it, spark (holiday) testing to ASTM D4787 finds pinholes. You get the record: areas, system, thickness, photos and return-to-service date.
Cure Time, Weather and Working Around Production
Most containment surrounds live tanks, so we work around saddles, legs and piping. Before any lining comes off, we agree with your EHS team on the spill containment procedure for the job: emptying or isolating a tank, temporary containment, or relining one cell of a multi-cell dike at a time.
We coat only when the surface is at least 5°F above the dew point, so Arkansas humidity, summer heat and fall rain all shape the schedule. Polyurea sets in seconds; novolac epoxy needs days to reach full chemical resistance. The product data sheet sets the cure, and your written schedule shows the return-to-service date. With 24/7 scheduling, work can run nights, weekends and planned shutdowns.
Inspecting, Repairing and Recoating Existing Containment
SPCC requires regular inspection of aboveground containers and their supports and foundations, and frequent checks for oil inside diked areas (§ 112.8(c)(6)). Call us to repair or recoat a secondary containment coating when an inspection finds:
- Cracks through the lining or concrete, especially at the wall-to-floor joint.
- Blistering, peeling or lifting at edges, tank legs and penetrations.
- Bare, chalky or stained concrete showing through.
Small defects are patched; widespread failure means relining. Before rainwater is drained from a dike to a storm drain or open water, SPCC requires it to be inspected, with the bypass valve otherwise kept sealed closed (§ 112.8(c)(3)). Contaminated water has to go to a licensed hauler for disposal; that is a separate line, arranged with you before work starts.
During an active release, follow your spill plan and call your emergency-response contractor or our emergency spill response team first; once it is cleaned up, call us to repair and recoat. Keep the record we leave for each area we coat with your inspection file, so the next call starts with your history in hand.
Crews Built for Plant Work
Our crews are trained to OSHA 10 and 40-hour HAZWOPER and work to your orientation, permits and PPE rules. Sumps and trenches that are permit-required confined spaces are planned with your permit program before anyone enters, and priced as their own line. At Department of Defense installations, we hold a DBIDS card for base access. For plant floors, battery rooms and chemical storage included, we are a Sherwin-Williams installer for epoxy and polyaspartic floor coatings. We are PWNA and UAMCC members and carry $2M in general liability ($1M per occurrence, $2M aggregate). Our crews have worked for Amazon, Costco, Microsoft and Love’s Travel Stops, and your COI and W-9 go out before the first visit.
Secondary Containment Coating Cost
We price secondary containment coatings per square foot of coated surface (floor, wall faces and wall tops) and publish starting rates so you can budget before you call. We walk the site and send a written, line-item quote. Where a tier break would make a larger area cost less than a smaller one, the job is billed at the higher total, so the price never drops as the area grows. Coating projects of $50,000 or more are contracted through a licensed Arkansas commercial prime contractor, with American Services AR as the coating subcontractor.
| System | What is included | Starting rate |
|---|---|---|
| Standard — novolac epoxy | 40–60 mil lining for containment structures (floor, wall faces and tops): fuel and oil dikes, SPCC curbs, drum and tote containment cells | from $12.00 / sq ft at 2,000+ sq ft · $15.00 / sq ft at 1,000–1,999 sq ft · under 1,000 sq ft bid lump sum, never below the job minimum |
| Heavy Duty — spray polyurea | About 80 mil on floors and berm walls, crack-bridging fabric at cracks and joints; applied by a named spray subcontractor | from $13.00 / sq ft at 2,000+ sq ft · $16.00 / sq ft under 2,000 sq ft |
| Maximum — hybrid | 100+ mil: polyurea base, novolac epoxy topcoat | from $17.00 / sq ft at 2,000+ sq ft · $20.00 / sq ft under 2,000 sq ft |
| Sumps, pits & trenches — reinforced novolac | 1/8-inch reinforced novolac system for sumps, pits, trenches and wheeled-traffic areas; usually done on the same trip as the dike lining | quoted per job after a free site walk |
| Job minimum | Per job; includes mobilization within 60 miles of Conway | $9,500 per job novolac · $11,500 per job polyurea or hybrid |
| Moisture barrier | When the slab fails the moisture test | +$2–$4 / sq ft |
| Cove and curb detail | Wall-to-floor coves and curb-edge detailing (wall faces and tops are in the sq ft area) | $8–$15 / linear ft |
Battery-room and chemical-storage floors, curbed or not, are priced on our industrial epoxy floor coating page; this page prices the curbs, dikes, sumps and dedicated tank or drum containment cells.
What changes the price: measured area, wall height and number of cells, concrete condition, chemical service, access around tanks and piping, and distance. Confined-space entry, dike water pump-out and disposal, removal of existing coating, waste profiling of blast dust from fuel-contaminated concrete, shot-blaster, compressor and HEPA rentals, and anti-slip aggregate are separate lines. Above the job minimum, mobilization is also a separate line. Example: a 40 × 30 ft dike with 3-ft walls, 1 ft wide, is about 1,200 sq ft of floor, 420 of inside wall face and 140 of wall top. That is roughly 1,760 sq ft, which falls in the 1,000–1,999 sq ft band: about $26,400 in novolac at $15.00 per sq ft, before mobilization and other separate lines.
Get a Secondary Containment Coating Quote
Send the location, the dike or area dimensions, what is stored (SDS), and your plan or permit spec if you have one. The site walk is free and we send a written quote. To move faster, text us photos of the dike, curb or sump before the walk.
Secondary Containment Coatings in Little Rock, Conway and Across Arkansas
From our Conway yard, we coat containment for commercial and industrial sites across Arkansas: plants around Little Rock and its port, North Little Rock and Pine Bluff, food and poultry plants in Northwest Arkansas, the steel district around Blytheville and Osceola, the chemical plants of El Dorado and Magnolia, and the industrial sites of Camden and East Camden’s Highland Industrial Park. Above the job minimum, mobilization is a separate line, and travel beyond 60 miles of Conway is quoted separately.