Atlas in on ground floor

BUILDING SOMETHING: Paul McDonald, second from left, owner of Atlas Total Construction, and employee John Chantre, left, work on the new Johnson & Wales University garage at 115 Cedar St. in Providence, In the background are construction worker Eric Hagopian, left, and foreman David Taylor. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
BUILDING SOMETHING: Paul McDonald, second from left, owner of Atlas Total Construction, and employee John Chantre, left, work on the new Johnson & Wales University garage at 115 Cedar St. in Providence, In the background are construction worker Eric Hagopian, left, and foreman David Taylor. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

When the business is commercial floor construction and finishing, the month of August means ‘Back to School’ in a big way.

Atlas Total Construction Services LLC, which owns a 3,000-pound, ride-on floor scraper, was in and out of school buildings across Rhode Island and Massachusetts all month, in some cases just weeks before students were to return to class.

Owner Paul McDonald, who started the business in 2011, said his company was finishing floors at Salve Regina University, Johnson & Wales University, in the Cranston public schools, and at a school in Concord, Mass. as well.

“August, every year, is insane with school jobs,” he said.

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The heavy commercial equipment used by Atlas Total Construction Services includes the floor scraper, which scrapes up tiling, coatings, and other floor applications, as well as a 1,200-pound floor grinder.

A third machine, a “shot-blaster,” allows Atlas crews to shoot tiny BB-like shots into flooring, in a similar process to sand-blasting, breaking through any coating that would prevent the bonding of a new application.

The niche service is in demand in commercial and industrial buildings. The company recently refinished flooring at the Hobby Lobby in Seekonk, at several Staples stores, and it previously applied an epoxy floor to the kitchen at the R.I. Convention Center in Providence.

The resurfacing work also is found on parking decks. Atlas Total Construction Services recently completed subcontract work on a Johnson & Wales University parking garage in Providence.

McDonald, who spent 20 years in construction before opening his own business, said what he likes most about the work is its variety. “Every job is different,” he said.

Business has been steady, with his five employees working six days a week, he added. During slow periods, typically the winter months of January and February, he takes contracts outside New England to keep everyone working consistently.

Hobby Lobby, for example, is likely to provide additional work throughout the year at stores in other parts of the country, including Ohio, Texas and West Virginia.

The absence of routine is what keeps him interested in the work. He recently signed a contract to remodel 60,000 square feet of flooring at a mall, in Kingston, Mass., that is undergoing a substantive overhaul.

“It’s something different every day,” McDonald said. “You’re dealing with different people, different challenges.” •

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