4 Things You MUST Know About Floor Maintenance

Why you can’t afford not to have your floors serviced once a quarter/month.

Your floors get more abuse and wear than nearly any other area of your building or office. Neglecting to maintain them will cost you thousands of dollars that you would not ordinarily spend. Preserving the life of your floors is not just good for the appearance of your office or building but it is great for the bottom line as well. While it is true that there is an expense to having your floors maintained, the cost of replacing those floors, one or two or more years early, is considerably more expensive.

Another expense that most people do not consider is the cost of lost business. When people come into your business and your floors have marks, scratches, stains and worn spots, it sends a message that you are not a quality business. Its probably not true, but that is the unspoken message. On the other hand if they walk in and see clean, shiny floors there is an unspoken message that this is a quality business. I’ll address this again toward the end of this article.

Floor Finishes are not all the same

Today manufacturers of floor finishes create finishes for a variety of applications. Some are extremely hard and require very little maintenance. The down side is that they are usually very expensive and so is the labor to apply it. These finishes are also extremely difficult to remove when it comes time to refinish. Why should you care? Because these floor finishes are long lasting but expensive.

There are other finishes, the most common, that are less expensive to purchase and apply but will require more attention to keep them looking new. These finishes come in both a flat or satin finish or a high gloss. Maintaining these finishes is not overly expensive but to maintain the look of the newly finished floor will require constant attention (see the comments below).

There are finishes for exterior use, for hospital applications, concrete, vinyl flooring, laminate floors, stone and wood. Each has its own characteristics and requires a professional cleaning company to properly maintain them.

I want my floors to shine like the grocery store

Grocery Stores, or my personal favorite is Target, do have great looking floors, but it comes at a cost. Stores like this spend a lot of money making sure those floors never look dirty. They want the image because the image sells. So what do you do if you don’t have thousands of dollars budgeted to keep your floors looking good?

One preventative step is to have your janitorial service company dust mop more often with a Microfiber dust mop or increase the weekly damp mopping with Microfiber Flat mops. This will keep as much dirt as possible from scratching the floor and causing excess wear of the finish. Periodic scrub and re-coating of the floor finish will help keep the finish looking new without burnishing or buffing floors nightly.

Another preventive measure is to use walk off mats at all exterior entrances or entrances from shop areas where excessive dirt can be tracked in. Studies have shown that up to 90% of all dirt that is brought into a building comes from foot traffic. Walk off mats can reduce wear on carpets and floors by as much as 60-70%.

The Janitor just needs to mop better

I hear this all the time. What most people don’t understand is that when a finish wears off of the floor, dirt finds its way into any and all pits and scratches. Mopping alone will not resolve this. Once the floor finish is worn off and the tile itself is exposed, staining is also a real possibility. Once tile is stained or dirt is deep in pits and scratches, mopping is not going to help, this will require machine scrubbing and refinishing of the floor. At this point it is even possible that the floor has been damaged to one degree or another.

Trust me, your janitorial crews are not happy about the condition of your floors either. It makes them look bad and it is much more difficult to do their job to your satisfaction when the floors and floor finish are damaged. Working with your cleaning company to create a regular maintenance schedule will help alleviate your frustration and theirs as well.