Three Things You Should Know About Flooring

28 February 2019
By Goran

There’s an often-used expression that is very relevant to our line of work – “Everything begins from the ground up”. Sometimes it may refer to the foundations of your building which may be very relevant to any structural issues you have, and at other times if will refer to the actual floor itself, upon which you conduct your business.

If your business is in hospitality, food production or industrial (or other related industries) you will know just how important it is to have a well-kept (at times, attractive), safe and non-slip floor beneath your feet.

Today we want to focus some attention on Flooring surfaces and discuss three things which are often either overlooked or taken for granted, but which in their own right are highly important in preserving the life of your floor and ultimately ensuring it’s safe for use.

All flooring will suffer wear and tear

We all think concrete is super hard-wearing. And it is – to a point. Similarly, floors with tiles, resins or even vinyl all start of resilient and fit for purpose, but like any surface put under the rigours of running a business, they will suffer from wear and tear and degrade to a point where they are hard to clean, or even unsafe for use. It could be time, or it could be a change in environment.

In fact. we often get called to jobs where we are shown a floor that shows visible signs of damage. Often this is due to the fact that what was laid in the first place was fit for purpose for one business type, but changes in ownership or tenancy mean the floor is exposed to different wear and tear. In commercial spaces, this is especially so where a change in occupant (say from a sandwich shop to a full café) may mean different cleaning chemicals, hot foods and fats instead of just sandwiches or sharp implements. These influences will potentially degrade the floor at a much faster rate.

Similarly, if you are in a commercial space in a busy office, your main reception area will see a high degree of foot traffic and will need a type of floor that can withstand high foot traffic and thus, instead of tiles, needs a solid surface such as an epoxy flooring solution, while work areas which hardly see any lack of action, can be coated with non-slip floor paint (resin).

The intricate balancing of style, function, and comfort is the key to making the right choice and prolonging the life of your floor into the next several years.

Flooring needs to match your business intent

You don’t want to take any chances when it comes to the health of your staff and your customers. Take for an example, a food and beverage facility, which can become toxic if you have the wrong flooring type installed.

Think about commercial space in a large office building. A shop in the retail area may once have been occupied by a phone repair shop. Foot traffic was low, the cleaning demands and damage on the floor was low too. Sadly, the business moved out and now your café has moved in. You plan to sell coffees etc and also make a range of food options which people can consume. Maybe it is just simple pastas, salads, sandwiches etc. However, these foods all have fatty acids in them and as they are dropped on the floor can make the floor slippery, and if not cleaned properly eat into the surface. As you clean them, your chemicals may exacerbate the damage making your floor unsafe to work on, and even worse given your business, lift the surface slightly allowing water to sit underneath and become a breeding ground for bacteria.
In other words, the wrong flooring could help breed bacteria and mould, putting the health of your customers at risk. It may not have been your fault the floor was there, but it is now your responsibility to ensure that you or the owners invest in proper commercial or industrial flooring (whatever your business) that discourages the growth of bacteria and other harmful microorganisms.

Safety should come first

When making flooring choices, safety is of utmost importance. Remember when an employee or customer falls or gets hurt, not only does it affect your reputation but it can be a major cost to your business. While choosing the safest type may seem challenging due to competing benefits, it’s really a matter of prioritising the most important factors such as slip resistance, manoeuvrability, cushioning, hygiene and maintenance, and comfort. Depending on your needs you may want to select a resilient heavy-duty industrial floor paint such as an epoxy flooring option or maybe an attractive yet, slip-resistant resin coating for a pedestrian access ramp.

Ultimately, each type of flooring option has its own merits and there is not a single type that is ideally suited for all conditions, especially since floors serve different purposes in different types of buildings.

When it comes to selecting your flooring, there is a lot to consider, whether it is knowing the functional requirements that exist in a particular room and offsetting this against both an installation budget or a maintenance budget, or to your expectations of cleanliness, aesthetics and durability. If you are unsure where to start, you are on the right site, we have 50 years’ experience in the application of the right floors for a diverse range of needs. Get in touch with the Remedial team now and let us help you to better understand which type of flooring will work best for your business.