Caring for less common surfaces

Hard floor surfaces are far more durable than soft or resilient floor surfaces. They usually can take many years of concentrated use before replacement is necessary. But since some of these floors make up such a small percentage of what is found in a typical facility, workers may not be as familiar with how to care for them. Here is a look at some of these more durable surfaces and how to maintain them:

Concrete can either be a base under other types of flooring or can stand alone. It is subject to wear, but less so than most other surfaces. Concrete also is not easily damaged by cleaning chemical spills.

Housekeeping staff can protect concrete floors by using floor sealers and finishes. Some companies have products specially formulated for concrete, while others simply use the same products used on other types of floors.

Skilled workers can finish a new concrete floor leaving the surface smooth, or leaving it textured or patterned.

Unsealed concrete can offer significant slip resistance. When dealing with sealed concrete, however, care should be taken in choosing finishes which have a reasonable amount of slip resistance built in. There have been cases where someone in a facility liked the look of a floor coated with a concrete sealer, and did not apply floor finish on top. The floor became quite slippery when water was tracked in during inclement weather, posing an increased safety risk.

Terrazzo floors are composed of a matrix of marble chips mixed in an epoxy base. The chips usually are highly polished and in multiple colors chosen for a specific design.

Like concrete, terrazzo is very durable and tough, though acid spills, heavy impacts or high levels of wear can damage it. Terrazzo is easy to keep clean and looking its best. In most cases the same combination of sealer and finish used on concrete or resilient tile will work fine on terrazzo.

Stone surfaces can vary from marble and granite to slate and limestone. Some of these stones can be attractive, but unless the floor is designed to use a finish, these surfaces can be difficult to sweep with a dust mop. Finished stone floors will benefit from the same protection as hard and resilient floors. If they can not be coated, these floors may show wear or marks more easily.

Often stone floors have words or images incised into them for design or to give information, such as direction to a specific area of a building. If these cuts are not filled to the level of the floor surface with an inlay, they easily trap dirt or other debris, and can be hard to clean.

Stone can be attractive and durable but the initial expense is great and repair costs can be very high. Over the course of time, stone floors can develop ruts worn into their traffic areas, especially when there is no finish. The only way to remove such ruts is to sand them out with heavy-duty, stone-work equipment – something that is best left to a specialty contractor.

Quarry tile is expensive to install or repair but often has low maintenance costs because it is durable and often designed to not need a finish. If quarry tile is designed not to be coated with finish, it can have less slip resistance over time as its glazed surface wears smoother.

Brick has similar characteristics to quarry tile except it has a coarser surface. Brick can be a problem to clean due to its high absorbancy; it also may discolor if something is spilled on it.

Ceramic tile is used for floors and some walls in restrooms and locker room areas. It is usually durable and can be installed in attractive colors and patterns. The main thing to watch for with ceramic tile floors is when they are coated with floor finishes, they may not be designed as such. In restroom areas, this can result in the discoloration of the grout between the tiles. It also can result in odor problems from uric acid reactions with the floor finish.

Steel floor surfaces are not not common, but they do exist. Often these are elevator covers, gratings, stairs or manhole coverings. Most steel surfaces require painting to protect them from corrosion. Dry sand can be spread on the last coat of paint if a more aggressive, non-skid surface is desired. Water based finishes are not usually helpful in protecting these surfaces, however, epoxy based finishes can work well.

Epoxy floors usually are concrete or steel surfaces covered with an epoxy coating. Often these are non-skid surface areas surrounding swimming pools, on steel surfaces, or in other areas where a waterproof, non-skid surface is desired. There are cases when a smooth epoxy floor surface can be coated with floor finishes, but in most cases, floor finishes will undermine the slip resistance. Often, a non-skid epoxy surface can not be effectively swept or mopped, but must be cleaned by vacuuming, by water hose and squeegee, or with an automatic hall machine.