Trend Talk 2004: The Future of Floor Care

Floor care will become easier, safer, and hopefully more lucrative for distributors in 2004 — at least that’s the prediction of a few knowledgeable distributors from across the country.

Bob Hauth, major accounts coordinator for Regal Distributing Co., Lenexa, Kan., says his company only recently added floor machines and sweepers to its line, but predicts sales in the $50,000 to $100,000 range in 2004. According to Hauth, business has been “phenomenal” and he expects continued growth.

“For the coming year, we see things improving in terms of supplying newer products and maintaining floors,” he says. “This is due to new polymers and new technology. These advances have been incredible and will make life easier for everyone involved in floor care.”

Today’s new floor seals and finishes are zinc-free copolymers.

“Customer safety is enhanced because they don’t contain heavy metal,” Hauth explains. “Nor do they contain formaldehyde, caustics, phosphates solvents, dyes or butyl. So there’s no chemical odor. If customer safety is enhanced, that means liability is reduced.”

For new floor strippers, the move is toward non-ammoniated, low-odor products. “Reducing emissions of VOCs has been a real boon, particularly to health care institutions, where people are present 24 hours a day. For staff and patients, low-odor strippers are much less intrusive. They’re almost neutral,” Hauth says.

Green products in general will take off in the next three to five years, Hauth predicts.

“Worker safety is critical, too,” he adds. “So at our company we emphasize [worker safety] plus labor savings and liability reduction. We train people in the proper use of these products.”

Purchasing Picks Up
In McHenry, Ill., Brian Schwerman, president of the Dura Wax Co., is also optimistic that more people will be buying automatic scrubbers in 2004. He says many people have bought automatic scrubbers from him in the last two years, even though Dura Wax is a catalog house — generally an uncommon source for these types of purchases.

According to Schwerman there aren’t many, if any, new floor care methods today, but there are a lot of new products that are basically doing the same things that have always been done in floor care — only better. “Systems, for example, that enable you to mop wax in with greater efficiency.”

Another trend is that flooring manufacturers are now promoting either low-maintenance or no-maintenance floors, but Schwerman is skeptical about their quality. “In our area, a new school put down a rubber-type gym floor. The manufacturer didn’t recommend any coating for it: no sealer, no floor finish. I was called out there because the floor kept getting marked up every day. The floor was a mess and the only way they could get rid of the marks was to scrub it with heavy soap or heavy degreaser.”

There’s a definite movement in the floor care sector toward productivity, Schwerman adds. “A lot of people who have never wanted to spend their dollars now realize that owning automatic scrubbers will enable them to cut one or two people out of their workforces.”

Rick Schott, president of Factory Cleaning Equipment Inc., Batavia, Ill., also believes that capital expenditures for floor care equipment will pick up in the coming months.

“We see the economy improving. And the changes in the tax law that make it easier to write off equipment depreciation will also help,” he says. “There’s been so much holding off on such expenditures in favor of putting Band-Aids on machinery, that it’s getting to the point that companies are being forced to upgrade their equipment.”

Although business in the industrial sector is picking up, managers and owners are gun shy of hiring new people, Schott believes. “That’s why capital expenditures are more for ride-on equipment instead of walk-behinds. People are opting for productivity. They’re trying to do more with less. That’s where the riders comes in.”

Long-Term Care
Everyone in the floor care business agrees that durable and long-lasting floors are ideal. And they agree that proper floor maintenance will ensure an attractive appearance and extend the useful life of flooring.

“That’s one of the things we try to promote. A lot of people still don’t know what to do to maintain a floor and yet cut back on their time. Instead of stripping floors every time, we’ve always recommended deep scrubbing and then coming back to coat your floors,” Schwerman says.

Schott’s company serves customers whose facilities mainly have concrete floors. “With new concrete floor types, the trend is to take bare concrete and make it look good, rather than putting a coating on it. They put pigment into the concrete mix during construction to give it color, and then come back with hardeners and burnish it to give it a good shine. These floors never need to be waxed. But that’s good for us because these floors, which are like the ones you see in Sam’s Club or Home Depot, have to be scrubbed on a regular basis to maintain them.”

Linda Achilles, vice president of operations, Pyramid Two Janitorial Supplies and Equipment, Inc., Ft. Myers, Fla., looks for a good year in 2004. “In Florida, and especially in our area, we’re experiencing very good growth right now and seeing good capital expenditures. But around the country, capital expenditures are really related to their geographic economies.”

Some trends, however, extend nationwide.

Floors that were previously limited to upscale facilities, such as marble, granite and other natural stones and aggregates, are now more affordable for average and even small-sized businesses, she says. “Facilities in the past that would have probably installed standard linoleum or VCT flooring are now installing tiles, stones, woods, etc. That’s new for a lot of contractors or maintenance departments,” she says

“We’re seeing more vacuuming of hard floors because backpack vacuums are becoming more advanced, and easier to use. And with IAQ being such an issue, that’s a very positive step.

Has she seen any new products? “Microfiber dust mops are very new. Lots will happen with them in the industry. And in the last year we’ve seen permanent, ultraviolet-light activated coating being reintroduced. It still needs a lot more testing, but I think that in floor finish applications, it’s a very important step,” Achilles says.

Jordan Fox is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer and editor.