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Before any maintenance begins,
it’s important to select the
proper flooring for its planned
use. Whether planning new construction
or rehabbing an existing building,
it’s important to determine the wet, slip
resistance of the flooring to be laid
down.
This will help you assess what problems
and responsibilities may be faced
when it comes to ensuring safety.
For existing floors, the Slip Resistance
Committee of the Ceramic Tile
Institute of America says there are four
types of surface treatments that affect
slip resistance:
• Cleaning;
• Coatings applied on-site;
• Mechanical alteration; and
• Chemical alteration.
Slip resistance of flooring is most influenced
by the surface actually walked on, which in some cases might be a
floor finish (“wax”) rather than the underlying
flooring. The underlying flooring
might have an effect, though, if its
roughness (under the finish, for instance)
affects the roughness of the
walked-on surface.
According to the CTIOA "Recommendations
for Maintenance and Other
Treatments of Existing Flooring for
Optimum Slip Resistance," some flooring
should not have finish applied,
since the finish could destroy the wet
slip-resistance of the flooring. Consider
safety as well as cosmetics and cost
when deciding whether to apply finish.
Always check the appearance and slip
resistance of a small test area before
treating the entire floor.
The CTIOA calls “maintenance”
routine periodic work done on the floor,
such as washing, coating with floor finish, buffing (150–300 rpm), high-speed
burnishing (1500–2000 rpm), or polishing.
Mechanical or chemical alteration is
typically only done a few times during the
lifetime of a floor.
Variables in Maintenance
The key variables in routine floor maintenance
are chemicals, frequency and
other procedures, agitation and soiling
collection methods.
Agitation and collection of soiling are
variously done by mops with buckets or
wet vacuums, or by scrubbing machines
with brushes or pads.
An auto scrubber can be a very effective
cleaning machine. It applies cleaning
solution to the floor, agitates it with a pad
or brush, and vacuums up the dirty water
between two squeegees into a separate
tank.
A very soft brush, such as a white carpet
shampoo brush, is often the best
choice for cleaning with an auto scrubber.
Stiff bristles on hard brushes tend to
skid over the wet floor on their tips without
making contact over greater bristle
length that promotes good washing. Pads
collect soil, which can then scratch glossy finishes to the detriment of the
floor’s appearance. If you use a pad, clean
or replace it frequently.
When using mops, consider dedicated
mops for specific areas so that the mopping
doesn’t transfer contaminants such
as grease from one area to the other.
Color-coding the mops can help keep
mops in their designated areas. Picking up
mop solution with a wet vacuum can be
much more effective than rinsing the dirty
mop in dirty water. Using a two-bucket
system makes it possible to rinse a mop
in clean rinse water rather than dirty,
soapy water.
Clean and/or replace mops frequently
so that they are not effective carriers of
soil, grease and bacteria. In some situations,
three mops are used to separate the
washing, rinsing, and drying processes.
Wood floor sweepers using terry cloth
can supplement mops as an aid in rapid,
uniform drying of the floor. Different areas
of a property (e.g. restaurant kitchen
and dining room) might need dedicated
mops to prevent cross-contamination.
For less transfer of contaminants, consider
using sponge mops rather than string
mops — sponge mops can be cleaned and rinsed more thoroughly. Some floors even
act as washboards, scrubbing dirt out of
the mop rather than the mop cleaning the
floor.
In the absence of an auto scrubber, wet
vacuums can be effective in lifting dirty
and/or greasy water after mopping a floor.
When mopping leaves the floor wet, be
sure to exclude pedestrians from the area
until the floor dries. Leave a dry, obvious
path for pedestrians to use to avoid the
wet zone. Place “wet floor” signs around
wet areas, but don’t leave the area unattended
— and pedestrians unwarned —
while you go to get signs. For spills, consider
storing warning signs inside trashcan
containers so the signs are available
at a moment’s notice.
Chemicals include sealers, cleaning
agents, strippers, waxes and other floor
finishes. Sealers can fill pores in pervious
floors so that soil and staining materials
are excluded, and material below the surface
stays below rather than rising to the
top and forming deposits. Penetrating/impregnating
sealers are intended to fill
pores in grout and pervious flooring and
are not necessarily intended to form a continuous
barrier on the top of the flooring.
Check the manufacturer’s instructions to
see if excess sealer should be removed
from the surface before it dries.
Cleaning chemicals help to thoroughly
wet, lift, and suspend soil or grease in the
wash water. Using either measuring cups
or proportional flow control, measure dilution
carefully according to directions —
don’t guess. Overdosing with cleaner
doesn’t necessarily improve cleaning, but
adds unnecessary cost and can leave a film
that becomes slippery under spills or wet
shoes. Some cleaners leave residues that
are more slippery than others.
Neutral cleaners (that is, neither acid
nor alkaline) are best for most situations,
but alkaline detergents may be more effective
in removing animal fats. Some situations,
e.g. certain cleaning agents in
kitchens — may require hot water. Never
use a powered laundry detergent on a
floor — it can leave a slippery calcite
residue.
Applied floor finishes may have a fairly
wide range of traction properties when
dry, but most are slippery when wet.
They are not permanent, but must be
maintained and/or stripped and reapplied.
Make sure at a minimum that the slip resistance
of the finish you use complies
with American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM) standard D 2047 for
dry slip resistance.
This is a laboratory test conducted by
the manufacturer to establish that the slip
resistance is adequate when the finish is dry
and clean. It applies to the finish only, not
to your flooring with the finish on it. Most
important, it applies to ideal laboratory
conditions, not real-world conditions. The
test has no relevance to wet conditions.
Before applying a finish to a large
floor area, it’s best to test it on a smaller
area for at least several weeks to check
for appearance and potential problems.
Disinfectants and highly alkaline or solvent-
based cleaners affect some floor
finishes adversely.
Most finishes are slippery when wet
unless professionally treated chemically
after application to create wet slip resistance.
The slip resistance of the floor finish
is not constant, but is affected by
what happens to the finish after it’s applied.
Buffing or burnishing may reduce
or increase slip resistance, and it’s important
to follow correct procedures as
specified by the reputable manufacturer. Also, make sure that dust particles of
finish don’t remain on the floor after buffing;
these can create a slippery situation
even when dry. To detect this dust in subdued
light, place a lighted flashlight on the
floor, so that its beam is parallel to the
floor. This will usually make the dust easy
to see.
Procedures cover the temperature, agitation
and collection methods, and chemicals
used, as well as the frequency of
their use and the practices of the people
who implement them. Floor-care staffs
often have annual turnover rates far exceeding
100 percent. In such a situation,
constant training and supervision
are necessary.
The training and supervision must
make clear that safety of the floor is as
important as its appearance and the direct
cost of maintenance. Indirect costs
of inappropriate maintenance include
the costs of injuries to employees and
visitors. ❑
Reference: Recommendations for
Maintenance and Other Treatments of
Existing Flooring for Optimum Slip Resistance;
Ceramic Tile Institute of
America. |
