Floor Care Is Important. Here Are 4 Reasons Why.

Proper floor care is a critical component in nearly every aspect of a business. Whether it’s carpet, wood, or tile flooring, it’s important to maintain your floors in the workplace. Constant foot traffic inevitably tracks in dust, dirt, and other allergens that disrupt your business’s workflow and appeal. However, well-kept floors are only half of the equation to ensuring a positive impression of your building. Depending on what type of business you conduct, your floors may or may not compliment your operations—or worse—cost you money. It’s only natural to want to keep your floors looking great, but is it necessary to invest in a professional floor care service? Yes, it is, and below are a few reasons why.

Clean floors are the expectation, not the exception.

With every step inside of a building, the floor is right there underneath you. Although many areas are covered with pieces of furniture, most of it is still visible to your customers and employees. When you walk into a building with well-kept floors, you immediately take notice (even if for a brief second). However, the same is true when you encounter a building with dirty floors. The only difference is, dirty floors compel you to leave rather than stay and do not make a good impression. Floors set the tone for your customer as soon as they walk in.

A clean and shiny foundation provides them with a feeling of comfortability and creates a sense of trust in your facility whereas neglected floors make them question what the rest of it will look like—assuming they’re willing to tread onward. If your building is brand new, you’ll likely receive compliments (or at least no complaints) on your floor. Yet, unless you invest in professional commercial floor care maintenance, it won't always be that way. The condition of your flooring is representative of your company's professionalism, attention to detail, and level of cleanliness. Simply put, when was the last time you had the desire to revisit a dirty facility? The answer: never.

Safety takes priority.

Although the appearance of your floor is important, the topic of safety takes precedence. Floors that have been worn down or not properly tended to, pose a serious hazard to anyone that enters your facility. Cracked surfaces and slippery floors are some of the largest contributors to injuries in the workplace. Depending on the surface, basic sweeping won't do much to prevent slips. Sweeping does nothing in terms of creating a slip-resistant surface. If anything, the tiny particles of dust being swept around act like sandpaper--slowly eroding the friction needed to maintain proper footing.

Accidents happen, but if it's preventable, why take the risk? Entrusting a quality floor care maintenance team is important if you want to reduce your risks and limit your liability. A team of professionals understands what chemicals to use and when to use them. Moreover, they know when a floor needs to be waxed, stripped, or replaced entirely. They can also assess the durability of your current flooring and whether it's suited for the day-to-day operations of your business. For example, companies that occupy commercial space that was previously occupied by a different company may want to consider a change. Carpeting in a warehouse or wood flooring in a distribution center don't make a whole lot of sense, yet many businesses inherit the previous company's flooring in an effort to save money.

Flooring is complicated. But it doesn't have to be.

If your facility has carpeted floors, then it's likely that they handle a substantial amount of foot traffic. Carpet is quickly being replaced by more durable surfaces like marble and terrazzo due to maintenance costs and its susceptibility to deteriorating more quickly than other types of flooring. The recommendations for carpet cleaning vary, but if your facility is experiencing a high volume of foot traffic every day, it would be wise to consider more frequent cleanings. Now, if your facility deals with hardwood flooring, the effects of deterioration are more difficult to spot. A typical indication of wear comes not from foot traffic, but from fading due to the sun.

To restore your hardwood floors, special techniques will be required. Water and soap should never be used to restore or clean hardwood floors because wood can warp and splinter if too much water gets absorbed. That's why it's important to be aware of your surrounding environment. Regions that deal with humidity are not places where hardwood flooring is recommended. Once hardwood is warped, it needs to be replaced--costing you money.

‍Other types of flooring such as bamboo, laminate, vinyl composition tile (VCT), concrete, and stone, all required customized cleaning solutions that you may simply not be aware of. The good news--there are more options for flooring than ever before, so depending on your facility's needs, you can choose a surface that suits your business. The bad news--these new types of flooring present new challenges to floor care providers, so it's important to partner with a team that's up-to-date on the latest technology in the floor cleaning industry.

Worry about your business. Not your floors.

Flooring is expensive. Taking proper care of your facility's floors will undoubtedly save your business money long-term. But as a business owner or facility director, you already have a lot on your plate. Dealing with safety issues, insurance liability, handling chemicals, assessing floors and understanding the composition of different surface materials can easily become overwhelming--and it's probably not in your job description.

Hiring the right commercial floor care provider will never leave you asking, "Are the floors in my building clean enough?" With the right partner, you’ll have consistently pristine floors that speak for themselves. Best of all, it'll reduce your workload and allow you to focus on business-related tasks. OpenWorks is guided by a simple philosophy: A cleaner, safer and healthier environment means a more productive workplace. For more information on how OpenWorks can benefit your facility, visit our website here.