Page 1 - 2017-09-CFR Volume 108 - The Importance of Exterior Maintenance

Volume 108—September 2017

I’ve always said that the biggest cause of flooring failures is the wrong product in the wrong place and
failing to live up to the expectations of the end user. The investment in flooring, which is sizeable in a
commercial application, is supposed to deliver returns for years. In essence, “get it in the door and
keep it on the floor” should be the mantra. But, even if you have the right product in the right place it
won’t deliver the performance it should if it isn’t maintained. You don’t want your flooring to ugly out be-
fore it lives out its useful life. In this month’s issue, Dane Gregory our guest
author and cleaning associate of LGM, begins a series on cleaning and
maintenance of commercial flooring. I think you’ll find this information eye
opening and an excellent source of information. Dane consistently resolves
cleaning and maintenance challenges on all types of flooring materials, soft
and hard, often when end users think getting their flooring clean and main-
tained is futile.

The Importance of Exterior Maintenance

In a series of articles, we will discuss the many variations of keeping flooring clean inside commercial
structures. Not only do we have a variety of floor covering options that need to be maintained, but the
amount and type of soil also needs to be addressed before maintenance operations can begin. In this
first of the series, we will focus on the first level of flooring maintenance which is the preventative strate-
gy.

Many building owners feel that the floor care program begins at the front door, and nothing could be fur-
ther from the truth. A well-executed long-term maintenance strategy begins on the street in front of the
building, continues through the parking lot, and winds its way across the sidewalk leading up to the en-
trance. The more time spent out here will mean less time and effort inside the building, whether you
have hard surface flooring, carpets or a combination of the two.

Let’s take a look at some of the exterior issues involved in building services. First we have sand, grit
and other seasonal debris just waiting to get inside to do some damage to carpet fibers, floor finishes,
and embed itself into any grout channel it can find. Depending on the type of mineral debris, sand and

1 Commercial Flooring Report September 2017