Just back from quoting the common areas in a mid-sized medical building (I run a janitorial service in Phoenix AZ). The building manager is having trouble leasing his vacant suites, partially because of gosh-awful looking ceramic tile floors and baseboards in the lobbies.
It's white tile, textured, with a darkened floor finish that is wearing off the traffic areas. Seems to have been applied with a string mop, because there is a line of the dark finish a couple of inches up the baseboards. Besides the appearance, and adhesion problems, the idea of adding a finish to a slip resistant, textured floor is not a bright one.
A competent janitorial service would never have put a conventional finish on the tile; had the building manager suggested it, said competent service would have refused, or at least educated the client while suggesting against it.
I proposed stripping, leaving the tile bare, and including a periodic machine scrub (to get the residue out of the grout lines and texture that mopping might leave behind), and maintaining it nightly with a HEPA vacuum and microfiber damp mop.
As they say, it's not rocket science.
A bit about us:
My firm, CBN Building Maintenance, provides commercial cleaning services in Phoenix AZ and the wider metro area. We've been in business since 1974; hold the BBB's A-plus rating; and have long been in the forefront of the industry in environmentally sensitive cleaning for health, safety and security. Our program can generally improve Indoor Air Quality, in the size range of most allergens, by a factor of 50%, as reflected in our ongoing IAQ sampling.
As a matter of fact there are a lot of flooring options you can choose from some of them are easy to maintain. thanks for the wonderful tip!
Posted by: engineered hardwood floors | 07/18/2010 at 08:09 PM
Thanks for the kind words. Nice product line, by the way.
Posted by: Bob Croft | 07/19/2010 at 09:58 AM
Great tips. I got ceramic floor in my basement and thanks for the really great tip on how to maintain ceramic floors so they can last for many years
Posted by: Anne | 05/20/2012 at 09:05 PM