Choosing the right floor finish for any commercial facility may seem like a complicated process. If you have no prior experience with commercial floor surfaces, then this could be completely foreign to you. It’s a good idea to find somebody, a consultant or someone who already works in your maintenance personnel, who has extensive experience working with a variety of floor surfaces to talk to him or her about which finish is optimal.
For example, part of the facility you manage may have ceramic tile for the floor surface. As such, would a typical wax that would be applied to a linoleum tile floor surface be a good idea?
Not really. That’s because this type of wax would ultimately make the ceramic tile as slick as ice. You wouldn’t want people trying to walk across that surface and putting themselves at risk.
In fact, a ceramic tile should already have its own finish built into it (or, more accurately, burned into it).
As far as concrete or even polished concrete, the floor finish may not actually be necessary. If you have a regular concrete floor surface that has either been painted or is going to be part of a warehouse style facility, you won’t need any type of finish for it. You will, however, need to make sure it is properly maintained on a daily basis.
Just sweeping the common walking areas isn’t enough. It should be washed and cared for just as any other floor surface.
For linoleum tile surfaces, which happened to be the most common among many commercial facilities, a basic wax finish is optimal. It doesn’t have to be fancy, thick, or expensive. As long as it covers the surface, can be washed thoroughly, and will not cloud over time, this will help your maintenance department keep your commercial facility looking its best for a long, long time.