The office is a second home to most working people. For that reason, maintaining the appearance and functionality of an office space is of utmost importance. When it comes to keeping floors clean and maintained, people often ignore sealing the tile floors. Without floor sealing, the floor’s appearance can deteriorate, and the expected life of the floors can be shorter. Additionally, unsealed floors can even cause potential health hazards that could affect building occupants.
Floor Types to Consider for Sealing
To seal or not to seal? We can answer this question once you determine the type of floor in your workspace.
The floor types are divided in three categories:
- Hard
- Soft
- Resilient
They are further divided in the following types:
- Hardwood
- Laminate
- Marble
- Terrazzo
- Cork
- Bamboo
- Linoleum
- Concrete
- Stone
- Glass
- Brick
- Tile
Tile Flooring
Tile flooring has the following types:
- Vinyl
- Ceramic
- Quarry
- Porcelain
- Encaustic
- Mosaic
- Cement
- Natural Stone
- Terracotta
The floor material’s porosity determines if it needs to be sealed to provide the best appearance, performance, and durability.
Common Flooring Types in Offices
The two most common types of tile flooring used in office settings are Vinyl or Ceramic tiles. Most vinyl flooring installations are Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT), which is normally recognized as 12” square tiles. On the other hand, ceramic tile comes in a larger variety of shapes and sizes and is normally recognized by the grout lines between the tiles.
Key Reasons for Floor Sealing
Are you wondering if you need to seal your floors? The straight answer is “Yes, you do”. If you have any type of porous flooring, you need to seal it. This includes VCT, grout for Ceramic Tile, concrete, natural stones, and some types of linoleum. Let’s delve into the “WHYS”.
1 – Prevents Staining
Cleanliness in an office keeps your employees and clients attracted to visit and work at your place. How could you ensure decorum and cleanliness with a stained floor? Sealing ensures the pores of the flooring or grout are sealed to prevent staining caused from spills or any dirt that gets tracked in. Remember: timely cleaning of spills will also play a vital part in keeping the tiles free of stains.
2 – Prolongs Floor’s Life
Periodic sealing of Ceramic Tile grout, VCT, and other porous floor surfaces will increase the durability and performance of the floor. The sealant provides a resilient protective layer to the floor’s surface serving to guard against micro scratches and soils that are present with foot traffic. Maintaining a good seal on floor surfaces helps to reduce wear of the actual grout or flooring material, thus, prolonging the life of the floor. On top of that, sealing also saves in potential repairs that otherwise may be required to floors or grout caused from excessive wear and tear. Ultimately, sealing maintains the floor’s appearance for a longer time period.
3 – Makes Cleaning More Effective
Protective sealing helps make the daily mopping of floors more effective. It can reduce floor cleaning labor and time up to 50%, which is a notable and helpful difference.
4 – Promotes Hygiene
With proper sealer, any spills (including in restroom areas) won’t penetrate the pores of the floor or grout. This means you can clean the floors without any residue left behind. As a result, there is less chance of bacteria growth, subsequent odor, and potential pest infestations. Overall, sealing porous floors will promote good hygiene in your workspace. Thus, professionals recommend sealing in the following facilities for optimum hygiene:
- Medical
- Food processing factories
- Bathrooms and kitchens in restaurants, offices, and other public spaces
5 – Prevents Mold Growth
Another threat to hygiene is the growth of mold. The Environmental Protection Agency warns that it can grow any place, especially in moist areas. Thus, bathroom and kitchen are ideal places for mold growth in porous floor tiles and grout lines. Mold is an issue of health as well as aesthetics, since it causes unsightly staining on the floor, and usually affects walls too. Ideally, proper sealing of porous tiles and grout lines reduces mold growth.
Upshot
Sealing not only gives your floors a better appearance, it also can help avoid premature wear and tear. It will help to prevent staining, extend the floors useful life, and promote healthier hygiene for any workspace. Generally speaking, floors are subject to high traffic and “abuse”, therefore, sealing porous floors is unquestionably a beneficial decision in the long run for you as a facility or property manager.
Your Next Step?
If you are in search of professionals who can help you keep the floors in your office space looking their best with no trace of stains and dirt, your best step is to contact Square Feat.
We are an expert group of floor maintenance professionals who are at your service round the clock. We help you perform and secure your job more efficiently by performing floor maintenance and other janitorial services for offices, medical, and other types of commercial settings.
Please, call us today at 480-777-0605 or CLICK HERE to find out more details about our services and to get a quote.
