Help VCT break room

[Andy12]

Greetings to all I just strip and finish 3000 sq ft and started a maintenance floor program with the client.
I used a floor finish25% solid from Johnson, put down 4 coats.
I started to burnishing with 1,500 rpm electric floor machine and the non-high traffic area looked like glass but the High Traffic break area did not look the same.
They have an in house person doing their janitorial duties.
Problems I am confronting:
1. The person does not move the break room chairs and cleans under the tables.
2. They mop the floor, they do not auto scrub the floor.This leaves a lot of dirt in the VCT floor.

I ran an auto scrubber with a red pad twice in the break room then a burnish the floor with a 3m white pad.
Any advice on what pad or product to use to make it look better?

Thanks for your time

 

[Shane Deubell]

Horsehair natural and mist some johnson snapbck before buffing.

Sometimes you have to try a couple different pad colors and test but i would use snapback for sure.

 

[Andy12]

Thank you Shane
I just dont want to use a pad thats going to scratch the floor.
http://www.cleanfreak.com/Qstore/custom/horse_hair_high_speed_pad_lg.jpg

will this work?View attachment 544

 

[steve frasier]

you really need a propane maching to get it to pop the wet look and some type of restorer product, white pad not agressive enough, I perfer the elastimetric (sp?) vanilla pads, they are more of a rubber pad

make sure they are using neutral cleaner to mop with

put blue pad on the auto scrubber, red isn't really a cleaning pad for that much dirt, unless you have an autoscrubber with pad pressure you can't hurt the wax

pads don't scratch the floor dirt in the pad scratches the floor, it may be to aggressive and get wax build up in the pad that will create swirl marks but doubt that will happen with an electric machine

hope this helps you

 

[floorguy]

Greetings to all I just strip and finish 3000 sq ft and started a maintenance floor program with the client.
I used a floor finish25% solid from Johnson, put down 4 coats.
I started to burnishing with 1,500 rpm electric floor machine and the non-high traffic area looked like glass (because there was no messing of the tile here)but the High Traffic break area did not look the same., Because the floor here is worn and does not reflect the same
They have an in house person doing their janitorial duties.
Problems I am confronting:
1. The person does not move the break room chairs and cleans under the tables.
2. They mop the floor, they do not auto scrub the floor.This leaves a lot of dirt in the VCT floor This is the least of the problems.....

I ran an auto scrubber with a red pad twice in the break room then a burnish the floor with a 3m white pad Now you have worn down the finish by scrubbing it twice (not to say it shouldnt be) but now you have worn off more finish....more so if you compare it against the non traffic areas....
Any advice on what pad or product to use to make it look better?
Uh how often are we doing this??? and how busy is it?? Break rooms are a PITA to say it nicely
Thanks for your time

so there ya go

 

[Andy12]

Good points, I understand that where there is not traffic it will look better.
My help question is what can I do to improve the High traffic area.Thank you.
We are doing the burnishing 2 times a month.
This was my first time burnishing the floor after I put the 4 coats down.Thanks for the help.

 

[Andy12]

you really need a propane maching to get it to pop the wet look and some type of restorer product, white pad not agressive enough, I perfer the elastimetric (sp?) vanilla pads, they are more of a rubber pad

make sure they are using neutral cleaner to mop with








put blue pad on the auto scrubber, red isn't really a cleaning pad for that much dirt, unless you have an autoscrubber with pad pressure you can't hurt the wax

pads don't scratch the floor dirt in the pad scratches the floor, it may be to aggressive and get wax build up in the pad that will create swirl marks but doubt that will happen with an electric machine

hope this helps you

Thanks for the tips, Yes they are using neutral cleaner.I will look into the blue pads if needed.

 

[Andy12]

so there ya go

When I presented the VCT proposal I had told the client 2 times a month , but told them it could change depending on the traffic.
Thanks for the help.I will suggest a more frequent burnishing for the break area.

 

[FLYERMAN]

Pay closer attention to the posts about using a better pad and a renew type product. If you put nothing on the floor like Snap Back the results will be less impressive. Returning the shine is what that stuff is/was made to do. Oh and you may find that you need a few more coats of finish before you get truly impressive burnishing results But that depends on the finish too.

And I second that fact that white is a lousy burnishing pad color. In fact "burnishing pads" are in a class all their own. Look for pads that are made for burnishing and stop using pads that are more or less made for scrubbing/cleaning.

 

[Dr Vapeur]

I have done break rooms and as I ready said the are a mess. If the surface has been removed there is not much that can be done. With the surface gone the small bubbles within the tile fill up with dirt and becomes very hard to get out. However, wash and scrub with lots of water in the area with the surface gone, use a vacuum to pick up the water.
Before putting down my wax I put a coat of primer (such as buckeye first down) on the worn areas first to try and fill in the bubbles. Most gets filled sucked into the tile. When I put down my surface I start with multiple coats on the worn areas and just a few coats on the other area. The idea is to build up the surface in the high traffic areas. You can make a break room look not top bad, but it takes a lot of work initially
Richard

 

[dealtimeman]

It comes down to what type of finish you used and what type of maintanance program that finish requires to reach the highest level gloss per number of coats applied. In other words find out what type of burnish the manufacturer suggest to use on their finish. Is it high speed, is it ultra high speed, is it half water half finish in a spray bottle with a 175?

As to the condition of the actuall vct there are certain thing you can do to improve the surface but you are already beyond that point as you have already thrown down the finish.

Is is you that wants the floor to look better or glossier or is it the customer?

Are you looking for depth, clarity, or shine?

Did you pick the correct finish to fit the expected results?

 

[Jeremy]

A propane burnisher should be in your future... Also you may want to check out some high speesd cleaner/restorer and more aggressive pads. Here is what I use & sell:
http://encapstore.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26&products_id=164

http://encapstore.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26&products_id=207

http://encapstore.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26&products_id=165

 

[Andy12]

It comes down to what type of finish you used and what type of maintanance program that finish requires to reach the highest level gloss per number of coats applied. In other words find out what type of burnish the manufacturer suggest to use on their finish. Is it high speed, is it ultra high speed, is it half water half finish in a spray bottle with a 175?

As to the condition of the actuall vct there are certain thing you can do to improve the surface but you are already beyond that point as you have already thrown down the finish.

Is is you that wants the floor to look better or glossier or is it the customer?

Are you looking for depth, clarity, or shine?

Did you pick the correct finish to fit the expected results?

Thanks to all the good tips and information.
We strip and finish all the 3,00 sq ft at the beginning of the month.I used Diversey High Mileage 25% solids.
I know that higher traffic areas are going to wear more than non-high traffic areas.
The break room does not look that bad, my point was what could I do to make it look better other than Top Scrub and recoat. I have that schedule quarterly. Around the areas where it has been worn down.
I have attached some pictures of the break room, small office high traffic area and a office with non-high traffic.
I have not received a customer compliant, the concern comes from me being a new bee what could I do to improve the shine.

Thanks to all. 1st pic is thebreak room,2nd is small office high traffic and last is non trafic office.

 

[Andy12]

A propane burnisher should be in your future... Also you may want to check out some high speesd cleaner/restorer and more aggressive pads. Here is what I use & sell:
http://encapstore.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26&products_id=164

http://encapstore.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26&products_id=207

http://encapstore.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26&products_id=165

Thank you for the information

 

[Andy12]

more pics
1ST AND 2nd are the break room 3rd is a non- high traffic office last high traffic

 

[steve frasier]

there isn't anything you can do about the chair except to get a plastic chair pad

get a bounce back type product and a better pad and you will be fine

4 coats of finish is fine, if you need a sealer first then you need to buy a better floor finish

 

[floorguy]

your good....but like what was said....BETTER PADS.....will help a ton...

also...those chairs are just going to ding it up...so dont sweat it to much

 

[Andy12]

your good....but like what was said....BETTER PADS.....will help a ton...

also...those chairs are just going to ding it up...so dont sweat it to much

\

Thank you for the help

I got some 3m pad with hog hair.
I will keep traying diffrent ones if they do not work.

 

[Andy12]

there isn't anything you can do about the chair except to get a plastic chair pad

get a bounce back type product and a better pad and you will be fine

4 coats of finish is fine, if you need a sealer first then you need to buy a better floor finish

Thanks Steve