vct maintanance

[juniorc82]

I just picked up 3 maybe 4 good size vct accounts.I usualy only do a strip and wax every once and a while as an add on for some of my carpet custys. For whatever reason I had a grocery store huge pre school and a chain of gas stations fall in my lap. I am wondering on the grocery store how often I should expect to add additional coats of finish. I will be cleaning and buffing once a week. I did the original finishing when the store was being built and it has 4 coats of 20% solids , acrylic finish. I figure since I will be buffing with a propane, the finish will wear down more rapidly . I was thinking about adding an additional coat every other month , scrub and re surfacing at 6 months and an annual strip. I am new to vct maintanence and am open to any advice from those with experience doing large vct accounts.

 

[encapman]

As an old floor care guy (old in more ways than one), I may be able to share a few thoughts with you.

If the floor is in good shape, you won't need to strip right away, so that's a good thing.

FIRST: Maintain the floor. The floor needs to be dust-mopped or swept daily. Walk off mats need to be at the entrance. And the flor needs to be mopped nightly with a neutral cleaner. We always provided a bottle of free neutral cleaner for our customers.

YOUR MAINTENANCE:
(1) Dust-mop the entire floor. And scrub the floor once a week. You can use an auto-scrubber, a floor machine and wet-vac, or a floor machine and mop.
(1b) A much lamer approach is to just mop the floor. If you only mop the floor, you will still need to scrub the areas that require re-coating.
(2) Re-coat traffic areas as needed. A couple of light coats in the high traffic areas occasionally is all that's needed. You will only need to apply finish in the wear areas so avoid getting the finish anywhere close to the edges of the wall or in the corners - that just creates a build-up.
(3) Buff the floor with your propane buffer. Burnishing a good high-speed floor finish will mend the light scratches, bring the floor's appearance together, and will pop a brilliant shine. NOTE: Make sure there is plenty of fresh air circulating into the building while you run the propane buffer or carbon monoxide poisoning can occur (can be deadly).

You should be able to extend the interval between re-coating the floor if you use a high quality high-speed buffable floor finish. My favorite products have always been Pioneer Eclipse, but there are other good ones too. You can also maintain the floor by cleaning and buffing with a finish extender. I like Pioneer's Rebound because it cleans, helps restore the scratches, and pops a great shine when it's burnished.

Obviously the steps I outlined above are simplified - but it's a pretty honest assessment of what could be considered a minimum maintenance strategy that will yield good results. Hope these suggestions are helpful for you. If you need any help you can contact me.

 

[Jeremy]

As always sage advice from Rick above... Most grocery stores are serviced 2-4 nights per week some are done every day. Dust mop, Autoscrub and Burnish (basic service) at least 2 nights per week 3 is better. The more autoscrubbing you do the easier you recoats will be.

Also, take the initiative and change thier mopheads while you're there and launder them if they're OK with it. Just return the clean ones at your next service. A nasty mop is worse than no mop. If you can supply them with mop heads, dust mop shams and neutral cleaner so you save time and make a lil extra $..

The store staff should be dustmopping at least 3-4 times a day at the entrances & check out and twice or more everywhere else. They should also be spot mopping spills, tracked in rain/snow and mopping the store completey every night you arent providing service. You should count on this not happening... lol