January 21, 2022
Educational

What Flooring Is Used In Commercial Buildings?

Why is flooring necessary?

Let’s get down to the basics. Commercial buildings need flooring to help protect the concrete slab from wear and tear (damage) over time while providing an aesthetically pleasing finish to the space.  Damages that occur from all types of factors and cause unfavorable results. Someone spills their coffee? Expect a stain. Someone drops something heavy? Expect a divot. Concrete settling and cracking? Watch out for unlevel concrete.  Eventually, the concrete floor will need to be replaced or businesses could suffer from clients and employees encountering trip hazards, slippery surfaces, and grossly stained flooring.  Flooring comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, materials, and more. The material widely determines its durability and resistances to everyday abuse. Not all types of flooring are suitable for every flooring environment.  For example, you wouldn’t want to put carpet down in a warehouse or shop – which can be a place that has constant dirt and debris. It would be hard to keep clean and could stain easily. Instead, you would want a floor that would be smooth and easy to clean. It may not even have to be aesthetically pleasing but may need to be one color to show any potential spills to prevent hazards. 

What are the expectations?

When deciding on flooring for a commercial building, it is important to set your expectations. Setting an expectation will help provide value and perspective of the flooring. Factors such as durability, abrasion/scratch resistance, slip-resistance, aesthetics from an employee or client perspective, and how easy is it to maintain. These factors will allow you to easily decide between the pros/cons of each flooring type and if they are suitable for your commercial building and your budget. The reality is everyone wants the best bang for their buck and finding that equilibrium between value and longevity is key.  For example, say you are renting a commercial building and you will be moving within the next couple years. You mainly have light foot traffic in an office environment, so you need something to get you by until your lease contract ends. The amount of dirt and debris is minimal. Your decision could easily include cheap flooring so you can get by the next couple of years.  Or another example, say you are leasing a space for your restaurant. You most likely plan to bring a lot of business and feed your local community and have long term plans for the spot. There will be a good amount of foot traffic from customers and employees. Cleaning is an essential daily task so the floor needs to be cleaned of dirt and debris – so the floor needs to be easy to clean. Here is where your expectations are at: needs to be durable, easy to clean, and long lasting. You also know its costly to shut your restaurant down for any remodeling (such as flooring) so you probably need to spend money now for a good floor with all these factors rather than later. Having the right expectations will make sure you get the right value for your money and time later.  They all need flooring of different expectations.

Why Epoxy Flooring?

The best flooring for commercial buildings is an epoxy floor. You could argue that with so many options on the market how can you be so biased against one option? Easy. Epoxy flooring for commercial buildings is easily the solution for any floor as it checks all the boxes on every fundamental factor. 
  • Durable – Check
  • Slip Resistant – Check
  • Abrasion / Scratch Resistant – Check
  • Chemical Resistant – Check
  • Monolithic – Check
  • Easy to Clean – Check
  • Designable – Check
By nature, epoxy flooring systems are built-up by layers. When an epoxy floor is installed, the liquid coat is applied and cures (hardens) over a 24 hour period. From there, multiple coats can be applied in addition to build up layers creating for a thicker, or more durable floor.  The ability to add layers makes pricing for clients more flexible. More layers, more durability, more price. Less layers, less install time, less price. A benefit to applying an epoxy flooring system is that it seals off the concrete from all contaminants. Any trapped oils, chemical stains, grime, and even radon is sealed in helping relieve the space from exposure.  Epoxy flooring in a commercial building is very durable and easy to maintain. It is even cost-effective to repair it – sometimes requiring little to no downtime.  Lastly, epoxy flooring systems come in all colors and patterns making it highly desirable for any space within a commercial building. Let me elaborate more below. Give us a call today at (614) 918-7345 for your free consultation.

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