The Causes Of Flooring Failure By: Daniel Frimml Finding the factors that cause floor failure and figuring out how they can be avoided. F Image courtesy of McKevinShaughnessy/iStockphoto/Thinkstock Flooring, whether it is hard surface or carpeting, is typically one of the most costly capital invest-ments a building owner makes in a facility, and when something goes wrong, it can be another costly investment to repair it. A good example of this is when individual floor tiles or entire parts of a floor start to loos-en from the floor backing (or substrate) or begin to buckle. When this kind of flooring failure occurs, it is of-ten blamed on poor installation. However — and unfortunately — the methods used to clean and maintain the floor can also play a role. Daniel Frimml is a techni-cal service coordinator for Tornado Industries, a lead-ing manufacturer of profes-sional cleaning equipment. He may be reached through the company website at www.TornadoVac.com. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Flooring . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select BUYERS’ GUIDE from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Floor Care . While many floorcare chemicals today are effective at cleaning floors, they may contain ingredients that can make their way below the surface, where most flooring failures will begin. 20 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • July 2013
CMM – Archives July 2013: 20
