Hot Tips (Seamless Surfaces)

Seamless Floors Keep Maintenance Simple, Offer Performance, Flexibility

• By Kendall Speer Ellis
• 09/01/15

Planners choosing flooring materials should consider the big picture when they are addressing ease of maintenance. There are endless options in colors and style; you can find that in most every category of flooring, but finding a floor that meshes with overall design, meets all the performance standards and promises to be easy to clean can be challenge, however it is critical due to the traffic, messes and day to day wear and tear on a school floor. Planners should look for seamless, resinous hard surface floors, such as epoxy and urethane poured floors. These “hard” surfaces are resilient, but seamless is the key. Seams and grout lines collect dirt. Dirt invites bacteria. This is not only a maintenance problem, but also a health issue.

Seamless surfaces can work just about everywhere, from kitchens to locker rooms to corridors and classrooms. The design elements provide tremendous design flexibility; you can incorporate shapes, designs and custom colors to define a space any way you chose without sacrificing performance characteristics (stain, abrasion and impact resistance) and ease of cleaning. Think for example about the popularity of the multi-purpose room. This room’s purpose might change over eight times in one day. The floor stays the same, but the uses vary and everyone’s needs are accommodated. More importantly, the maintenance staff can move in and out of the room quickly to ready the floor and the room for the next function. A seamless, resilient system meets all these needs, plus keeps noise down and is easy under foot.

In addition, seamless, non-wax surfaces are sustainable; a non-wax surface will result in lower life-cycle costs. Also, the use of a urethane-based seamless systems provides increased chemical and stain resistance, particularly in laboratory applications.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .