USA Renovations Weekly
OUR PROJECTS – WAREHOUSE FLOOR IN DALLAS
Wonderful Polish Result for commercial warehouse space in Dallas
USING AGGREGATE FOR A BEAUTIFUL, NATURAL FLOOR
Concrete polishing can bring out the Natural beauty of Your Floors
There is a natural treasure buried just below the surface of a properly poured concrete slab. The multicolored natural aggregate filler used to strengthen your slab can be exposed and polished to a wonderful sheen
7 TIPS FOR MAINTAINING YOUR CONCRETE FLOORS
With a little care Your floors will Always look Great
Maintaining your Polished Concrete Floor
Concrete floor finishing is becoming a popular choice for homeowners due to its gorgeous look, ease of maintenance and affordability. Although they are easy to maintain, requiring only occasional sweeping, mopping and buffing, concrete floors will lose their brilliance if not properly maintained, especially in areas exposed to high amounts of traffic.
However, a properly maintained, polished concrete floor will last a very long time, providing homeowners with floors that are extremely beautiful, highly durable and slip-resistant. Here are seven simple tips for maintaining your polished concrete floors.
Tip #1 – Dust and dirt act as abrasives to any floor surface dulling their shine and need to be eliminated often. Therefore, it is recommended to dust mop floors daily. A microfiber pad should be used that is designed to trap dirt particles.
Tip #2 – Occasional wet mopping is also recommended. Clean mops and water should always be used. Large areas can be cleaned using an automatic floor scrubbing machine that utilizes a nonabrasive pad. A simple mop and mop bucket works well in small spaces.
Tip #3 – If you use a cleaner, choose one that contains a neutral pH. Acidic cleaners will deteriorate the concrete floor finishing more rapidly.
Tip #4 – When applying a neutral pH cleaner, allow it to remain on the floor surface long enough to break down grease, grime and other adhesive contaminants. Removing the cleaner too quickly will prevent particles from being lifted and suspended for removal.
Tip #5 – Although you want to leave the cleaner on the polished concrete floor for a short period of time, you also do not want to allow it to dry. To avoid this, only apply the cleaner to small portions of the floor and complete the cleaning process before proceeding.
Tip #6 – Ensure that any spills are cleaned up quickly to prevent absorption of the substance into the surface of the floor. Allowing spilled materials to remain on concrete floors can cause spotting and staining which require special treatment to remove.
Tip #7 – High-traffic areas should be cleaned more regularly than the lesser used areas of the home. A greater amount of dirt is deposited in such areas that can scratch and dull your concrete floor finishing. High-traffic areas may also require occasional buffing to maintain their illustrious shine.
If you follow these simple polished concrete floor maintenance tips, you can expect to enjoy the benefits for a very long time. Choosing the proper concrete floor equipment, cleaning products and scheduled maintenance services will also help to ensure your concrete floors stand out in brilliance and performance.
CEILING RESTORATION
CEILING RESTORATION APPLICATIONS
- Suspended Ceiling Tile Cleaning
- Grid and Ceiling Tile Installation
- Exposed Open Ceiling Cleaning
- HVAC Cleaning and Painting
- Facilities Maintenance
USA Renovations completes Ceiling Restoration projects all over the country. Ceiling cleaning is the newest most efficient method of achieving a new look to a location whether it be a super center or an office building. Every 6 years a ceiling begins to become noticeably dated with the dirt, grease, soot, bacteria and many other unsanitary substances that collects to the tiles or exposed bar joists. As an added benefit we work day or night hours to help in limiting the disturbance of customers. All techs are trained with the best and most current knowledge to insure a perfect operation. Our facilities maintenance services brings your locations look back to new and is being used over and over again by many large centers such as Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, office buildings and more.
OPEN EXPOSED CEILING BAY CLEANING
Open or Exposed Bay Ceiling Restoration consist of general cleaning dusting and brushing of all bar joists, horizontal pipes, electrical pipes and HVAC exterior ductwork. We also make available application of new paint on the HVAC ductwork system. We also clean and remove all cobwebs that develop over time on and between joists. With our years of experience we have developed a system that reduces the time spent at the job site while insuring an extra clean operation.
DROP ACT1 CEILING TILE CLEANING
Drop Tile or ACT1 cleaning is the industry’s most efficient way to bring your commercial ceiling back to a new look. Save money by cleaning vs. installing new ceiling tiles. Our system or ceiling tile cleaning includes sanitation of vinyl ceiling tile, grid system, vent exteriors, light fixtures, sprinkler heads, speakers, camera globes, vinyl coated grid stone tile. All tiles have applied an approved chemical that breaks down dust and dirt accumulated over years of activity. We then us a cleaning method that removes this grime wile protecting all product below with sheet plastic.
BASIC CONCEPTS IN POLISHED CONCRETE
USA RENOVATIONS SERVICES: POLISHED CONCRETE
USA Renovations has provided polished concrete services not only in the DFW metroplex, but also the 48 states. With integrity + results being the focus of the service we provide, we won’t settle for quality other than the best. We manage over several crews which allows us to fit your needs, your schedule and your demand. Whether you are a general contractor or direct buyer, we want to work with you and provide the best polished concrete service possible.
POLISHED CONCRETE: THE BASICS
Polished concrete floors are the latest trend in office spaces, retail spaces, manufacturers warehouses and homes. This is simply because they are easy to maintain, extremely cost effective, and have a beautiful mirror-like glossy finish to them that will outlast any other surface available on the market today. There are a variety of options when choosing your polished concrete flooring, including the integral or penetrating stain color, the gloss level, and aggregate type. Our professionals will assist you in the processes used to reach the desired finish you request. Whether you’re looking for a super shiny floor or a more subtle reflection, the options are at your discretion.
BENEFITS OF POLISHED CONCRETE
The demand for polished concreted has increased dramatically over the past twenty years. Polished concrete floors continue to be popular for several reasons, all of which include:
- Low maintenance: in high traffic areas such as commercial buildings or office spaces, having low maintenance floors is a necessity. To keep polished concrete floors clean and “like new”, all it needs is mopping using a dust mop on a regular basis, using cleaning product semi-regularly. There’s no need for messy coatings such as wax. Labor costs are cut when compared to wood or carpet flooring because polished concrete requires less cleaning time.
- Long term durability: foot traffic from employees or customers, fork lifts, carts, etc can be harmful to many surfaces and demand replacement every 5 – 7 years. With polished concrete being a perminate floor option it is no wonder why many large retailers find this surface to be there only choice.
- Less maintenance and longer service life: Polished floors are easy to clean, requiring only occasional damp mopping. They also eliminate the need for messy waxes or coatings as well as the associated labor, time, and expense to apply them. The glossy surface of polished concrete resists the marks of forklift truck tires and staining from oil and chemical spills.
- Free from moisture transmission issues: Alternative flooring options such as tile, wood or carpet leads to issues such as adhesive deterioration, bumps, ridges, color changes, mold, bacteria growth, peaking or curling, all caused by sealing of the floor, not allowing it to breath. Polished concrete floors simply don’t have these issues.
- Efficient long term floor: Going green or simply want to do your part in making your business or home eco-friendly? Polished concrete is a great flooring option for sustainability. When left exposed, concrete floors have two functions: they are the foundation slab along with the finished flooring. By eliminating the need for wood, carpet or tile, you save resources that would eventually need replacing.
- Enhanced Lighting While Saving Energy: one of the nicest qualities of polished concrete is the mirror-like, glassy reflection which become a benefit to your energy bill. Upon completion 25 – 30% less lighting is necessary due to the high reflectivity of the polished concrete. This not only reduces the lighting needed but will noticeably reduce the demand on HVAC units due to less heat generated by lighting
- Go Green! Earn LEED Credits: Recycle old concrete floors or start fresh with polished concrete which can earn up to 5 LEED Credits. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design has listed polished concrete as a LEED certified project. Whether it be reduction of adhesives by eliminating wood or carpet tile, or optimizing energy performance due to less requires lighting we can help you earn LEED Credits and Go Green!
POLISHED CONCRETE: OUR METHOD
In simple terms, polishing concrete is similar to sanding wood. We use heavy-duty polished machines that are equipped with diamond-impregnated disks – similar to sandpaper. These disks are then used to grind the concrete surface down to the desired level of smoothness and shine.
POLISHED CONCRETE: WHAT IS DENSIFIER AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Densifier is a key role to the process of polishing concrete. During the process, a penetrating chemical called “densifier” is applied. The chemical then sinks into the concrete as it chemically reacts, causing the surface to harden to a much higher surface PSI. This protects the concrete from the inside out while allowing the best possible polished concrete gloss rating. This eliminates the needs for a topical coating, reducing maintenance significantly.
POLISHED CONCRETE DCOF
Coefficient of friction for polished concrete
Polished Concrete DCOF During a six-month study at Clemson University that ended in December 2014, a CPAA subcommittee tested three slabs using the ANSI A-137.1 methodology. Each slab was divided into 16 squares processed to replicate a different polished concrete category. The 16 categories of product classifications were based on all possible combinations of four aggregate exposures and four gloss levels, including cream and very high gloss (see chart).
A third party, the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) Laboratory, performed wet DCOF testing and found that all 16 categories surpassed the 0.42 minimum threshold. In fact, most measured 0.50 and higher, well above what’s considered to be high traction.
To ensure statistical reliability, all three slabs were tested in an identical manner. The results were extremely similar for each slab.
Faller served on the CPAA subcommittee that tested the slabs along with Peter Ermish, CEO of Variosystems Inc. and developer of Regan Scientific Instruments Inc.’s BOT-3000E tribometer. The BOT-3000E used in the study is approved by the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), TCNA, and CPAA for use with their respective DCOF standards, but any tribometer with similar approvals can be used.
WHY MEASURE DCOF?
Hazardous flooring is the culprit behind most of the more than 1 million slip-and-fall emergency room visits every year.
COATINGS STANDARDS ALSO IN DEVELOPMENT
In January 2015, Heather Stiner, protective coatings professional at SSPC: the Society for Protective Coatings, spoke at World of Concrete’s Polishing Luncheon and Forum about standards in development that could apply to polished concrete, including a guide to evaluating the slip resistance of treated flooring surfaces.
Other standards in the works include coating texture, several surface preparation methods, and concrete moisture.
“Friction at the floor-shoe interface (floor traction) has a much larger influence on slipping than a pedestrian’s awareness or behavior,” says Ermish. “Research shows that the incidence of slip accidents can be reduced by as much as 21% with every 0.1 increase in COF.”
There are two COF values. Static (SCOF) refers to how much force is required to start an object moving. Dynamic (DCOF) is how much is required to keep it moving — the force that turns a slip into a fall.
For example, if it takes 42 pounds of “push” to keep a 100-pound object moving, the DCOF value is 0.42. Thus, if the surface provides 42 pounds of friction resistance to someone whose gait cycle generates 100 pounds of force, it will provide enough traction to keep that person from slipping and falling.
SCOF has been more common in the U.S.; DCOF is more prevalent worldwide. However, DCOF is fast becoming a go-to measurement in the U.S., thanks to two standards adopted by ANSI since 2012:
- B101.3-2012 — a wet dynamic measurement method developed by NFSI for testing and monitoring floors, over time.
- A137-1-2012 — a wet dynamic measurement method developed by TCNA for measuring the slip resistance of a newly manufactured tile floor.
DETERMINING THRESHOLD
A dirty floor is much more likely to cause someone to slip and fall than a clean floor. The wet DCOF threshold of 0.42 is required by ANSI A-137.1 for flooring that may be exposed to wet contamination — in other words, conditions that aren’t always clean and dry.
Ermish says the 0.42 target is based on decades of research in Germany that defined a “worst case” wet DCOF of 0.36. The research included an evaluation of accident statistics matched to laboratory re-enactments. By adding an additional 0.06 as a statistical margin of error, researchers concluded that 0.42 would lower the risk of a slip-fall accident to a 1 in 10 million probability. In contrast, 0.29 or less increases the risk to 1 in 10,000 or higher.