Keeping a facility clean is no easy feat, requiring a teamwork approach by facility managers and cleaning contractors. This is the story of an error made on a job refinishing floors early in my career, teaching me a lesson that hopefully others can avoid by learning from my mistake.

As a commercial cleaner, I was asked to refinish a client’s office floors. The floors were in a building constructed on a pier in San Francisco, and there was about a mile of surface to cover. When the request was made, I assured the client that I was capable of handling this task, assuming that the skills could be learned on the job. That turned out to be a mistake, teaching me several lessons while on the job:

Refinishing floors is a complicated endeavour, not something a contractor can just jump into. It involves knowing the type of floor, the type of finish that works best on that floor, the type of equipment needed, proper technique, and even a little bit of luck. As a note, contractors should always test and practice on a smaller floor before tackling a project of this size.

As well, commercial cleaners should know that some floors are more sensitive to certain cleaning solutions and equipment than others. Some floors, such as stone floors, can be damaged by harsh chemicals or abrasive tools. But even more, conventional tile floors can be negatively impacted by chemicals and equipment, depending on the type of material used to make the floor. Research is required to determine the best way to clean the floor before starting the job.

The proper equipment and process are also required. If your equipment is not powerful enough to get the job done, it will take extra time, labour, and could damage your equipment in the process. In this case, in conjunction with unqualified equipment, I used mop heads that quickly became soiled, spreading more soil and grime on the floor surface than they removed. With an advanced floor machine and cleaner, quality mopheads, the job would have been completed efficiently, without contaminating the surface. The process is important, too. Always clean the floor properly before applying the finish. Any soil or debris on the floors will show through the finish. Sweep or vacuum thoroughly before applying the new coat.

Reading the labels on the stripping solution is a critical step in the process. The directions indicate how much water to mix with the stripper, clarifying details like “use cold water only,” which maximizes the results of the product.  Dilution is also key. Trial and error is not a reliable system – follow the directions laid out by the manufacturer to achieve your desired results.

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It’s important to know what the scope of the job entails. Things like drying time can make a big difference to your costing and budget. If you don’t allow enough drying time, the finish can be uneven or peel off. With a floor as large as this one, one coat of finish should have been applied each evening for three evenings.

Without having learned these lessons, the results were not acceptable to the client: the floor streaked and scratched, with dull spots and uneven patches. There were even some scratched baseboards where I had lost control of the floor machine.

As a result of these miscalculations, the job was a total loss to me, having to hire another company to fix my mistakes and make it right. The lesson was that these costly and embarrassing mistakes could have been avoided had I done the due diligence and prepared properly for the job.

Communication and transparency are key between cleaning contractors and their customers. Cleaners need to speak up if they do not have experience with a task or have not yet tackled a project of that scale. Managers need to communicate well, too. Rather than assuming your cleaning contractor is well-versed on all cleaning tasks, clarification may be needed for certain jobs. Remember, facility managers and cleaners are a team, working together for fast, efficient, and cost-effective results.

Robert Kravitz is a former building service contractor and now a writer for the industry. He can be reached at robert@alturasolutions.com