10 Tips To Get The Best Commercial Kitchen Floor
Make Your Floor A State Of The Art Surface For Health & Safety
Commercial kitchen flooring takes on daily punishment from heat, grease, and constant washing with high-temperature water and chemicals. When hot oils spill or metal pots and pans hit the floor, they weaken the flooring surface and create chips or cracks where bacteria can live and breed, especially in weak quarry tile with old moldy grout lines. You will need a flooring surface that is anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, non-porous, and seamless to prevent leaks and eliminate standing water. Our ten tips guide you to the best flooring solution so that your new floor becomes a state of the art surface for health and safety.
- Eliminate Seams in the Floor
The USDA heavily regulates commercial kitchens and holds them to the highest standards of cleanliness. USDA inspectors hate to see grout lines, cracks, and any separation between the floor and the substrate where food particles will land. Seamless flooring solutions such as urethane cement flooring or food-grade epoxy flooring eliminate the need for grout lines and prevent areas for bacteria to grow.
- Prepare for Chemical and Thermal Attacks
Design and apply your food and beverage commercial flooring to withstand chemical and thermal attacks. A urethane cement floor, for example, bonds deep into the substrate below by seeping into the cement’s pores to create a mechanical bond that will last the life of the kitchen. A urethane cement floor is one of the best commercial flooring options because it offers resistance, durability, versatility, and strength. It holds up against strong acid and caustic cleaners without being damaged. Food grade epoxy flooring is another excellent option because once it cures, it produces polymer structures that give it tremendous non-porous strength and lasting durability.
- Ensure the Surface is Non-Slip
The wet and greasy conditions of commercial kitchen and food service flooring can make staff prone to slips and falls. An industrial kitchen floor produces polymer structures that can be manipulated by your installer for excellent slip-resistance and safety.
- Install Proper Flash Coving and Slope for Drainage
Install restaurant and other commercial kitchen floorings with flash coving and proper slope. Flash coving should be installed 4 to 8 inches up the wall, which creates a bathtub effect and protects the rest of the space in the building from potential floods and water damage. Proper slope built in the floor to the drains is critical to remove any standing water in the kitchen, which can splash clean surfaces and contaminate food.
- Receive Ongoing Quality Control for Your Commercial Floor
As a commercial flooring contractor, we offer ongoing quality control of the floor coating that we install. For example, if ArmourFlo specialists find a chip or a crack on the floor, we will quickly repair it, saving the kitchen’s costly shutdown.
- Follow the USDA, FDA, CFIA, and OSHA Guidelines for Food Grade Flooring
Commercial flooring provides compressive strength, chemical resistance, and a wide range of thermal shock protection capabilities that meet USDA, FDA, CFIA, and OSHA standards.
- Use An Experienced, Certified Commercial Kitchen Flooring Company
Commercial kitchen flooring contractors should use state-of-the-art equipment and floor tooling to exceed the highest standards. They should be certified with multiple manufacturers of premium products and knowledge to create and install long-lasting custom floors that come with a warranty, whether it’s for food production, food processing, a restaurant, a brewery, or an industrial kitchen.
- Minimize Shutdown Time for Installation
A successful project will use flooring experts ready at a moment’s notice that work with industry-leading products and have the technical expertise and substantial experience to produce a custom flooring solution that endures. A floor such as a seamless, hygienic urethane cement floor installs quickly over bacteria-ridden quarry tile, VCT, and cement. Experienced food and beverage flooring experts will be ready to work around the clock during planned shutdowns and respond within 24 hours to flooring project requests due to unforeseen facility emergencies or green-lighted projects.
- Reduce Environmental Impact
Microbials can develop in grout lines, cracks, and any separation between the floor and the substrate where food particles land, which creates mold, terrible odors, and contaminants that are impossible to eliminate without using dangerous chemicals. Experienced, food-grade epoxy flooring installers can formulate floor coatings that meet LEED requirements for VOC limits with no heavy metals. This type of floor coatings provide a seamless “green” solution, eliminates installation cut-off waste of tiles, and avoids the need for harsh cleaning chemicals.
- Test and Treat the Underlying Cement Floor
Before applying a floor coating, patch, and repair all major cracks and chips in the existing concrete surface and remove all grease. If the concrete is old, test the surface for previous epoxy layers or other products applied over the years. Food-grade flooring installation requires precision and patience. The best floor contractors make sure the temperature, humidity, and application are ideal for excellent results.
Each Flooring Project Is Unique
Every flooring project presents unique challenges that call for precise flooring solutions. These tips will make you more informed so that you install a new commercial kitchen floor properly. Overall, a seamless floor is ideal in the food and beverage industry. A food-grade epoxy or urethane cement floor can be installed directly over concrete causing installation costs to be quite a bit lower than other alternatives.