used our flooring for only eight years and resilient tile has an expected service life of 18 years or more, depending on use. It is more advantageous to make decisions about flooring in a new building or when the flooring needs replacing to obviate the cost of resilient tile installation. Our studies indicate that cleaning cost of carpet is less than that of resilient tile but this estimate must be modified by such variables as quality of carpet, cleaning schedule, spillage, and traffic. Moreover, the initial installed cost of carpet is higher and the service life is shorter as compared to resilient tile. It is more advantageous to purchase a better grade of carpet, as the increased service life offsets the greater initial cost and results in a life-cost or annual-cost which may be about the same as that for resilient flooring. However, in order to save on cleaning cost, it is necessary to cover most of our flooring with carpet in order to phase out the expensive mopping, waxing, polishing, and spray-buffing equipment and operation. Utility areas with very heavy traffic or which are excessively dirty are not suitable for carpet but such areas are usually bare concrete and receive minimal floor care. Elevators are relatively clean but receive heavy traffic and wear, due to twisting and turning of feet, so we have found that a good medium grade of carpet lasts us for only three years. Such areas may be regarded as marginal with respect to carpet life. It may be advantageous to install carpet in 27-inch strips, sewn or taped on the job, which is how the carpet in our red and green auditoriums was installed. This enables the owner to switch worn strips of carpet in travel lanes and strips of carpet in less travelled areas, thus increasing the service life. Carpet is sometimes sold on a janitorial contract or an annual-cost basis. In this type of contract, the contractor will install the carpet and be given a contract to clean the building for a certain length of time, say five years, after which the owner of the building can have the carpet. In general, carpet, from a cleaning cost and aesthetic basis can be said to be superior to resilient flooring; however, many variables interdict a flat comparison statement or conclusion. Previous studies [4,5] of the annual-cost of carpet as compared to resilient flooring do not agree, which shows the need for an impartial study of the subject. 4. Maintenance of Floors in Hospitals by Mortimer Russell, Chief, Environmental Sanitation Division, Building Management Service The Veterans Administration operates a system of 166 hospitals throughout the country, ranging from one to fifty years old. A variety of flooring is used in the hospitals, including wood, linoleum, asphalt and vinyl asbestos tile, homogeneous vinyl tile, sheet vinyl, terrazzo, etc. The type of flooring for various areas is prescribed according to the Veterans Administration guide for finishes. This guide is mandatory for new construction and is recommended for modernization. Cleaning of floors in hospitals is different from that in other buildings. This is because of the necessity to wet clean with detergentdisinfectants to reduce the bacterial level on the floors and to use non-buffable floor finishes to limit air turbulence and noise from buffing machines. However, the use of detergent-disinfectants is not without problems, as they can remove floor finishes if not prepared properly and tiles can be loosened if too much water is used. Careless floor cleaning can remove insecticide from baseboards. In operating rooms, some detergents can adversely affect the conductivity of conductive flooring. In small areas preliminary dry vacuum pick-up is recommended if necessary. The next procedure is to spray detergent-disinfectant on the floor, followed by wet vacuum pick-up. Battery-powered vacuum scrubbers are recommended for large areas. This spray and vacuum technique has been shown to be the most effective in reducing floor bacteria levels. However, it takes longer than the mop and bucket method and some maintenance men are reluctant to change to the spray and vacuum procedure. The success of spray and vacuum depends on the quality and training of the maintenance staff and the availability of modern equipment and supplies. There is some difficulty in obtaining a uniformly satisfactory "metal cross-linked acrylic polymer finish", used in the spray and vacuum process. The use of insecticide preparations is another flooring problem and insecticides should be applied only to the baseboards and not to the floor. The oil base of such insecticides will damage certain types of resilient flooring such as asphalt tile. In addition to sanitation and reducing bacterial levels, the safety aspects of the flooring are also important from the standpoint of patients, hospital personnel, and visitors. There must be no indented places in the flooring, no water or liquid deposits remaining on the floor and the floor finish should not be slippery. Carpeting may be used in place of other floor coverings in certain areas in hospitals. In our facilities, it is used mainly in administrative areas. Carpeting is not used in patient areas because the question has not been resolved regarding sanitation or the effect of carpet on the biological environment, including bacterial levels on the carpet and in the air. Fire safety is another question which has limited the use of carpeting in hospitals. In some areas carpeting is acceptable if it complies with the now legally binding "Pill test [6] and in other areas only if it has a certain rating when subjected to the ASTM E-84 test for flammability [7]. Static charge is also a problem with carpeting. Incorporation of stainless steel fibers into the carpeting has not always been successful. Some, but not all, antistatic sprays are effective for varying periods of time. Because of poor experience with compressed or needle punch polyolefin carpeting, it is not recommended for use in hospitals. The wearing characteristics are poor and it shows marked traffic patterns. also hard to clean and is susceptible to burns from cigarettes. It is We have had varying success with monolithic or seamless floors. Sometimes mops tear on the chips used in one such type of flooring. In other instances, breaks occur and stains are not easily removed. Some seamless floors are very good but expensive. A new floor tile has been installed in two of the hospitals but it has subsequently been taken off the market. This tile is based on acrylic resin and does not require a floor finish or as much maintenance as other flooring. However, these tiles must be installed over a very good subfloor. 5. Field Observations and Experiments on Performance of Flooring Materials and Composites Section; Structures, Materials and Institute for Applied Technology; National Bureau of Standards A field study by the National Bureau of Standards on floor coverings was published in 1968 [8]. This study was sponsored by the Department of Defense and covered mostly military installations. The specific purpose of the study was to solve the problem of resurfacing concrete floors in World War II temporary buildings. The overall purpose was (1) to evaluate types of floor coverings, (2) to assist the Department of Defense with flooring problems, and (3) to gain background experience in floor coverings for defining areas of research designed to improve standards and specificiations. Since this study was published, the National Bureau of Standards has continued the field study of flooring but with a wider purpose and scope. The scope now includes assisting all government agencies with flooring problems and covers all types of flooring. Also, the purpose and scope not only relates to improved standards and specifications but also to better informed economic decision making in the purchase and maintenance of flooring. Locations are Observations reported in the earlier study and continued observations are combined in this report. A complete description of the observations is found in Appendix A. Observations on flooring are summarized by materials in Table 1 and by locations in Tables 2 and 3. classified in Table 2 by type of exposure and by usage. account of field experiments on flooring by the author. in Table 4 are based on field observations and experiments. Appendix B is an Recommendations 5.1 Comments on Field Observations Reported in Appendix A The performance of flooring in military installations has already been discussed in a previous article by the author [8], which dealt largely with monolithic surfacings. On the basis of Tables 1-3 and Appendix A, it appears that polyester resin-based trowel-on monolithic surfacings perform better in military kitchens than those based on epoxy resins. It is difficult to apply monolithic surfacings successfully to concrete floors in laundries, due to the problems caused by flooding with hot water and solutions of detergents and starch. Both epoxy and polyester trowel-on surfacings were successful in barracks latrines and shower rooms, which indicates that these surfacings can be used in "wet" areas. Thin-set or resin-based terrazzo is likely to crack in areas exposed to the weather or over substrates that are subject to vibration. Brush-on polyurethane surfacings do not appear promising in heavy traffic areas or in areas subjected to severe treatment with hot water, chemicals, and grease. However, polyurethane coatings are satisfactory in residential kitchens and on wood floors in homes. Surfacings based on portland cement and acrylic latex may cause trouble in heavy traffic areas. Surfacings based on portland cement and asphalt are not suitable where oils and greases are spilled, as these substances will soften the topping and asphalt will be tracked into other areas by foot traffic. Resilient floor coverings, known to perform well in office buildings, were found to be successful in animal rooms. Polyester tile requires a smooth, level and plane subfloor, as it is too rigid to conform to the average concrete floor surface. Quarry tile with epoxy or furan bed and joints may or may not perform well in kitchens, depending on the amount of heat to which it is subjected and the soundness of the subfloor. Sometimes it is possible to use it over plywood but this is not recommended. Carpeting is satisfactory for areas where there is not too much spillage, careless use of cigarettes and matches, or extremely heavy traffic. |