Converting or Remodeling Industrial Space? Don’t Forget Your Floors

If you’re in build­ing oper­a­tions or facil­i­ty man­age­ment for your fac­to­ry or ware­house, there’s a lot on your mind when it comes time to repur­pose a new indus­tri­al space (or update your exist­ing one). While we cer­tain­ly believe paint­ing your facil­i­ty and clean­ing your indus­tri­al space are impor­tant, you can’t afford to neglect your indus­tri­al flooring.

There are some impor­tant things to con­sid­er before you ever open (or reopen) for busi­ness, and much of your indus­tri­al main­te­nance must begin with your flooring.

Why Floor Main­te­nance Is Important

Floor­ing as a Foundation

Before mov­ing in peo­ple and equip­ment, make sure the integri­ty of your exist­ing floor is not com­pro­mised. You can begin by ask­ing ques­tions like:

• Are there cracks or peel­ing spots?
• Do you see bub­bles (a sign of air or mois­ture interference)?
• Is the floor­ing sur­face uneven? Does any part of the floor need leveling?
• Has there been dam­age to the floor from pre­vi­ous con­tact with heavy equip­ment, high foot traf­fic, etc.?
• Is there a pos­si­bil­i­ty of slip­page, falls, or injury, giv­en the cur­rent con­di­tion of your indus­tri­al floors?
• Is the col­or­ing or coat­ing incon­sis­tent on any part of the floor?

If the answer is yes, the floor­ing in your new or remod­eled indus­tri­al space needs expert atten­tion. With­out a sol­id, lev­el, and safe floor, you’re risk­ing com­pro­mis­ing employ­ee safe­ty and prod­uct integri­ty, not to men­tion hurt­ing your bot­tom line.

Does Your Floor­ing Meet Your Indus­try Requirements?

Once you’ve done a basic walk­through and analy­sis of the con­di­tion of your indus­tri­al floors, it’s time to get spe­cif­ic so you can make sure your floor­ing will help you meet your needs. Maybe you need floors that with­stand the move­ment and oper­a­tion of lots of heavy machin­ery. If you work in the health­care indus­try, your envi­ron­ment must be as clean and ster­ile as possible.

Does your exist­ing space have the right epoxy coat­ings and paint­ing to meet the needs and require­ments of your indus­try? If so, do you have a plan for reg­u­lar upkeep and floor main­te­nance? If not, make it a pri­or­i­ty to hire a con­trac­tor with indus­try-spe­cif­ic exper­tise to cus­tomize your indus­tri­al floor.

Demo­li­tion or Repair: How to Decide?

When prepar­ing a new indus­tri­al or fac­to­ry space, it’s dif­fi­cult to know what should be repaired and what needs to be replaced. Floor­ing can present sim­i­lar chal­lenges. Whether you need to demol­ish a por­tion of your floor or sim­ply replace your paint­ing and fin­ish­es depends on the extent of the dam­age and imper­fec­tions in the exist­ing floor. If you can see signs of wear and tear, dis­col­oration, or mois­ture dam­age on the sur­face, there could be deep­er issues with floor seal­ing, lev­el­ing, or coating.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but your floor­ing con­trac­tor will know how to assess the extent of the dam­age and can help you find a solu­tion that works for your new or remod­eled space.

Before you sched­ule any floor­ing work, make sure you com­mu­ni­cate to your prospec­tive con­trac­tor when your facil­i­ty must be open for busi­ness. You should nev­er have to stop pro­duc­ing a qual­i­ty prod­uct and your cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion should nev­er suf­fer because of paint­ing or floor­ing work.

The Kaloutas team has exten­sive expe­ri­ence coat­ing, repair­ing, and replac­ing floors across a vari­ety of indus­tries with a zero-work-stop­page guar­an­tee.

Your com­pre­hen­sive indus­tri­al floor­ing esti­mate means you get an hon­est, no-pres­sure assess­ment of the con­di­tion of your floor, plus rec­om­men­da­tions for improv­ing its fin­ish or cus­tomiz­ing it to your prod­uct and indus­try needs. We will respect your bud­get and hon­or your time­line. Still have ques­tions? Give us a call at 978−532−1414.

Kaloutas is New Eng­land’s pre­mier con­trac­tor for com­mer­cial & indus­tri­al paint­ing, floor­ing, and relat­ed ser­vices. Estab­lished in 1987, Kaloutas has become a trust­ed resource for gen­er­al con­trac­tors, facil­i­ties man­agers, and build­ing own­ers from Con­necti­cut to Maine. Our team prides itself on high qual­i­ty work­man­ship, jobs done on time & bud­get, and tack­ling com­plex projects that oth­er con­trac­tors don’t have the expe­ri­ence or resources to han­dle. Con­tact us today for a paint­ing or floor­ing esti­mate, or give us a call at 978−532−1414 to learn more.