how to clean off scuff marks & maintain?
Hey guys...I was hoping someone can help me out. The floor in question is a decorative concrete floor with a waterbased epoxy and water based polyurethane finish. The problem is that it is scuffing, leaving black marks. I am not in the maintenance biz but I don't want to be married to this fricken floor. What can I recommend to my client to clean off the scuff marks and how would one maintain it. It's approx 7k sqft retail space. A freind mentioned a 3m ssp pad (maroon) to remove scuffs and a wax to prevent it from scuffing. What do you guys think?
Thank you Lindy, You are an invaluable asset. You know, this biz is tough....Our clients expect our floor to be maintanance free and as soon as they scuff or dirty they call us like if we did something wrong. I know some sealers scuff easier than others but it's up to the client to keep a maintanance schedule. I hate going back to a job 6 months to years later to see them all scuffed and dirty.
Property owners (commercial and residential) rarely have the ability to look in the mirror to see their reflection in relation to causing various cosmetic issues/concerns (be it scuff marks, chemical damage that either discolor/etch/bring about loss of gloss that can be caused by use of various typed of cleaners or foreign matter that they did not exercise proper care to protect their floor against, images of rubber backed rugs that you warned them not to place in direct contact with floor, etc)... in other words, they have a memory of convenience. I have even showed them a copy of my very entailed "proper cleaning and maintenance guidelines" that they were given a copy of at the time the decorative concrete surface was applied having THEIR signature, that they clearly failed to follow/abide by, getting only a blank stare or statement "we didn't do that" when they clearly did; expecting a magic wand remedy to cure problems/issues they created at no cost to them.
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When I was still actively working as a contractor/applicator (which I seldom do anymore) I offered property owners (commercial and residential) a weekly, monthly, or quarterly cleaning/maintenance janitorial regularly scheduled service ... extending warranty of interior or exterior surface of those that opted to sign an annual cleaning/maintenance agreement (weekly, monthy, or quarterly); option/frequentcy of pre-selected cleaning/maintenance service depending on the use/conditions the surface will be subjected to. Who better to clean/maintain the surfaces you created than you? Many of your customers may have a maid or janitorial service they pay for already ...it's better that that pay you, as well as protect their investments in a decoartive concrete surface, than a general practice maid or janitorial service that has no insight/knowledge in how to property clean/maintain the types of surfaces we spealize in. Furthermore, pre-scheduled cleaning/maintenance results in "an ongoing flow of incoming revenue on a regular basis" (supplimenting the primary application segment of your company) ...this money rolls in whether you have application work or not (I hired college kids needing extra money, paying them on a sq.ft. basis, sub-contract basis). Another plus factor being that you can rest assured that the surfaces will continue to refect well on your high quality workmanship and creative/decorative talent, that results in referrals and satisfied customer references. Example: you do a lobby and common areas in a condominium; so long as this surface looks prestine and is cleaned/maintained properly, by you or a sub-contractor under your leadership, you never have to wonder what it looks like at the time when you use it as a reference for someone to stop by to see one of your architetural concrete enhanced surfaces (if they have been cleaning/maintaining it, the surface many work against you if the property owner has not property maintained/cleaned it over a period of weeks, months, or years).
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Lindy A.
Concrete floors are a beautiful and low-maintenance flooring choice for our home. but these floors are not entirely scratch-proof. Heavy-soled shoes and furniture can create scuff marks, and improper use can lead to scratching. Apply a nickel-sized amount of polishing compound to the buffing pad. Gently rub the buffing pad over the area until the polishing compound works into the flooring, and the gleam from the polishing compound no longer appears. The polishing compound will restore any shine or luster lost by using the abrasive to remove the scratches.
Nothing is entirely scuff or scratch proof (this is a fact). Some decorative concrete materials/sealers/coatings are stronger and substantially more wear/abrasion resistant than others, as well as provide mcuh longer lastingr/desired degree of ability to maintain their reflective/glossy image); but, that doesn't mean they will not scratch if they are abused, neglected, or accidental damage occur from time to time.
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It never fails to amaze me how people do not go running to the dealership they bought their car/truck from every time it gets a scuff or a scratch to bitch/whine/complain about damage to their vehicles paint and appearance as a result of. They understand that their vehicles will become scratched and scuffed from tree branches, free roaming shopping carts that people leave in parking lots, the neighborhood cats that love to sllde down the hood, their dog that is gleefully jumping up on the car when they pull in the driveway, those that park so close that it is a mystery how they got out of their vehicle, etc. ...their indoor floors and exterior decorative concrete surfaces are subjected to even further forms of abuse, neglect, or accidental scuffing and scratching such as foot traffic, objects that get caught in shoe soles, their pets toenails, furniture being pushed around when they decide that couch/chair/table/etc would look better somewhere else, pulling out of appliances in order to work on them by repair men that fail to protect the floor before doing so, vehicle traffic with foreign matter in tires when it comes to garage floors and driveways, failure to keep their floors clean and free of dirt and abrasive foreign matter that can grind in and damage the surface, then there are those rolling chair wheels that pick up debis as well (note: their are non-scuffing wheels available for rolling furniture) "so why do they get so upset and come crying to you/the contractor when they caused the problem" (again, referring to the paint on their vehicle that scratches and scuffs that in all likelyhood they paid SUBSTANTIALLY/$1000's more for than their decorative concrete surface that they don't constantly go driving back to the dealership to point out).
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Many seem to be under the illusion that concrete (along with its sealers/coatings) is a hard/tough/durable as a diamond ... they would not subject their granite countertops, wood laminate flooring, vinyl tile or linoleum, or other manufactured composite flooring to the same type of use/abuse as they tend to do concrete or other types of cementatious material/product/system/sealer/coating surfaces; they understand doing so will cut, scratch, deface, mar, scar, and scuff their floors ...somehow we need to integrally implant in their brains that concrete surfaces are not "bullet proof" either therefore they must protect, shield, and properly maintain them as well or suffer the consequences of failure to do so (which means paying for process, treatment, repairs, resealing, etc. when/if it becomes necessary), at least they are not having to tear out/remove/replace it as they would carpet, tile, laminate flooring, or other types of composite flooring which will distrub their lives and eat up more money than occasional maintenance/repair/resealing of their decorative concrete surfaces.
Your suggestion William, in relations to treating scratches and scuffs, sounds like a viable way/means to remove them ... thanks for sharing it with us.
Small, vary random scuff marks (viable ways for small floors; obvioiusly not the best option for large commerical floors)
** cut an "X" in a tennis ball, insert it in a boom handle, rub scuff marks off (use standard greenish ball; colored balls can sometimes leach a color off them making matters worse).
** Baking soda paste ... 2 Tablespoons of baking soda with warm wter to make a paste (not runny) scrub areas with paste, rinse thoroughly
**Lighter fluid or WD 40 on a rag/cloth; wipe with damp cloth
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Larger floors
** wet area, then apply 20 parts warm water to 1 part of concentrated orange citrus, scrub and rinse thoroughly (flushing with plenty of warm water) ... note: orange citrus is promoted to be environmentally safe, non-hazardous, user-firendly cleaning solution; however, is it still an "acid" (just an all natural one); therefore, it must be properly metered and THOROUGHLY rinsed, failure can do so will etch and potentially damage certain types of decorative concrete sealers/coatings (the degree of which will of course depend on the chemical resistance of the sealer; I would not use them on floors that have been sealed with any type of standard low solids acrylic sealer).
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It has been reported that Dry Magic Sponge or a sponge with a scouring pad on one side (like Scotch Bright pads) works well without resorting to any type of cleaner ... for this reason I feel that the 3M ssp pad would work well too.
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When the floor has all the scruff marks removed it might be advisable to apply a scuff resistant sacrifical coat of wax in order to allow for this retail property owner to cleaning/maintenance the surface more easily.
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Lindy A.