[botty]

Hi,Could anyone help please,did a pub floor a few weeks ago,stripped floor and applied a finish,looked ok,one week later got a call saying the floor had gone milky after their cleaning,called supplier of products that i used and straight away he said they have used bleach or a very strong alkaline solution to clean the floor !went back to look at floor and they admited that they had used bleach as they allways did because no one had told them not to have to admit i did not tell anyone that bleach would damage the finish,so agreed to re clean the floor again,stripped and re finished the floor to manufacturers instructions, they called again one week later and  told me the floor had again gone milky after cleaning,but they stressed that they had not used bleach!!went back again to look at floor,looked exactly the same has when they addmitted using bleach,even with rings from the mop bucket they had used,they also said that spills from the beer were leaving white marks on the floor,because they were addament that bleach had NOT been used i reluctantly agreed to re clean the floor but stressed that i would not apply a finish as i assumed if they allways used bleach to clean the floor and never encountered  these problems the floor never had a finish to it,anyway re cleaned floor and now the floor looks realy dull so i expect a call to complain about this,what have i done wrong ? and is there any finish product available that would withstand bleach to leave a sheen?,i have included some picture of the floor which i think is vinyl tiles of some sort.
Many thanks for any input youmake.
Regards Botty.

[Robert Parry]

Hi Botty,

Looking at the pics, the floor looks like a vinyl tile, if this is correct, you should have used a chemical stripper, to remove what little polish remained, then applied a seal, then a polish.

If the client has been using bleach to clean the floor, before you got there, then this substance will have already damaged the appearence of the floor, the client applying yet more bleach after you had dressed the floor reacted with the polish and sealer, hence the milky bits! (Gotta love the mop bucket pattern  )

Really hard to tell the actual condition of the floor, it looks well past its sell by date from the pictures, but if they decide to pay you again, I would ensure payment in cash and upfront first, strip the floor, nuetralise the floor, then rinse thoroughly, then apply seal, then finally dress with high solids polish, leave them a 5 ltr container of floor maintainer or ph nuetral cleanser, explain that they will need to mop daily using the floor maintainer, and consider a spray buff once or three times per week depending on how much traffic the floor takes per week.

Seems like common sense has lost its way here!

Regards,

Rob

[botty]

Hi Rob,
Thanks for the reply,the manager of the pub claims the floor has only been down for 3/4 years ???on each clean i have used a stripper to remove the old polish/finish,left to work and scrubbed with a black pad,removed the slurry with a wet vacuum,rinced twice with water and dried with air movers before applying 2 new coats of finish(which is a blend of acrylic polymers and waxes for vinyl and other types of floors and recomended for pubs and clubs) and this looks fine .
I  understand that the use of bleach has damaged the floor finish after it has been applied(they only admit to using bleach after the first clean and insist it was not used after the second clean but the floor looked exactly the same! ) they are also claiming that beer spillage has resulted in milky spots appearing on the floor what could be causing this ?
one other thing i found out was that bleach is also used to clean the tables after closing time maybe spots of this could be splashing onto the floor ?
anyway i have not yet recieved a call complaining about the dull look of the floor,but could you recomend what sealer and what polish to use for any futher jobs i do ?.
Again many thanks.
Regards Botty.

[Robert Parry]

Morning Botty,

Did you not neutralise the floor after using the stripper?

If your client has cleaned the floor using bleach on a regular basis, as stated before the damage has already been done, the floor will never look right again.

This situation is not your fault, improper maintenance, cannot be undone by using some sort of magic chemical. If they have not used bleach since the second clean, ask what they used, even better, ask to see the chem, as explained this should be a floor maintainer or nuetral cleaning agent.

If they are not happy with the floor, I would suggest that you offer to try to fix it one more time, but do charge them for this, strip the floor again, nuetralise the floor after the stripping process, rinse the floor 2 or 3 times, then apply the finish, and buff to a shine using maintainer and a high speed buffer.

Explain to the client, the floor must be maintained using floor maintainer, and spray buffed on a regular basis in order to maintain the appearance, unless the floor will revert to its present state.

As for which chems to use in future, any recognised make will work, the trick is to keep your eyes open, and ask any prospective client questions regarding their current cleaning programme, floors in order to look good, and remain safe, need to be properly maintained, if the client insists on ignoring this fact, you, the independent contractor should not be held responsible, we are cleaners, not miracle workers!

Regards,

Rob

[botty]

Thanks Rob,
This is what i thought,and now feel more confident that you agree  ,thank you very much for taking the time to respond.
Regards botty.

[BDCS]

I'd speak to your chemical supplier and ask them to attend the site.

[Len Gribble]

Just put in quote for a few bob advised cleaning schedule do I need to say anymore