By Donald Sipp, MBA, RESE, CHESP, CHTI‑2, CMIP, PMP

Don­ald Sipp is the senior direc­tor at Ruck-Shock­ey Asso­ciates Inc. and the own­er of Impact Train­ing Com­pa­ny, bring­ing over 20 years of exec­u­tive lead­er­ship expe­ri­ence across health care, edu­ca­tion, and retail. He spe­cial­izes in build­ing high-per­form­ing teams and deliv­er­ing mea­sur­able results through peo­ple-focused lead­er­ship and col­lab­o­ra­tion.

In every facil­i­ty, whether health­care, edu­ca­tion, hos­pi­tal­i­ty, or cor­po­rate, the con­di­tion of floors is more than a mat­ter of appear­ance. Floors impact safe­ty, infec­tion con­trol, long-term asset val­ue, and over­all stake­hold­er sat­is­fac­tion. The work of Envi­ron­men­tal Ser­vices (EVS) floor tech­ni­cians and project tech­ni­cians is essen­tial, tech­ni­cal­ly demand­ing, phys­i­cal­ly stren­u­ous, and often under­ap­pre­ci­at­ed. With diverse floor­ing mate­ri­als, evolv­ing tech­nolo­gies, and high expec­ta­tions for both per­for­mance and bud­get con­trol, their exper­tise is more valu­able than ever.

Dust Mopping and Daily Scrubbing:
The Foundation of Long-Term Floor Care

Dust mop­ping removes dry soils, grit, and debris before wet clean­ing, pre­vent­ing abra­sive wear and scratch­es. Skip­ping this step accel­er­ates dulling and forces restora­tive work soon­er.

Dai­ly scrub­bing, typ­i­cal­ly with an auto-scrub­ber, elim­i­nates embed­ded soils, oils, and residues that mop­ping alone can­not address. Togeth­er, dust mop­ping and scrub­bing:

  • Pre­vent dirt from embed­ding in no-wax floor­ing.
  • Pro­tect fac­to­ry seals and fin­ish­es from pre­ma­ture wear.
  • Extend floor life expectan­cy by up to 40% com­pared to reac­tive clean­ing only.

The Myth of “No-Wax” Flooring

“No-wax” does not mean “no main­te­nance.” These floors rely on a fac­to­ry-applied seal that grad­u­al­ly wears down. Once weak­ened, the sur­face absorbs soil, result­ing in dirt embed­ding and per­ma­nent dis­col­oration. With­out con­sis­tent dust mop­ping and scrub­bing, life expectan­cy may shrink from 15–20 years to few­er than 10.

Daily floor care by skilled EVS technicians ensures the protection of the flooring's long-term asset value.

Floors impact safe­ty, infec­tion con­trol, long-term asset val­ue, and over­all stake­hold­er sat­is­fac­tion. Skilled EVS tech­ni­cians can extend floor longevi­ty and appear­ance by dai­ly dust mop­ping, scrub­bing, project work, and pre­ven­tive main­te­nance. Cut­ting cor­ners may save dol­lars today, but it will cost mil­lions tomor­row.

Project Work: Beyond the Daily Routine

Dai­ly care is only half of the equa­tion. Project work — sched­uled deep clean­ing, restora­tive main­te­nance, and spe­cial­ized floor care — is equal­ly crit­i­cal:

  • Strip­ping and Refin­ish­ing (VCT): Rebuilds pro­tec­tive lay­ers that dai­ly wear erodes, restor­ing gloss and slip resis­tance.
  • Grout Restora­tion: Aggres­sive scrub­bing and seal­ing pre­vents micro­bial harbor­age and stain­ing.
  • Car­pet Extrac­tion: Removes embed­ded soils, extend­ing life and improv­ing indoor air qual­i­ty.
  • No-Wax Floor­ing Restora­tion: Low-mois­ture deep scrub­bing and reseal­ing restore pro­tec­tion once the fac­to­ry fin­ish begins to wear.

Skip­ping project work accel­er­ates pre­ma­ture wear and replace­ment, cut­ting the lifes­pan of even high-qual­i­ty floor­ing in half.

Preventive Maintenance: Protecting the Investment

Pre­ven­tive main­te­nance ties dai­ly care and project work togeth­er. Prop­er sched­ul­ing ensures:

  • Cor­rect fre­quen­cies: High-traf­fic areas receive more fre­quent scrub­bing or refin­ish­ing than low-traf­fic areas.
  • Cost con­trol: Reg­u­lar project work is far less expen­sive than emer­gency restora­tion or full floor replace­ment.
  • Asset preser­va­tion: Pro­tects mil­lions of dol­lars in floor­ing invest­ments across large facil­i­ties.

Flooring Types, Life Expectancy, and Maintenance Needs

Floor­ing Type Life Expectan­cy (with prop­er main­te­nance) Impact of Neglect
VCT 15–20 years Falls to 6–8 years with­out scrubbing/refinishing
No-Wax / Resilient (LVT, vinyl, rub­ber­ized sur­faces) 15–20 years Seal fail­ure, dirt embed­ding; may last <10 years
Car­pet 7–10 years High-traf­fic areas fail in 3–5 years if not cleaned/extracted
Tile and Grout 20–30 years+ Grout stain­ing, micro­bial buildup if not scrubbed/sealed

 

Cost-Per-Square-Foot Comparison

Floor­ing Type Main­te­nance Method Annu­al Main­te­nance Cost ($/sq. ft.) Life­cy­cle Cost / 20 Years ($/sq. ft.)
VCT Dust mop­ping + dai­ly scrub­bing + refin­ish­ing $1.50–$2.50 $30–$40
VCT Min­i­mal care, reac­tive clean­ing only $0.75–$1.25 $35–$45
No-Wax Resilient Dust mop­ping + scrub­bing + occa­sion­al reseal­ing $0.50–$1.00
Com­mer­cial Car­pet Vac­u­um­ing + extrac­tion $0.60–$1.20 $15–$20
Tile & Grout Seal­ing + peri­od­ic deep clean­ing $1.00–$1.50 $25–$35

 

A 100,000 sq ft facility can save $1–3 million in lifecycle costs through structured daily care, project work, and preventive maintenance.

 

Recognition for Specialized Expertise

Floor and project tech­ni­cians are the cus­to­di­ans of these sav­ings. Their work:

  • Exe­cutes dai­ly dust mop­ping and scrub­bing to pre­vent wear.
  • Per­forms project work like refin­ish­ing, grout restora­tion, and car­pet extrac­tion.
  • Imple­ments pre­ven­tive main­te­nance sched­ules that max­i­mize asset lifes­pan.
  • Reduces slip-and-fall risks, sup­ports infec­tion pre­ven­tion, and main­tains pro­fes­sion­al facil­i­ty stan­dards.

 

 

CONCLUSION

Floors are among the most vis­i­ble and expen­sive assets in any facil­i­ty. Their longevi­ty and appear­ance depend on dai­ly dust mop­ping, scrub­bing, project work, and pre­ven­tive main­te­nance per­formed by skilled EVS tech­ni­cians.

Cut­ting cor­ners may save dol­lars today, but it will cost mil­lions tomor­row. When lead­er­ship sees a clean floor, they see exper­tise, sci­ence, and finan­cial stew­ard­ship in action the hall­mark of ded­i­cat­ed floor and project tech­ni­cians.

 

References

  1. Asso­ci­a­tion for the Health Care Envi­ron­ment (AHE). (2025). Prac­tice Guid­ance for Health Care Envi­ron­men­tal Clean­ing, 3rd Edi­tion. Retrieved from https://www.ahe.org/practiceguidance
  2. Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion (CDC). (2019). Best Prac­tices for Envi­ron­men­tal Clean­ing in Health­care Facil­i­ties in Resource-Lim­it­ed Set­tings. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthcare-associated-infections/media/pdfs/environmental-cleaning-rls-508.pdf
  3. (2020). Cost-Effec­tive Floor Main­te­nance Pro­grams. Retrieved from https://www.facilitiesnet.com
  4. Car­pet and Rug Insti­tute (CRI). (2020). Main­te­nance Guide­lines for Com­mer­cial Car­pet. Retrieved from https://carpet-rug.org
  5. (2021). Floor Care Man­u­al and Best Prac­tices for Facil­i­ty Man­age­ment. Retrieved from https://www.issa.com