Gym Floor Maintenance - Water Based Finish
This finish is very hard. It is not as flexible as oil based finish. This gives the surface some benefits and drawbacks. It is easy to keep clean and can be very durable. But if it is not cleaned it can be slippery and the dirt can penetrate and wear the finish off quickly.
- Dust mop regularly. Do not use an oil based dust mop treatment. Plain water sprinkled on a dust mop is fine. Sweep the dust mop off regularly (1/4 of gym). After each event is preferable.
- Scrub the floor with an automatic scrubber on a regular basis. Rinse the tank of any other chemicals. Use a cleaner that is designed for water based gym finishes. This chemical is designed to take the metals out of the water and has a slight detergent. Make sure that the proper amount of chemical is put in the tank, it is as little as a couple of ounces per five gallons. Turn the water down so that it keeps the pads or brushes wet, but does not flood the floor. Make sure the pads are wet before they are placed on the wooden floor. (White pads or very soft brush are the best!) You may want to follow the scrubber with a dust mop. Place clean dry towels under the dust mop to wick up and minor amounts of water left on the floor.
- Sweep corners and baseboards on an intermediate basis. Before scrubbing the floor is the best.
- Make sure that the area around the bottom of the bleachers is really cleaned after big events… It is the 80/20 rule. Twenty percent of the floor gets used eighty percent of the time.
- I will be glad to be there the first time the floor is scrubbed to help get started with the program!
