[Steve Weatherley]

Just been asked to quote for cleaning safety flooring (think it's called Altro) in kitchen of a large hotel restaurant. Any tips of the best way of cleaning it and how much per square foot - in total there's 500 square feet to clean.

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

altro is american they make various is it transflo flooring. also they make it similar in carpet tiling .which one

[Neil Mc Anulty]

It depends on how badly soiled it is. The problem is with the make up of this floor it traps dirt and likes to hold on to it.
Are you going to seal and polish also?
If you are not confident Pass it on or sub it out.

[mark_roberts]

Really easy.

Numerous products to clean it with.

I prefere Prochems ultrapac renovate.  Prespray, agitate with a rotary and black pad and spray extract with a hard floor wand and neutraliser in the tank.  I havent found a prodcut to remove rust spots from it.  If its worn then it will not clean as well.

Price depends but you could get them on a monthly plan.  Generally it takes 1-2 times longer to clean than carpet so double your carpet price.

Mark

[ABLECLEAN]

Steve, Go to www.Altro.com for info

[garyj]

Altro safety flooring cleans up pretty well with just a mop & bucket.
You don't need to pre-spray, its not a carpet, an alkali solution in a bucket of warm water will do it, ( they make there own, but its expensive, I use MP9 from Premier Products or Brillo Degreaser).  For the really ''caked' on areas use a hard brush, or better still a Rotowash or similar.
Without sounding amateur,"slosh it on"!! Its a hard floor, you won't damage it,  and just mop it up with plenty of CLEAN water. No need for wet pick up.

As for pricing you will be very, very lucky to get double you'd get for a carpet,  , I would think half carpet price far more realistic. Its only taking you twice as long because you're treating it like a carpet. You're competing with the general cleaners on this one, they do these floors day in and day out ( they are getting very common due to there non-slip properties).

[garyj]

Also DO NOT polish and seal it. Its not designed for that , its a  non-slip safety floor. I've seen this stuff polished by someone who didn't know that and it  it looks terrible.

[Fox]

I hate cleaning altro flooring!  How you clean will depend on the state of the floor, how long it has been down and whether it has been maintained properly.

Altro flooring will stain over time if not maintained properly and can be a difficult surface to 'bring back to new'.  Do look at the altro site they have some great info.

To clean a badly stained altro floor I use a heavy duty alkaline cleaner, deck scrub to floor 50/50 and leave for 10mins to half hour.  Use slow speed rotary machine with green pad to scrub up then mop off with clean water.

You can polish an altro floor but bear in mind that is a non slip floor and it could reduce the effectiveness by up to 30% and as garyj says not an easy job.

As for pricing I would assess the amount of person hours this would take then price on that basis rather than area.

Fox

[Glynn]

I do a fair amount of altro flooring,with No chemical. Just 900psi with a spinner tool, and it cleans up brrilliantly.

[garyj]

Yes Glynn, thats probably the ideal way to clean Altro, but it can be done without any machinery.

Fox, as its designed as a non-slip safety floor, it really shouldn't be polished. The 30% reduction in its efficency would depend how much polish and how it was put on, it could be reduced 100% with the wrong application.
It does look flat and horrible when polished.

[Neil Mc Anulty]

With regard to sealing and polishing it was essential in a transport business office i once cleaned.
There was alot of dirt coming from the main warehouse into the office block and the maintenance of the floor on a daily basis was not a priority. So it was a salvage clean Sealing and polishing was the only way forward

[Steve Weatherley]

Thanks chaps. I think I'll use either Altrapac Renovate or Alkleen (Prochem) with the black pad on my Victor Sprite then follow up with the hard floor attachment on my Ninja with a mild acid rinse. I reckon its about 5 hours work and I am thinking of quoting  £200. How does that sound?

[mark_roberts]

I agree with Gary that you dont need much tools but from experience its easier and quicker and a better result to prespray, scrub and extract.

£40 per hour is what I'd aim for.  More if out of hours.

Mark