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Common office and commercial flooring mistakes

September, 2018

In this article we discuss the most common office and commercial flooring mistakes, and what you can do to avoid these, helping you to get the most from your flooring.

There are very few surfaces that get as much wear and tear as office and commercial flooring. From the constant foot traffic, combined with the wheeling of heavy equipment trollies and the amount of coffee and ink that will be spilt, office and commercial flooring often requires continuous maintenance, and frequent replacements. Ignoring the upkeep of your floor can cause safety hazards, and its neglected appearance can harm the morale of your employees, as well as put off potential clients.

At Duraflor we understand the importance of finding a flooring solution that is within budget, doesn’t come with huge installation costs, is aesthetically pleasing to those in the building, and is hard wearing enough to make the purchase economically viable. Here are a few common mistakes we have noted that you might want to avoid:

1. Concentrating only on initial cost

While everyone likes to get a bargain, going for the cheapest option may not be the best case scenario when choosing office and commercial flooring. If your office experiences heavy foot traffic, choosing Class 33 for Vinyl and Carpet Tiles is a minimum, and paying close attention if you are choosing a carpet to the yarn type and structure will also be a key consideration. We highlighted these considerations in more detail in last week’s blog.

2. Forgetting that different areas have different uses

When looking to completely remodeling your commercial environment, it is well worth considering that different areas of your space could have different uses, and therefore it may be worthwhile investigating how different flooring options can be used to accommodate this. For example, carpet tiles may be ideal for heavy traffic corridors and the main office floors, while vinyl tiles or sheet vinyl might be a natural fit for areas where you might get spills etc.

Of course modern design goes far beyond this, and consideration may need to be given to creating the right atmosphere for the zone you want to create, thinking about the best type of flooring for collaboration zones, fun zones, quiet zones and private zones.  While colour plays an important role in this so does acoustics, aesthetics, textures and the more mundane maintenance considerations – flooring is only a part of creating the right atmosphere, but an important one.

3. Committing to only one colour or design

One of the advantages of tiles, be it vinyl or carpet, is that you can easily incorporate different colours into your office floor without any additional hassle. By using different colours, you can ‘section’ or ‘zone’ your areas, which helps to define different parts of the floor space. Many companies use zoning to increase productivity and efficiency within the workplace, as the associations between a colour, a defined area and a specific task help the mind to focus on completing that task in that area – red is often used in more high intensity areas, whereas blue can be used to help produce a creative atmosphere. We discussed colour and how it helps productivity in a little more detail in a previous blog.

Another approach to zoning which is more subtle, is to consider the Freedom Collection from Duraflor, with this range Duraflor offer 5 different designs but all from the same yarn banks.  With the Freedom Collection you can choose a colour and more subtly transition your office floor scheme with different design options, not to mention the longevity you get when choosing a flooring product with such a tightly structured yarn construction and enhanced maintenance benefits.

The Freedom Collection comprises the following ranges – Bark, Storm, Rainfall, Pavement and Compound.

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