What Type or Brand Is This Floor Tile?

[bdjanitorial]

This Blueish Vinyl Tile is in restrooms and kitchen in a new commercial building. The tiles are rather dull looking so I assume they need a coat of wax? I have looked at several brands of tiles for commercial buildings but have not seen this tile. Looking for a Brand--Armstrong or? tile type? resilient? or waterproof? Thanks Brad BD Janitorial

 

[Incognito]

My guess:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Arm...ih=517&biw=1021&client=firefox-b-1-d&hl=en-US

 

[Incognito]

You're going to want to do a deep scrubbing/burnishing to get those pits out. I've never done this kind of heavy burnishing but many times I've seen the before/after. When I talk to the custodians/cleaning contractors they use the term "burnish" by which I understand the heavy abrasive pads run at high speed actually get into the material------heating the surface and smoothing out scratches and very minor pits like I think I see in your photo.

In many, if not most cases what looks like permanent damage/scratches/stains it's really the acrylic finish or wax. When that's all stripped and then the actual tiles are burnished out I've seen it restored to essentially new conditions with 3 coats of finish. VCT is "through chip" which means the top and bottom and everything in between are the same. So in my understanding the burnishing pads work almost like a fine sanding process taking the damaged surface down to smooth, new surface.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Ingcog is all over it with what the product is.

I've attached their most current maintenance instructions for their VCT.

A couple of things I'd add...

If this installation is fairly fresh, then be careful with your stripper as it can interfere with the adhesive if you leave it dwell too long. It'll soften the adhesive and cause it to flow up in between the tile and when you apply your finish it will "picture frame".

Years back both Armstrong and Mannington use to say to allow the adhesive a minimum of a year before doing any stripping due to the high pH of flooring strippers and the move to acrylic adhesives vs. cut-back adhesives.

It looks like they are getting a lot of grit and soil. To help decrease maintenance and keep the floor looking better longer check all the entry ways to the areas and try and plan some entrance barrier matting / walk-off mats. The rule of thumb is to try and get them to take three steps on the matting before hitting the hard surface. If you can get them to do this, it will extend their time between strip and refinish cycles.

One word of caution about burnishing, while it can really make a VCT floor pop. It can cause some issues as well. As Incog mentioned it warms the tiles due to the high-speed pads and it CAN cause imperfections in the subfloor to show through as "waves" or bumps in the tile. If the flooring contractor's floor prep wasn't done well it can also show areas where subfloor patching was done and if they weren't diligent about their trowel notching it can show "swirls" where the adhesive was trowelled.

Another alternative to the attached maintenance is to use a "semi-permanent" coating (field applied urethane) finish. This can greatly reduce the length of time between strip and re-wax. I've had hospitals who went that route and got as much as 4 years between re-coats vs. every 4-6 months with an acrylic finish.

Hope that helps and wish you well with it!

 

[JPfloor]

I would agree, that looks like Armstrong.

And yes if you want that lasting high gloss sheen burnishing is the way to go. Its not just different pads. It’s an extra step and a different machine than the buffer. Higher RPM. Let the new finish cure for a day before burnishing. If you’ve never done it before It would be helpful to have someone who has.

 

[bdjanitorial]

Incognito.......... Thanks for your link and answering my flooring question. You gave me more info than I had.
Brad BD Janitorial​