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Hard Surfaces Adjoining Carpet Surfaces
Transition areas where carpet and hard floors meet can be a challenge. It is very
important to keep hard surface flooring clean in order to prevent the tracking of hard
surface residues onto carpet. Daily maintenance of hard surface floor coverings, such as
vinyl composition tile (VCT), ceramic tile, wood and terrazzo floors, presents a greater
challenge to the average maintenance staff than carpeted surfaces.
Hard surface flooring must receive constant care because of its inability to hide soil and
possible damage to the finish by dry soil. Hard surfaces that have become wet due to
spills, leaks or even tracked in moisture must be a constant concern to the maintenance
staff, as well as the risk management staff.
Daily maintenance of hard surface floors includes dry mopping, wet mopping and spot
mopping. Wet mops should be stored in cool dry areas to prevent molding. Wet spills
should be removed immediately to minimize falls and injuries. High quality finishes
need to be used. Some softer finishes may track onto carpet.
To avoid problems, observe a few common sense rules.
During treatment of hard surface floors, whether stripping, finishing or
maintaining, keep chemicals off the carpet. Many of the cleaning agents used to
maintain hard floors can cause damage to carpet.
After wet-mopping maintenance of hard surfaces, dry completely before allowing
traffic onto carpet to help prevent tracking of any residues of hard surface
cleaning agents.
When using rotary equipment on hard surfaces next to carpet, be careful not to
allow pads or brushes to come in contact with the carpet and, thus, abrade the
carpet pile.
Do not set buckets or equipment used for the maintenance of hard floors on the
carpet as residues on the bucket may cause soiling or staining.
Spot-prone areas should be checked daily in order to remove spills before they
attract dirt or become permanent.
It is a misperception that carpet maintenance is more costly than hard surfaces. As stated
in “A Life-Cycle Cost Analysis for Floor Coverings in School Facilities” cleaning and
maintenance of carpet is cost-effective.

Clean Team