What to Look for Before Doing a Holiday Shutdown

The holiday season often brings a week-long shutdown for manufacturers as production halts and employees get some time off. While workers enjoy the break, shutdowns provide manufacturers the perfect opportunity to take care of maintenance and repairs around the facilities.

One area that should be a top priority during a holiday shutdown is tackling maintenance and repairs for your facility’s floors. After a year of heavy equipment rolling over them, possible chemicals spills, heavy foot traffic and other wear and tear, your floors probably need deep cleaning. A shutdown allows adequate time for a thorough assessment, cleaning and repairs.

For the best results, walk through your facility and take note of the following flooring issues that will need to be addressed:

Worn areas

Check any high-traffic zones near equipment and main walkways. Look for thinning sealant, visible damage, pits and any signs of wear. These high-traffic spots will definitely need repairs and recoating. Addressing worn areas protects your floor from further deterioration.

Spills and stains

It is important to inspect floors for discoloration, staining or stickiness from chemical spills and leaks. Stained floors may require stripping, deep cleaning and completely resealing affected areas depending on the size and severity. It’s essential to clean up any spills at the time of the incident to prevent permanent staining and damage.

Cracks and pitting

Scan concrete floors carefully for cracks, chips, gouges, pitted areas or uneven surfaces. In many situations, cracks allow moisture to seep in and cause underlying erosion. Be sure to address all cracked and damaged concrete during your shutdown.

Contamination

Inspect floors for oil, grease, chemical or other contamination. Grime buildups lead to slipping hazards and is impossible to seal over completely. The best way to combat this is to schedule degreasing, chemical cleaning and power washing of contaminated floors prior to shutdown. Severely contaminated concrete may need mechanical grinding.

Conclusion

After a thorough evaluation of your floors, enlisting the assistance of Protective Industrial Polymers can be invaluable. We offer a diverse array of durable polymer flooring solutions tailored to the precise requirements of various industries. You can expect exceptional quality at every stage of the process when collaborating with our dependable staff, who boast extensive expertise in their respective fields.

Taking advantage of downtime during the holidays ensures that your facility’s floors can be fully inspected, repaired, cleaned and protected with fresh coatings. Your workforce will return to safer, cleaner conditions for your employees to function. Protective Industrial Polymers can restore your floors over the shutdown so they stay in great shape all year, despite heavy manufacturing use. Our company creates complete flooring solutions specifically designed for heavy manufacturing, commercial, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Offering an extensive array of services, we pledge to provide the best possible consulting knowledge for every project until it is finished.