ACMO Blog
Stop Winter in its Tracks: Entrance Solutions to Keep Winter Out of Your Building
This blog post is sponsored by
A matting system is the best way to control dirt and moisture entering your building. Over 80% of the soil comes into a building through its entrance. In a building with only 200 people, five days a week, they will track more than 65 lbs of dirt into your building during the year. According to an ISSA study, that dirt will cost over $500 per pound to remove, which means tracking in dirt costs you at least $32,500. How many people enter your building?
Effective matting also adds significantly to indoor air quality. By trapping the dirt in the mat, dust can’t get kicked up into the air and circulated throughout the structure.
A robust matting system does more than just trap dirt. It also contains moisture, keeping your floors safer and mitigating the risk of slip falls in your facility. Slips and falls are the second most costly occupational injury based on the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index (2006).
Lastly, a good matting system can enhance the design of your entrances and help direct pedestrian traffic flow. Many suppliers can help you find a product and a design that complement your style while looking after your safety needs.
To Rent or Buy?
The first question is, do you have an onsite janitorial staff or a cleaning contractor? If your facility does not, and there is no one to maintain the mats, it may be better to rent. However, if you have onsite maintenance, purchasing offers a greater variety of designs and a higher level of effectiveness.
What Kind of Mat do I Need?
An effective entrance system is composed of three classes of matting, each designed to capture a different type of dirt, ensuring that you stop the most material possible from entering your building. Course soil, like gravel and debris, is trapped by Scraper mats, sand and medium dirt are contained in Wiper/Scraper mats, and fine dust and moisture are stopped with a Wiper mat. Matting is a cleaning system; any matting choice you make should include an element to deal with all three soil types.
How much matting do I need?
In most entrances, the cleaning action is the people’s steps on the mat; however, few people stop and actively wipe their feet. This means mats must be long enough to have people “walk-off” the dirt and moisture and big enough to hold the volume of dirt generated by the traffic between cleanings. Industry experts tell us that if a matting system is maintained, i.e. still has room for more dirt inside it, 80% of the soil on shoes will be removed in the first five steps. Therefore, even a low-traffic entrance needs at least 12 to 15 feet of matting. The higher the traffic, the more soil the mat needs to hold, which typically means longer mats. Getting a longer mat is far easier than changing the cleaning regime whenever the weather turns bad. Most materials have absorbency or traffic capacity ratings to help with this decision.
WORD TO THE WISE - In a high-traffic entrance, if the first few feet of the mat become saturated before cleaning can be done, it will lose its effectiveness. Adding a few extra feet on the end of a mat can help prevent added maintenance to your floors and additional slip and fall risk on heavy soil days.
Dirt is Trapped. Now What?
Matting is a dirt sponge; even the best sponge will only hold so much. Once it is full, it can no longer do its job of trapping dirt. Vacuuming and seasonal extraction will be enough to maintain any matting system’s effectiveness. The frequency depends on the amount of dirt and traffic entering your facility. If your traffic comes from a street entrance, there will be a higher level of dirt than traffic from a parking garage. Talk to your matting supplier and let them know the details of your traffic patterns. They can recommend appropriate materials to keep your building safe and clean.
Platinum Building Services Corp., the largest retailer of runners for condominiums and rental buildings, has over 20 years of experience, a 5-star rating on Google, and is ranked #1 with Vendorpm. Platinum Building Services Corp. professionally installs new runners utilizing specialized tape, providing easy removal and preserving of the floor. Seasonal programs are offered to clients that allow for installing and cleaning the runners in the fall and lifting the runners in the springtime. During the winter, steam cleaning of the runners is offered; if needed, storage is available in the summer. We are the “people who care.”
For more information, visit pbs-corp.ca
