The best replacement floor may be the one you already have

Nation's Restaurant News, June 10, 1996 by Foster Frable, Jr.

My April 29th column presented a good kitchen floor as an element as important as the equipment on top of it. That column presented a range of options for floors in new construction. What happens when you have an old floor that is giving you fits?

First and foremost, realize that there is no magic formula that will cover a badly damaged floor and inexpensively solve long-standing problems with cracks, missing grout and, most important, employee slipping hazards. Some of the low-cost coatings that are promoted as cure-alls may only be industrial epoxy paint thickened with filler or abrasive. As with other paints and coatings, the heavy traffic, moisture and grease in a commercial kitchen renders those coverings a temporary solution at best.

A similar comparison can be drawn to a badly damaged parking lot. Applying a crack filler, sealer and top coat will last perhaps two to three years. Then the lot may appear in worse condition than before the sealer was installed. That is usually due to failure of the new finish to maintain a bond or seal with the original base. The impact from wheels, grease and standing water works together to break the bond from the base, allowing moisture to penetrate through the cracks, causing the top coat to peel off.

Another problem with covering an old kitchen floor, particularly those covered with old quarry tile, is that the grout--the cement between tiles--and surface cracks are filled with grease, food soil, and millions of dead or dying bacteria. Even with the most stringent steam cleaning or pressure washing, it is impossible to remove all of those elements. According to flooring experts we spoke with, "The decomposition of millions of bacteria just below the surface of porous tile floors produces a gas that can cause the new troweled or seamless floor to buckle, bubble or crack."

Since tearing up the whole kitchen floor in an operating restaurant is usually not an option, what can an operator do?

* Don't cover the problem. Regardless of what type of floor you are thinking of installing, make absolutely sure the old floor you are covering is still stable and solid. Any new floor you install will only be as good as the old base it is installed on. You may find that rebuilding the base floor to make it stable enough to install a floor on top may in itself resolve your most severe problems at least for a few years.

* Consider rebuilding what you have. If you have a thick-set quarry tile floor, where the grout is worn or missing and there is little or no nonslip finish left, salvaging your old floor may still be your best option. I have seen some excellent tile setters cut away old grout, replace broken or missing tile, and add new abrasive floor tiles in areas with high slip hazards for far less than replacing the entire floor would cost. Since it can be done in sections and produces no odor or fumes, rebuilding your existing tile floor can often be the most cost-effective option.

* Pay heed to waterproofing concerns. When you are dealing with kitchens located over basements or upper floors, the visible problems on the surface may only hint at the trouble brewing below. One of the most common omissions in new construction is properly installed waterproofing membranes between the wearing floor and the concrete base slab. Even with a waterproof seal, the addition of utilities, changes in drains and other modifications over the years often breach the seal, leaving pathways through cracks to the old floor. In such circumstances the best option is usually to remove all of the floor in the wet areas and professionally install roofing grade waterproofing. The waterproofing should be carefully sealed around any penetrations, pipes and conduits that rise through the slab, or leaks will return in these areas in the future. Pipes that can vibrate or expand and contract should be routed through new sleeves and raised 6 inches above the floor. Sleeves are short pipes poured or cemented into the floor to provide an opening for utilities routed from a lower-level space.

* If you must cover an old tile floor, make sure you use proper underlayment. After the old floor has been completely stabilized, cleaned and degreased, all cracks, holes and depressions should be filled with a Latex Portland self-leveling Portland Cement layer floated over the entire damaged area. The whole floor should then be covered with a Latex bonding agent and a minimum of a 2.5 metal lath before the new troweled or seamless vinyl floor has been installed over the top.

* Secure opinions from unbiased professionals and prices on several options. Anyone offering to sell you a new floor has an agenda to make a sale. The wisest approach to determining if this is your best option is to have an impartial expert like an architect evaluate your floor. You can purchase advice from an architect by the hour just as with an attorney and usually at a much lower hourly rate.

If it is determined that the existing floor cannot be repaired, and you are considering a seamless or troweled-on finish, take bids from tile contractors as well as those offering seamless systems. Then compare the cost and the benefits. We have seen a number of projects where the cost of replacing an existing tile floor with a new one would be little more than that for a troweled- or painted-on finishes, particularly considering the changes required to adjust elevations on existing floor drains, doors bucks, and floor bases.