The hospital setting will likely make visitors and patients anxious and tense. Therefore, healthcare facility managers must take the most effective methods to ensure the ambiance and aesthetics are pleasing and comfortable. Regarding flooring, the materials for hospitals are always at the top of the list.
Hospital flooring must provide both safety and functionality. You cannot allow yourself to compromise on its quality; your hospital floors are integral in creating a sterile environment for patients and healthcare providers. To learn more about essential considerations and options that ensure high standards of safety and functionality for hospital flooring solutions, read through the information we have collected here so that you can make educated decisions and create healthcare facilities that prioritize well-being among their community of care.
Flooring plays an important function in interior design and directly impacts positive patient outcomes. Additionally, it influences the functionality and quality of the various rooms in an environment for medical care.
Marble, the most desirable selection of high-end stone tiles that are durable and stunning, can be utilized in modern or classical environments to give a sense of classiness.
Marble is more dense and tougher than its cousins, limestone and travertine. Due to its toughness, durability, and stunning surface detail, marble tiles are employed in various boutique hospitals, hotels, and other luxurious locations.
Marble is a natural stone with a pleasant and comfortable feeling. Beige, white, pink, or blue Marble are popular for their ability to relax patients. As Marble is costly and porous, it is ideal to be used in areas with low traffic, such as bathrooms and balconies in hospitals.
Even here, selecting the honed or tumbled finish that will provide traction and is slippery is crucial. A properly applied sealant over the marble flooring increases its durability. It makes it more resistant to cracks and scratches (promoting the control of infections) and is a simple task to clean with water and soap for everyday cleaning.
However, determining the most suitable flooring material requires having a sense of the essentials and a meticulous plan. So, let’s explore the elements that contribute to positive outcomes for healthcare professionals and patients.
The Major Standards For A Healthy Flooring
Maintenance
Hospitals are open 24 hours a day; therefore, they need quick turnaround flooring. It is possible to achieve this by having low-maintenance and high-performing flooring.
Also, the material you choose will not require any cleaning chemicals, maintenance techniques, or repairs. They can drastically reduce the time and expenses involved in maintaining them. In the end, flooring that is easy to maintain positively improves the volume of patients.
Safety & Hygiene
Infection prevention and safety is the primary goal of flooring in a health facility. Because healing and safety are inextricably linked, it is essential that the flooring is free of any pathogens that can cause infections. It is essential that the flooring is free of crevices and cracks that serve as breeding grounds for bacteria.
In addition, the flooring material should protect the patient and the caregivers from falling and trips, as well as slips. The flooring’s surface and texture must provide the necessary grip, even if it’s wet. This reflects the institution’s professionalism and guarantees hygiene, which is the most important thing.
Positive Aesthetics
The flooring material will create a warm and welcoming environment for caregivers and patients by reducing stress and creating a feeling of relaxation. For instance, flooring that mimics natural stone, like natural stone, provides warmth and ease. It has been proven to improve health and wellness, both in terms of physical and mental health.
Durability
The long-term durability of the hospital flooring materials is crucial as if it starts to deteriorate over time, it could cause surface abrasions and bubbling, which could lead to slips and falls and reduce the hygiene factor. The continuously utilized flooring can affect the efficiency of staff and their ability to take care of patients.
The wide range of patterns, colors, and textures makes natural stone great for health facilities. The wide range of options that offer low maintenance, superior performance, and a high ROI makes natural stone a superior alternative. They create a feeling of comfort, cozy, and warmness, among the primary reasons to choose healthcare professionals.
Marble Tiled Floor Cleaning
To begin, you must deep clean. Get rid of acid stains and polish tiles:
- Machines for rotation
- Wet vacuum
- Diamond burnishing pads
To restore the polished look of the floor by burnishing it using diamond pads, first, you must begin with a 400-grit burnishing pad that will remove the old sealer and ingrained dirt. To use these pads, water is required to act as a lubricant. Therefore, add some water to the area and scrub each tile 3 or 4 times. Then, clean the water with the vacuum. After that, the flooring needs to be cleaned.
Use a mild, non-acidic stone cleaner to soften the dirt, then scrub the grout joints with a grout brush. Follow this by taking out the soiled water.
After cleaning the grout, allow the marble floor to dry before applying very Fine three thousand grit pads and polishing with a splash of water. Finishing the polish and not leaving scratches on your floor is important.
Sealing Marble Tiles
Marble must be sealed using an impregnating sealer. It’s a matt-like sealer that can penetrate the surface, allowing it to breathe. Impregnating sealer works well in damp areas such as bathrooms, wetrooms, and pools’ surrounds. It’s also suitable for floors that don’t have a dampproofing course.
After your Marble Tiles are completely dry, apply a color-enhancing impregnating sealer to intensify the natural colors of darker Marble’s. If, however, you are sealing white or off-white Marble and do not wish to make the stone darker, apply an impregnating sealer with a clear finish that doesn’t affect the appearance of the stone.
In the case of previously sealed tiles, it’s recommended that you apply three coats of sealer and two coats in the case of newly sealed tiles.
Also, clean the sealer so it is not absorbed into the stone’s surface.
Regular Marble Maintenance
To clean your floors regularly, you can use a sealer-friendly acidic cleaner designed to be used on natural stones. It is important to not use any strong substances on the flooring as, after the burnishing, it’s relatively easy to clean your floor.
To maintain the shine, you must polish the floor using the final 3000 grit pad every 3 to 6 months, according to the wear.
This procedure will increase the surface tension (which should be distinct from the sealer within the stone) and will also tighten the stone’s pores, improving the appearance and overall finish of the flooring.
