What Type of Flooring is Best For Your Commercial Kitchen?

Man working next to full pots on stove in commercial kitchenIf you think cooking for the family can get hectic, try working in a commercial kitchen. These fast-paced, high-octane culinary environments require quick thinking, honed skill, and the ability to adapt on the fly. That being said, mistakes can happen even with the best and brightest.

Commercial kitchens are no stranger to spills and messes. Vats of hot water, oil, and food will make their way to the floor eventually. The flooring takes the brunt of these incidents not to mention dropped metal pans, extreme temperatures, high moisture levels, and constant foot traffic. So, a commercial kitchen needs a floor that can take a beating without falling apart.

What flooring is best for your kitchen? Well, there are many choices: concrete, vinyl, tile, etc. However, we believe that epoxy flooring offers the best performance and value while meeting the strict safety and health regulations imposed by the restaurant industry.

Epoxy coatings come in many different forms. For example, Ohio Garage Interiors utilizes a material called “polyaspartic polyurea.” This is one of the highest quality epoxy materials available, and it offers several advantages that make it ideal for any commercial kitchen.

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6 Reasons to Use Epoxy Flooring in a Commercial Kitchen

1. Safe from Slip-and-Fall

If someone spills a full boiler pot of hot oil onto the floor, you are going to need a lot more than a wet floor sign to keep people from slipping. Slipping hazards are a constant worry in a kitchen environment, so it is important to install flooring that minimizes the risk of injury.

Epoxy is a highly versatile material that can be modified to offer different levels of traction depending on your kitchen’s specific needs. In fact, OGI scatters a substance called aluminum oxide into their epoxy topcoat. This material creates a gritty, skid-resistant texture on the floor’s surface. As a result, employees will be less likely to slip after a spill or even during routine cleaning.

Speaking of cleaning, we need to talk about an equally important subject: Hygiene.

2. A Hygienic Kitchen is a Healthy Kitchen

Dish washer in commercial kitchenCooking in an unclean kitchen is essentially culinary blasphemy. Foodborne illnesses are a serious matter and should be prevented at all costs. Failing to maintain a hygienic kitchen puts both employees and customers at risk of getting sick or even hospitalized. Then, you will have the USDA knocking at your door.

Thankfully, your flooring is the perfect place to start in maintaining good kitchen hygiene. Epoxy flooring is the ideal choice for hygienic flooring in comparison to other options. Tile flooring, for instance, has grout and other crevices that are home to many stray fluids and food particles. This invites the formation of mold and germs, which can create unpleasant smells and are difficult to remove once settled in.

A polyaspartic epoxy floor creates a smooth, cohesive surface that is free of crevices. The material also prevents liquids and smaller food particles from penetrating the floor. As a result, cleaning messes is easier, and germs do not have the opportunity to spread.

However, your floor needs to protect against much more than just germs.

3. No Worries Over Wear and Tear

Commercial kitchen floors are subjected to several different pressures on the typical workday:
Dropped pans, dishes, knives, trays, and other equipment crash to the floor with high force. Hot water, oil, and grease accumulate on the surface due to fryers, broilers, and the occasional spill. Even ingredients like salt, sugar, and floor can cause abrasions during heavy foot traffic. And let’s not forget the chemicals in degreasers and other cleaning solutions.

Without the proper flooring solution, the surface of your floor will begin to crack and peel in the face of this constant assault. OGI polyaspartic epoxy, on the other hand, offers exceptional protection against virtually all forms of wear and tear. Whether hot liquids, foot traffic, heavy impacts, or corrosive chemicals, OGI epoxy maintains its glossy, high-traction finish without issue.

4. Keeping Moisture at Bay

Moisture is a formidable threat for all types of flooring. This invisible presence can make its way into concrete and other materials without being detected. In kitchens, moisture is everywhere. Cooking, cleaning, spills, and even busy employees can contribute to humidity and moisture buildup.

If your flooring does not have proper protection against moisture, it can cause serious damage over time. Not only can it damage the surface flooring, but it can also threaten the structural integrity of the concrete below it. As a result, the flooring can warp and form other defects that are difficult and expensive to fix.

Installing polyaspartic epoxy flooring is the ideal solution for dealing with moisture. OGI epoxy offers complete impermeability to moisture, preventing it from penetrating the floor. Most importantly, it eliminates the opportunity for serious defects to form, saving you money on maintenance and repairs.

5. It Can Take the Heat? Put it in My Kitchen!

Lit gas stove with blue flameHeat may be the first thing you think of when you think of a busy restaurant kitchen. However, many food products need to be stored in walk-in coolers or freezers. So, commercial kitchens reach extremes on both sides of the temperature spectrum. But what does this have to do with flooring?

A seamless kitchen floor is exposed to all of these temperatures at once. The transition from hot to cold can result in the expansion and contraction of the concrete as well as whatever topcoat is on the floor. This is known as thermal shock, and depending on how the floor reacts, it can create warped spots and air pockets throughout the floor coating.

To prevent these damages, you need a floor coating that is resistant to sudden changes in temperature. OGI’s polyaspartic epoxy is capable of handling these temperature shifts while maintaining a level surface. This ensures moisture and other materials cannot get under the coating and cause long-term damage to the floor.

6. Quick and Easy Installation

In the restaurant industry, every minute counts. If you have to wait around for a week or more to get flooring installed, that is all time that could be spent working and serving customers.

When you install epoxy flooring with OGI, your new floor will be ready to go in no time. The base coat needs to cure overnight and the topcoat needs only 24 hours to settle. So, you will be able to walk on your new kitchen floor within 48 hours!

Interested in installing new epoxy flooring in your commercial kitchen? Ohio Garage Interiors is a leader in all things epoxy flooring. Get in touch today to schedule an inspection for a free quote and start planning your next project!

Ways to Get Your Commerical Flooring Project Started

Ohio Garage Interiors is currently working with a commercial flooring partner. Schedule your free on-site consultation today.