Figuring out which are the cheapest office floors to clean can be a little tricky because different factors are involved. While good carpet and vinyl can cost roughly the same amount to buy, cleaning costs for commercial flooring can be different.
Here are some things to think about when it comes to cleaning your office flooring.
How big is your office?
Small offices
If you have less than 15 members of staff, you can probably clean your office in-house without hiring a contractor.
Luxury vinyl is probably the cheapest type of commercial flooring to maintain in-house. It has a transparent wear layer called urethane which coats the surface, making it almost waterproof—this means luxury vinyl flooring can be wiped easily and quickly with a mop and bucket; saving you the need for specialised equipment.
Luxury vinyl flooring has a transparent wear layer making it almost waterproof.
You can quite efficiently clean carpets, carpet tiles or broadloom office flooring but you’re going to need a good office vacuum cleaner, which will cost you at least £100. Lots of offices tend to buy a Henry vacuum cleaner because they are designed to be used every day and last a long time. Once you’ve made the initial investment in-house carpet cleaning costs should be reasonable—you’re only paying for electricity; which you shouldn’t notice in a small office.
Hard floors such as wood can be mopped and vacuumed like luxury vinyl flooring, but also need to be sanded and sealed annually—this can be expensive, especially in high traffic areas.
Our advice here is to favour luxury vinyl tiles which are the cheapest office floors to clean, or choose carpet but beware of vacuuming costs. If you’re considering hard floors, then they should only be used in low traffic areas.
Medium to large offices
If you have a medium sized office with over 15 members of staff, then you will likely need to contract professional cleaners for your commercial flooring.
You should weigh up the cost of a regular cleaning company and see if they provide different rates for different flooring types.
You may also consider hiring a single cleaning contractor rather than a larger cleaning company. While smaller cleaning contractors may have a cheaper rate, you may need to provide equipment for them. You should bear in mind potential equipment costs when choosing your flooring.
The key to keeping costs low for cleaning medium to large offices is to adjust your cleaning schedule between high and low traffic areas. A well-planned cleaning schedule can significantly increase the lifespan of your flooring.
Which industry do you serve?
Who is using your flooring? If you are in a strictly professional capacity with suits such as a law firm in the city, your visitors are likely to have clean office shoes. Clean shoes mean you may not need to clean your offices professionally as often.
If your office deals with tradespeople, you should consider how replaceable your carpet is. Traditional rolled-out carpet, known as broadloom carpet, can be difficult in the event of a terrible stain because you will need to replace a whole section of carpet. Commercial carpet tiles, which form a floor layout made up of interlocking carpet squares, are a much more practical choice here. Compared to rolled-out carpet they are just as cheap to professionally clean but if a tile is damaged or badly stained you can simply replace the tile rather than the whole floor.
Where are you installing your flooring?
Will the floor be in an area where you are likely to get spillages? If your new flooring is near a kitchen area or a drink vending machine, then commercial carpet may not be the best type of flooring. Instead, consider Luxury vinyl flooring—this may be more expensive up front but because it’s waterproof you’re more protected from tile replacement costs.
Synthetic is also a more practical and cost-effective choice. We recommend synthetic fibres for high traffic rooms and areas such as the bathroom and landings. They are much more hard wearing and are often found in rental properties or used as commercial flooring in industrial industries.
Vinyl flooring was the sensible choice for the St Mary Magdalene cafeteria, where stains are frequent
How Permanent are your offices? You may not need the cheapest office floors to clean
Consider how long you’re keeping the floor. If you think your company will move offices in the next few years, you may want to reduce your carpet cleaning schedule. You should consider your cleaning schedule carefully though; you will need to replace dirty and damaged carpets sooner rather than later otherwise. If you’re staying put for a while, consider increasing your cleaning schedule and buying a more expensive carpet or luxury vinyl tiles. More expensive carpet tends to last longer and can even improve your staff morale.
What colour carpet are you leaning towards?
Darker carpets will need lower maintenance because they don’t show dirt as much, so you may be able to get away with not cleaning them as often (maybe twice a week rather than every evening). Accumulated dirt is linked to the industry you serve too; so again, think of the kind of people using your flooring when deciding on a colour.
If you need more friendly advice, then give our office a call on 020 7739 5051. We’d be happy to recommend suitable flooring to you.
