What is Your Concrete Floor Costing You?

A poorly installed floor can make your business poor as well. When concrete floors break down it can cost you and your business in more ways than one, all of them unexpected. The most common complaint is of joint failure. This can be exacerbated by curling in the floor panel. This causes the panel to rock as equipment moves over it and damaging the joint which in-turn damages the forklift.

Let’s break down the various ways your floor can incur expenses, including the hidden costs created by a damaged concrete floor.

Obvious Costs

The obvious costs are those included in repair of the floor itself. This goes beyond the typical maintenance costs of replacing the joint materials as they wear away. You will pay for labor and materials in the form of a repair crew and replacement compound as well as other materials to repair the floor.

Inadequate joint installation can also translate into more frequent maintenance. If the joints are not maintained or if damage isn’t taken care of early, the cost of repair goes up and the joint may no longer perform as well regardless of the quality of the repair.

These are the costs that immediately come to mind. Now you must consider the costs that are not as apparent.

Equipment Costs

Forklifts require more frequent repair and maintenance after being driven over floors with poorly maintained joints. Over time the jolting causes damage to the chassis requiring repairs for a broken frame. The engine mounts, seat, forks, and mast suffer from excess vertical motion and bouncing. The wheels experience more wear and require early replacement.

The same problems will occur with any other vehicle or piece of equipment traversing the floor. If the floor is uneven enough a forklift or other vehicle may even turn over.

Personnel Costs

Forklift drivers suffer right along with their vehicles. The uneven floors that cause the forklift to bounce also stress the back and legs of the driver. Over time this translates into back injuries leading to absenteeism, higher medical costs, and increased insurance claims. Insurance rates will rise as well.

Business

What does a damaged floor do to the bottom line of your business? Aside from the equipment repair and medical costs, productivity suffers in a variety of ways.

? Forklift drivers slow their vehicles to decrease the awkward movement and to keep from dropping loads, which slows production.

? Closing all or a portion of the floor for repair can cost thousands of dollars a day in lost productivity.

? Other equipment may remain out of use until the floor is repaired, forcing alternative and, possibly, less efficient methods of moving goods.

Another unfortunate occurrence would be the need to defend against a lawsuit and/or pay OSHA fines.

Conclusion

You may think you are saving money when you choose a concrete floor installer or design based on a low bid or by allowing someone to use unsuitable materials. But such practices could cost you more in the long run than hiring a quality concrete floor contractor to install the floor correctly in the first place.

Before you finalize your construction budget, remember that you may save money now only to lose it to decreased productivity, higher medical costs, absenteeism, safety fines, floor repairs and equipment maintenance.