Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Mopping sloped floors

This is topic Mopping sloped floors in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=002485

Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 04-12-2011, 08:05 PM:

We have a sloped floor that carries the slope all the way to the base of the stage. Anything that spills, ultimately ends up there. This includes mop water.

Because we have a textured floor, we have to use rag mops. Sponge mops get torn to shreds with a couple of aisles. Since the rag mops release a good amount of water -- even when wrung thoroughly -- we end up with water eventually making it to the stage.

Any thoughts on how to avert this (without redoing the floor)? I was thinking about using some of those orange water absorbers you see in grocery stores. I'm not sure though how we would clean them after use.

-David

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-12-2011, 08:47 PM:

Many theatres I worked at that had sloped, concrete floors where the usage of the string mops are your best bet. They're extremely durable, soak up quite a bit, cover a large area and does the best when rincing the floor with clean water.

Have two mops then - one to wash with and one to do the drying along with two mop buckets ...

Sorry, but that's the worst part when doing janitoral work at a theatre...been there and done that many-many years.

Good luck-Monte

Posted by Ron Funderburg (Member # 4561) on 04-14-2011, 01:43 PM:

drains at the lowest point on the floor help but they are expensive to retro fit. You can have a large hole dug with gravel in it to hold the water. The down side you have is the expense to have them put in and covered to just a grated opening and to pour bleach down often to prevent the syrups from fermenting.

The two mop solutions is the most economical!

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-15-2011, 09:30 PM:

Keep a wet/dry shopvac at the bottom row with a helper to suck up excess runoff. If you have that vacuum backup, you can be a little less concerned about making sure every drop you splash is mopped up immediately and can work using a little more water; that might work to your advantage, possibly getting a cleaner floor. It might even get done at a faster pace because you won't have to be that meticulous about constantly sopping up water.

We use a wet shopvac on the concerte booth floor and in the booth hallway. It's outfitted with a supply tube that runs down the wand and fitted on the suction attachement is a spray nozel that sprays either low foaming detergent or plan water which the vacuum then sucks up along with all the dirt. GREAT way to get a super clean a booth floor in no time and I expect the auditorium as well.

Only bit of a downside is you that you absolutely need to deal with flushing the dirty water down the drain or toilet IMMEDIATELY after you are done. You can't let it sit even overnight like I once did like you can with a regular vacuum cleaner. After three days I went back to empty the barrel and the strench from that dirty water was like I had opened up a cespool of rotting dead fish. REALLY disgusting. The combination of water and that dirt, even with the detergent in it, grows all kinds of organisms that you don't want to go anywhere near. It's like a biology experiment gone wrong. But if you are attentive to that issue, a wet/dry shopvac can be quite a helpful too...more so that I would have guessed.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-15-2011, 09:54 PM:

(Boy, I'd hate to smell that auditorium if one is dumping bleach over that mouldy syrup along with that mouldy syrup creating cancer sores all over the concrete floor ....)

To really cut the syrup on the floors is to use TriSodium Phosphate - a granular product from your custodial supplier , or your local big box home furnishing store that you mix in with the mop water.

The major use for (TSP) trisodium phosphate is in cleaning agents. The pH of a 1% solution is 12, and the solution is sufficiently alkaline to saponify grease and oils. In combination with surfactants, TSP is an excellent agent for cleaning everything from laundry to concrete driveways.

You have to be careful with the stuff for being a phosphate, it can burn if a paste is made and touches the skin, breathing the dust and vapors ....

But, we used TSP on our concrete auditorium floors with good results.

-Monte

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 04-18-2011, 04:18 AM:

The theatre I worked at as a teenager used to lay out this long cloth tube that was stuffed with rags, as a means of preventing water from running to the stage. I believe it was something the owner's wife made from some old pillowcases and misc. scraps (the closed ends of the pillowcases were cut open and sowed to the next case, in a chain fashion). It worked pretty well, soaking up any stray water like a sponge. However, you had to assure it was fully dry before storage and there was a semi annual need to replace the filling (i.e. avoiding mildew was a bit labor intensive).

Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 05-28-2011, 10:13 AM:

Folks:

I don't understand how this can be an issue. You ring out the mop to remove the excess water, then mop. It's as simple as that. A string mop, small to medium works best. The large ones are too difficult to ring out.

In 3 years of mopping sloped florrs I have NEVER had a problem with excess water.

Mike

Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 06-02-2011, 02:42 PM:

quote: Mike C.
A string mop, small to medium works best. The large ones are too difficult to ring out.

Maybe you've identified a contributing factor for me. I hadn't considered the size of the string mop. It may be, as you noted, that we simply can't ring out enough of the water before hitting the floor. I'll have to check around for smaller mop heads.

I still need to solve the problem of all the pop and alcohol spills making it to the stage. [Wink]

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 06-02-2011, 03:30 PM:

I use the blue mopheads at Sams Club (if you are a member), they work pretty well for me.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-02-2011, 05:52 PM:

quote: David E. Nedrow
It may be, as you noted, that we simply can't ring out enough of the water before hitting the floor.

Do you have a "wringer bucket?" If you're just doing it by hand (yecch) or some other method I can see where you might have a problem, but a bucket with wringer attached should be able to get your mop nearly dry.