Anywhere that microorganisms, especially bacteria, can grow is considering microbial; this is pretty much most surfaces. For flooring, the microbial potential is actually somewhat more harmful than we may believe. Interestingly, terrazzo epoxy flooring is almost completely antimicrobial, making it one of the most sanitary flooring choices for almost any space.
Research
In a recent research study, it was discovered that most flooring elements contain alarmingly high amounts of microbial activity, which easily gets kicked up and redispersed into the room’s air supply, only to eventually find its way back onto the flooring. This is problematic because the types of flooring that are used most often in buildings, such as carpeting, are among the worst offenders for bacterial growth under a host of common moisture conditions that are considered easily livable and found in many U.S. households. Perhaps most worrisome is how quickly exponential growth can be found in and on common flooring types; these findings suggest that our flooring can play a larger-than-expected role in our health (or lack thereof).
Non-Porous Surface
Unlike a natural stone, hardwood, carpet, or even concrete flooring, terrazzo epoxy is antimicrobial. This may seem odd, as these floors don’t necessarily seem to be innately different to the naked eye. But, go figure, at a microscopic level these surfaces look radically different, which makes all the difference when it comes to bacterial growth. Think of it this way: Terrazzo epoxy flooring is almost completely smooth, while each of the aforementioned flooring types (on a microscopic level) look more like the surface of the moon at best and a sponge at worse. This sponge-like quality may not seem drastic to our naked eye, but actually creates tiny ecosystems where bacteria can hang out, take up residence, and reproduce wildly; from there, it’s only a short step to get kicked up into the air for unsuspecting people to breathe in or otherwise ingest.
Why Terrazzo Epoxy?
Great, so the non-porous surface doesn’t provide the bacteria a home, but so what? Well, this is more significant than you may think; bacteria require ideal circumstances to multiply with any sort of speed and these circumstances are circumvented without a place to “take root.” In this sense, lone bacteria continue to remain lone bacteria, even with far less cleaning or far more moisture, for far longer than they would on a different flooring surface from terrazzo epoxy. This effect is created because of the innate strength that is created by terrazzo additions to the already-near microbial epoxy surface; the added interior strength allows the epoxy resin to dry and maintain a smooth, level surface for far longer than any other flooring technique. In the end, the antimicrobial quality is really more of an added benefit to an already incredible flooring style.
We Can Help
At Klein and Company Inc, we make terrazzo flooring our business; even as one of the nation’s top terrazzo supply providers, our online store only features products used by our local terrazzo flooring installation and maintenance business. We are small business owners and project managers at heart, which gives us an edge in providing high-quality terrazzo supply to commercial and residential projects everywhere.
Contact us today to learn more about what our terrazzo products can do for your project!
