Lar Hylobates

[Duane]

Where has Hylo gone?

Is he working two jobs now to pay for the drinks in Vegas?

[Kitty]

Funny how you should ask about him, I could use some of his expertise....he is a tile and floor guy.

We need to know how to combat the tarrazzo floor from sweating in th humidity. This particular store is not Air conditioned, we have the swamp coolers. The floors sweat so much it becomes wet. Any one know how to eliminate or combat the effects of the humidity?

[Anonymous]

The swamp coolers are pushing moist air into the store. Do you have adequate exhaust in the store. You need to run a exhaust fan also when you run swamp coolers.

[Kitty]

Exhaust fans are running as well as floor fans.

[David]

Swamp coolers work by evaporating water into the air. Get rid of swamp coolers, fix your problem... or you'll have to do like LP2000 said and increase exhaust ventilation.

[Andy]

This is a thermodynamic issue. One can only change the conditions to prevent it from occuring:
1. decrease the humidity by reducing the amount of water flowing over the swamp cooler intake panels; this action also reduces the cooling effect,
2. increase the temperature of the floor; this is impractical, however over time as temperatures increase throughout the summer your floor temp. might increase a few degrees and lessen this condensation on the floor.

[Duane]

With the costs of running the swamp cooler and several fans, I don't believe you would be saving much over air conditioning let alone the liability of someone slipping on the wet floor.

A small portable 7,500 btu unit goes for around $550 or a wall mounted 15,000 btu unit for about $650.

These are small units, but would probably feel the same as a swamp cooler.

I know they have larger industrial portable air conditioners that would cool your mat easily.

How many sq foot is your mat and do you have enough dryer make up air to keep the doors closed?

[Kitty]

Guess what, a lady has fallen in this store this am. Came out of the ladies room slipped and pulled the utility sink off the wall as she lost her balance.

The lady claimed she was fine, however she was unable to get in her car and thus called the paramedics to transport her to the ER.......

Laundromat nightmare

[Kitty]

The swamp coolers have not been running.

[Andy]

I had this happen last summer, some guy claimed there was water on the bathroom floor and he slipped.

Kitty, perhaps you can keep the coolers off and place a couple dehumidifiers in there with some circulating fans. The drop in humidity will also cause people to feel cooler at a given temp. This is a cheap alternative.

I removed my rooftop swamp coolers 5 years ago and installed two 5-ton rooftop a/c units. Total cost was about $7500. These are also furnaces so if you are considering a new furnace this may be a viable option.

[Chuckels]

Kitty,

Perhaps the lady read your first post and then paid your mat at issue a visit. Or did she visit to get paid? Can you shred your wet floor posts?

Chuckels

[Kitty]

The terrazzo floor sweats, in humid weather and the swamp coolers have nothing to do with it. This past weekend the floor had sweated because of the humidity inside and outside the mat. The exhaust fan was running as well as floor fans, however, this particular weather created a mess. A mess, that we must learn a way to prevent. Is there any products out there that can eliminate the effect the weather has on this floor?

[Anonymous]

Your problem is one of too much humidity. The only solution is to install dehumidifiers or A/C. The floor is either in contact with the ground or above a cool basement, the air in the laundromat is saturated with moisture at a higher temperature - it comes into contact with the colder floor and hits the dew point and drops moisture- can't change the laws of physics.

[Kitty]

Thickhead BD...........He wants a floor finish product that creates a non-slip coating......

[Anonymous]

I have a Terrazzo floor and it never sweats.

[Kitty]

3 stores with terrazzo, 1 sweats, 2 don't? Bizarre?

[Anonymous]

I think Kirby is correct. Spend the money on the A/C. The customers will thank you and you won't mind going there to collect or do repairs.

[Coinwash]

Originally posted by Laundrypro2000
I have a Terrazzo floor and it never sweats.

more info--Coinwash.com

http://doityourself.com/brick/terrazzo.htm

Traditional terrazzo is made of cement and marble with extra marble chips on the surface. The cement portion is porous and quickly absorbs stains. A more modern form, made with synthetic resins such as urethane or epoxy as the "binder", in place of cement do not stain as readily. A penetrating sealer should be applied to new terrazzo floors to seal the pores in the cement and thus retard stains absorption. Resealing may be needed occasionally.

Clean as often as needed keep grime and sand removed. Soil acts as an abrasive and damages the floor.

Use only neutral liquid cleaners (meaning those which are neither acid not alkaline). For best results, use a commercial cleaner made especially for terrazzo. All-purpose household cleaners, soaps, detergents and wax removers usually contain one or more alkalis, and so should not be used on terrazzo. For general cleaning, use one cup of neutral cleaner with each three gallons of water-or follow manufacturers directions.

Wet mop the solution onto the floor, and allow the solution to remain several minutes. Then mop up the dirt-filled solution, changing rinse water often. This helps to remove all soil and also does away with unsightly "mop lines". Keep the floor wet at all times during the cleaning operation. Otherwise, dissolved soil dries back onto the floor. When the floor is dry, buff with an electric polishing machine, if you have one. Buffing helps restore the natural sheen on the floor.

To remove stubborn soil, periodically use an electric scrubbing machine with a stronger solution of the neutral cleaner. Daily sweeping or dusting will mean easier weekly care and more attractive floors. Do not use an oiled mop or oily sweeping compound. Oils in any form can penetrate the surface and permanently discolor terrazzo floors.

Wipe up spilled materials quickly so staining has no chance to occur.

[pete f]

Kitty,, if the floor is wet than installing a/c may be the only solution. A wet non slip floor? You may have sealer problems later on if you seal it. I have teazzo at 2 stores, no problems. One I did tile over last year to make it look nicer, the only sweating was from overflow on old machines into a near clogged drain pipe. That all got replaced. I put A/C in at the same time. I even added a big wall unit to my # 2 mat becuase on busy days the central system had trouble keeping things cool. I think you get back all the electric costs and more thru new business you gain.

[Andy]

go with a/c

[Anonymous]

Kitty, get yourself a hygrometer or better yet a slingsycrometer (SP) and measure the wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures in the store. I guarantee you will find a significant difference in the place that sweats versus the other. It IS a humidity issue.

[Kitty]

Yo, Smarty pants

Care to give me the english version of what you just suggested??? In a little more detail?

Wet bulb?? Thought that usually causes electrocution? Dry bulb? I suppose we are not talking about the flourescents?

[David]

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0824744.html

[Anonymous]

Thanks David, I'll save kitty the effort - here it is:

hygrometer , instrument used to measure the moisture content of a gas, as in determining the relative humidity of air. The temperature at which dew or frost forms is a measure of the absolute humidity—the weight of water vapor per unit volume of air or other gas at the temperature before cooling. Knowing absolute humidity and air temperature, the observer can calculate relative humidity. The most common type of hygrometer is the dry- and wet-bulb psychrometer. It consists of two identical mercury or electrical thermometers, one of which has a wet cotton or linen wick around its bulb. Evaporating water from the wick absorbs heat from the thermometer bulb, causing the thermometer reading to drop. The difference between dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures are compared on psychrometric charts. The temperature at which dew forms, called the dew point, is determined by a dew-point, or condensation-type, hygrometer, which is basically a mirror, usually of polished metal, cooled until dew or frost forms on it. Various cooling methods employ compressed carbon dioxide, dry ice, liquid air, or mechanical refrigeration. When dew or frost forms on the mirror, the temperatures between when dew appeared and when it disappeared is the dew point and is read with optical, electrical, or nuclear techniques. Because human observation varies, photoelectric cells are sometimes used to register the time at which the mirror fogs. Another type of hygrometer works on the principle that electrical resistance varies in a material that absorbs moisture, with the resistance to a current passing between wires measured by special sensors. The most accurate way to measure humidity is with an electric hygrometer, in which a known volume of gas passes over a hygroscopic, or moisture-absorbing, material such as phosphorus pentoxide. It is weighed before and after to determine how much water it took out of the gas. The older types of mechanical hygrometer use human hair, which stretches as it absorbs moisture, with a linkage connecting the center of a bundle of hairs under tension to a pointer. Another uses goldbeater's skin, a membrane from the intestines of oxen. Some materials can determine relative changes in humidity because they change color as they absorb moisture.

===================
Good job-coinwash.com -Staff

[buddy]

Kitty,

Get books on Thermodynamics, Mass Tranfer and Fluid Mechanics. Might as well throw in Chemical Reaction Engineering.

All of your problems will be solved.

[Kitty]

OHHHHHHHHH I understand perfectly now, silly me.

The hole just got bigger.