Don’t slip on floor care, warns Italian firm
Builders ‘underestimate the importance’ of properly maintaining floors, says surface-protection company Fila
While it’s not the first element that comes to mind when thinking of a building, the floor is usually one of the most visible aspects of an indoors environment.
Any damage to them, therefore, is clearly noticeable and can be easily avoided if developers and contractors ensure proper specifications for floor care from the beginning, said Francesco Pettenon, Group Commercial Director of Fila, an Italy-based surface protection company.
The old adage of prevention being better than cure is all too true in maintenance, Pettenon said at a recent networking event organised by Fila.
The company’s clients often wait until there are problems with the flooring in their projects before contacting his company, which specialises in treatment products for a variety of different kinds of floors, he added.
Contractors “underestimate the importance of the maintenance,” Pettenon said. “They don’t calculate the cost of it and mainly there’s a lack of knowledge of the material. And this is our job.”
“But of course we’re just one company so we do a lot of training, a lot of seminars. But it is tough. It’s tough because most of the time, they come too late and they want a fast and cheap solution that works. But it doesn’t work,” Pettenon added.
“We did this special event for top architects and developers because it is very important that from the beginning they specify our products. Too often we are called only when a problem occurs and then most of the time, it’s too late. So it’s very important that with this training, with this information, we dissipate the problem giving the right solution, giving the right advice,” he said.
A full Q&A with Francesco Pettenon will be published in next month’s issue of Big Project ME
