Many commercial property managers are unaware of just how important high-performance entrance mats are to a building’s overall health and appearance. Here’s ten top reasons for why you might need to install a new entrance matting system in your commercial building:
- No current mats at all. While this isn’t a very regular occurrence, some buildings try to make-do without any type of entrance matting whatsoever. We see this most often in buildings that have placed a high value on appearance rather than function, and are worried that entrance matting is ugly…and many cheap, common rental mats are ugly! But a properly-designed matting system using premium products (with inlaid logo!) can improve both appearance and cleanliness.
- A slip-and-fall accident has occurred. This is never a pleasant circumstance, but it is a common one; if somebody has slipped and fallen in your building’s lobby or entrance, your matting system is most likely not meeting standard of care you’re required to maintain as a building operator. The quickest and easiest way to upgrade this is to review your current matting.
- Soil load issues. You may have matting, but is it enough? If your floors and carpeted areas seem to be dirtying-out sooner than they should, you might want to remember the “Rule of 15”. The Rule of 15 says that an average office tower or commercial building needs a minimum of 15 linear feet of walk-off matting at every major entrance from the exterior environment to capture soil.
- Increasing traffic and/or soil load. Has your building taken on some new tenants? Has a new retailer opened in your shopping mall? What used to be enough matting might not be enough anymore if your building has seen an increase in inbound foot traffic. Or there could have been changes outside of your building – nearby active construction sites, a new park, or even changes to local pedestrian flow can bring additional dirt into your building that you’ll need to handle.
- Worn out. Cheap mats wear out quickly, but even top-quality ones have a finite service lifespan. Even with the best maintenance program, entrance matting does wear out over time and needs to be replaced once it’s no longer performing the cleaning task you need it to do. New mats should be installed when the old mats aren’t trapping dirt or water, are thinning or frayed, or have detached edging.
- Seasonal changes. Some buildings prefer to keep the same matting in place year-round, while others prefer to scale back their winter matting during the spring and summer months as the soil load decreases with more-pleasant weather. If you do change your mats out seasonally, at the end of a service season check to see if your mats have another season worth of life in them – and if not, that’s the perfect time to order new ones as you won’t be left in a rush!
- Going green. Many property managers are making the switch to more environmentally-friendly cleaning programs. For many of these programs (like LEED) the first step in implementation is installing matting systems at key entry points as floor cleanliness directly impacts indoor air quality.
- Reducing costs. While renting mats on a weekly basis may sound less-expensive than purchasing quality entrance matting, once you add up those rental fees over time it quickly becomes clear that you’re paying more money for less performance. And if it’s a operating budget vs capital expenditures concern, we’ve got your covered – ask us about leasing your mats!
- Marketing and branding.  Adding an inlaid logo to your building’s entrance matting is an often-overlooked marketing opportunity. You can advertise your property management company, offer a branding opportunity to your flagship tenants (and help share the cost of the matting!), or even use inlaid artwork to help direct traffic with arrows or labels.
- Make a good first impression.  Floors are often the first thing visitors see when entering a facility. An effective, high-performance entrance matting system tells visitors their health and safety is a key concern in your facility.
