Warehouse flooring manufacturers spend years developing surface treatments, coatings, and sealers that resist wear, moisture, and chemical damage. They also provide strict care and maintenance guidelines to protect those materials. Skipping even a single recommended step—or doing something as small as using the wrong mop pad—can void the warranty. Once that’s gone, repair and replacement costs fall entirely on the facility.
Plenty of operations teams don’t realize they’re making costly cleaning mistakes until a warranty claim is denied. The problem isn’t neglect; it’s usually a combination of rushed schedules, lack of training, and assumptions based on traditional cleaning routines that don’t apply to coated industrial floors.
Here’s where most facility teams go wrong.
Using Harsh Chemicals Not Listed by the Manufacturer
Most manufacturers test their coatings against specific types of chemicals and publish lists of approved cleaning agents. These lists are often buried in PDF manuals or tucked into installation documentation. When teams use degreasers, solvents, or acidic cleaners outside of that list, damage builds up.
One common error is assuming that if a chemical doesn’t eat through rubber gloves or doesn’t smell strong, it’s safe. Several neutral cleaners can still soften epoxy coatings or etch polished concrete if used too frequently or at the wrong dilution. Once etching appears, manufacturers can determine exactly what caused it—and deny the warranty accordingly.
Skipping Dust Control Before Wet Cleaning
Dry debris like sand, pallet chips, and metal shavings abrade coatings with every step and every wheel that passes over them. Skipping dry sweeping or vacuuming before wet mopping or auto-scrubbing grinds that debris into the floor. That abrasion shortens the life of surface treatments.
Manufacturers often specify pre-cleaning steps for this reason. Skipping them doesn’t just wear down the finish; it creates tiny openings where water or cleaning chemicals can seep in. Over time, this leads to delamination in coated surfaces or increased porosity in polished concrete.
Incorrect Pad or Brush Selection on Auto-Scrubbers
Auto-scrubbers come with dozens of pad and brush options. Some are designed for aggressive stripping, others for gentle daily cleaning. Using a brush that’s too stiff or a pad that’s too abrasive on treated floors can do more harm than good.
This is especially true for polished concrete and epoxy-coated surfaces. Manufacturers usually test cleaning heads and publish compatible models and materials. A nylon brush that works well on VCT might leave swirl marks or scratch patterns in high-gloss warehouse flooring. Once that surface dulls, restoration is no longer a warranty-covered issue.
Leaving Water or Cleaning Solution to Pool
Large warehouse floors often get cleaned in sections. If workers use too much water or fail to vacuum thoroughly with an auto-scrubber, puddles remain. That pooling creates two problems. First, prolonged moisture exposure weakens sealers or coatings. Second, standing water lets dirt settle back into the finish, acting like a grinding paste under tires and foot traffic.
Warranty coverage usually excludes moisture-related failure that isn’t caused by plumbing or roofing. When failure starts from the top down, manufacturers typically trace the cause back to cleaning routines that allowed pooling or failed to dry the floor properly.
Overlooking pH Guidelines in Cleaning Products
Many facilities choose cleaning products based on performance rather than pH compatibility. Acidic and alkaline products both have their uses, but flooring manufacturers often set narrow pH requirements for daily and periodic maintenance.
Polished concrete floors, for example, require neutral pH cleaners to maintain shine and prevent surface damage. Going outside the specified range—even just once a week—can slowly degrade the surface. Once the finish dulls or starts to show signs of micro-cracking, claims get rejected due to “improper chemical use.”
Using Steam or High-Temperature Equipment
It might seem efficient to deep clean with heat. Steam wands or high-temp scrubbers can cut through grime faster. But most floor coatings aren’t designed to handle that kind of thermal shock. Rapid expansion and contraction stress the material and can cause blistering or peeling.
Unless the manufacturer specifically allows thermal cleaning methods, warranties generally exclude any damage tied to elevated temperatures. Teams often don’t realize that using high-temperature water for stain removal voids their coverage—even if the stain comes out.
Neglecting to Rinse After Cleaning
Leaving cleaner residue on the surface is another common issue. When staff are pressed for time, they might skip the rinse step, assuming that small amounts of leftover cleaner will evaporate or get picked up by tires.
Most cleaning chemicals—neutral or not—leave behind a film if not rinsed properly. That film builds up over time and causes finish discoloration, tackiness, and increased soil retention. Manufacturers often specify not just the cleaning product but also the rinse procedure. Ignoring it means any resulting wear won’t be covered.
Failing to Follow Recommended Cleaning Frequency
Even if cleaning is done with the right chemicals and equipment, skipping recommended intervals can still void a warranty. Accumulated soil and chemical exposure degrade finishes much faster than manufacturers anticipate.
Many warranties include clauses requiring “routine maintenance at intervals consistent with usage.” That means a high-traffic facility might need daily or even twice-daily cleaning to stay compliant. Falling behind by even a week during peak season can give a manufacturer the reason to reject a claim later.
Using Untrained or Infrequent Cleaning Crews
Outsourced janitorial teams or rotating in-house staff often work across several types of facilities. If they haven’t been trained on the specific flooring material in a warehouse, mistakes happen. That includes using the wrong mop heads, cleaning in the wrong order, or skipping required steps.
Some manufacturers require documentation that cleaning was performed by trained personnel. If a claim is filed and the team can’t show maintenance logs or staff training records, warranty coverage can be denied even if damage wasn’t intentional.
Treating Maintenance Guidelines as Suggestions
Many manufacturers treat their care and maintenance guides as extensions of the warranty itself. Those guidelines are not suggestions. They function as conditional requirements for keeping coverage active. A manufacturer might not inspect every site, but during warranty claims, they often ask for logs, product purchase records, and process details to confirm compliance.
Facility managers who treat those documents as secondary risk losing protection entirely—even if the cleaning mistake seems small. The smallest deviations can leave facilities exposed to full-floor replacements, especially when damage spreads unnoticed over time.
Skipping Communication with the Manufacturer After Installation
Most flooring systems come with post-installation support. Manufacturers typically provide reps or technical specialists who can answer care questions, recommend products, or review cleaning protocols. Skipping that conversation leaves facility teams guessing.
Plenty of warehouses create internal cleaning routines based on previous flooring systems. Epoxy, polished concrete, urethane, and sealed concrete all have different care needs. Unless the team confirms those with the manufacturer, the risk of mismatching equipment and products increases. When that mismatch causes failure, the manufacturer has written grounds to void the claim.
Missing Documentation to Back Up Claims
Warranty claims often require proof of proper maintenance. That means logs, training records, product receipts, and detailed service intervals. Without documentation, it becomes the facility’s word against the manufacturer’s policy.
Common missing elements include:
- Logs of routine cleaning and spot treatments
- Product names and Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
- Equipment model numbers used on-site
- Crew training rosters or certifications
- Communication history with the manufacturer
Even if the team did everything right, the absence of documentation can invalidate coverage.
Final Mistake: Leaving No One Accountable
Ultimately, the most damaging mistake is assuming someone else is handling floor care compliance. In many warehouses, it’s split between janitorial staff, operations, maintenance, or vendors. Without a single point of accountability, mistakes are almost guaranteed.
Facilities that maintain warranty coverage usually assign a floor care lead—someone responsible for reviewing manufacturer guidelines, documenting procedures, and staying current with product updates. It doesn’t require full-time oversight, but it does require ownership.
One Smart Move Can Prevent All of This
That’s why operations teams across manufacturing and logistics turn to National Facility Contractors to help design compliant floor care routines, train staff, and ensure that warranty requirements are met from day one.
Final Thought for Facility Managers
Preventing warranty voids doesn’t require massive operational changes. It just takes discipline in sticking to the approved methods, training teams thoroughly, and keeping records. Manufacturers invest in coatings that can last years—but only if they’re cared for the way they were designed. Ignoring those care specs, even unintentionally, often ends with surprise repair bills and zero recourse.
Facility managers can protect their budgets by ensuring floor care routines align exactly with manufacturer requirements—and that no shortcuts are taken, even under pressure.
