At a charming restaurant situated on the outskirts of Boston, owner and head chef Dave Becker knew that he had to make a change in his kitchen. After 12 years of operating on a quarry tile floor it had become clear that the surface couldn’t handle the demands of his busy kitchen. With discolored and disintegrating grout lines, Becker was forced to regrout the kitchen almost annually, saying, “It’s a busy restaurant. I figured it was pretty standard to regrout every year or two.” Becker found that the grout lines surrounding the tiles created places to catch, as he calls it, “all the gross stuff,” leaving a floor that was never clean enough for his satisfaction. In an effort to overcome this, a hose and central drain were installed in the kitchen so that all the dropped foodstuffs and grease could easily be washed away. Yet, the constant moisture from the wash downs only destroyed the grout faster by making its way underneath the tiles and into the substrate, leaving the basement below damp.
After undergoing a floor evaluation, it was determined that Dur-A-Flex’s Poly-Crete® MDB was the flooring solution. Proven to stand up to harsh kitchen environments and unfazed by lactic acids, Poly-Crete easily stands up to the dropped foodstuffs. With a planned shutdown from Sunday to Monday, the Poly-Crete install was completed. When Sweet Basil’s staff opened their doors on Tuesday morning they were pleased to find that the once familiar broken tiles were gone and in their place, a seamless surface.
Becker says his employees have found the surface easier to clean; daily wash downs accompanied by a squeegee are all that’s necessary. With the floor sloped down to the drains, excess moisture, the risk of slips and falls and bacteria growth caused by standing water have all been eliminated.
“Believe it or not, I’m actually looking forward to cleaning it. It’s so easy spraying it down and it all goes right down the drain!” says Becker. Aside from the practical benefits, Becker is equally happy with the look the new floor has brought to his kitchen. “I think it looks so great, I love it. I honestly can’t believe anyone uses quarry tile anymore!”